There have been a few Ruby-spotted Swallowtails reported around the Rio Grande Valley lately. I have not seen one of these Mexican swallowtails in a few years so when Terry Mortier reported one yesterday on the Mexican orchid at the National Butterfly Center I thought I should run over to enjoy it. I got over there about a half hour later and it was still nectaring on the same plant.
Below it another Mexican Crescent was feeding on the crucita. The specific epithet is pallescens meaning pale. The similar Phaon nearby is much darker.
Six Lantana Scrub-Hairstreaks may be an all time high for me.
I have been seeing Marius Harestreaks lately along the Retama Village Wall just north of Bentsen. Nice to get one at the NBC in the same firebush where they spent last winter.
The buffy under wings of this crescent had be confused but the top looked like another Mexican Crescent. I later found similarly buffy specimens on iNaturalist.
The temperature was tickling the underbelly of a hundred F so I decided I had enough. I was just getting in the jeep when I though I heard someone yell. I was too tired to worry about it but a minute later the Discord "bonged" and Linda Cooper was reporting another Ruby-spotted Swallowtail. I ran over and got a few more shots of what proved to be the same butterfly as five hours earlier.
I told Linda I though I had heard someone yell. She said when someone yells you need to come running. I told her I couldn't tell if the voice was from outside or inside my head. It was a good hot sweaty day.
