Quick NE Texas Bug Trip, 7/19-20/26

There are a couple of summer tiger beetles I wanted to find this year.  With the season for Eastern Red-bellied Tiger Beetle quickly coming to end, I thought I needed to make a quick run up to NE Texas.  Then while checking out the latest tiger beetle finds on iNaturalist, I saw Virginia Metallic Tiger Beetle was beeing seen in College Station.  Dang!  I loaded up the jeep and took off Sunday morning.

I needed to get some miles behind me so there wasn't much stopping.  But lunchtime arrived right when I came to the Coleto Creek crossing on US 77 just west of Victoria.  It's always a great place to stop.  I quickly ate my lunch and then checked out the bugs under the bridge.  Yellow and orange butterflies were puddling at the edge of Coleto Creek.  First a bunch of Cloudless Sulphurs.

And then an amazing five Julia Heliconians.  I'm sure the summer rain had something to do with so many being in an area where they are not normally common.

Then a little golden skipper.  What the???  It was a Least Skippering!  This was a new Texas species for me and one I was hoping to find in NE Texas.  Turns out this one is the first Victoria County record on iNat.

The afternoon was uneventful as I painfully made my way along crappy east Texas highways to College Station.  I checked in to my hotel, ate dinner and waited for dark.  Virginia Metallic Tiger Beetle is a nocturnal species.  And it's pretty darn common with over three hundred records in Texas on iNaturalist.  People often find them in their yards in east Texas.  They were being reported just a couple of nights prior along a bike trail in the Lick Creek Greenbelt.

I arrived at the trail head just before dark and looked around.  The concrete trail wound through a heavily wooded area.  I was hoping for hungry earlybirds that might give me some photographic opportunities in the waning light.  But not much going on.  As it got darker I saw a few dark shapes scamper along the edge of the vegetation.  Damn.  This might not be easy.  The sun went down at 8:45 and it was getting dark fast.  I bumped the ISO up to 12800.  That's all my old Canon 7D Mark II can do.   I had recently bought a cheap head lamp and I could tell it was not going to be sufficient.

Then I saw an inch long beetle scamper onto the concrete path.  I think this is it.  It ran like hell as I expected it would. Tiger beetles are thought to be the fastest land animal proportional to their size.  In fact they run so fast they have to periodically stop to allow their brains to interpret what they are seeing as they hunt.  There was no way my camera's autofocus was going to catch this speedy insect in my weak head lamp's light.  I switched to manual focus but still could not get it in my view finder.

But my light was strong enough to disorient the tiger beetle and it started running toward me.  To hell with trying to get a photo.  I'm going to grab that sucker.  And I did.  I got this photo with my iPhone.

Actually that turned out better than I had hoped.  Then a couple of minutes later I saw second.  This one was apparently eating its prey and allowed me to get close enough to get a camera shot.

The next morning I took off early.  It was still over two hours to my next destination.  The Gus Engling Wildlife Management Area area is the largest and probably the best known of the the many Texas Fish and Game's wildlife management areas.  The seven mile road passes though nearly ten thousand acres of oak and grass that is managed for hunting.  In recent years it has been a pretty reliable site for the hard to find Eastern Red-bellied Tiger Beetle, a species partial to open rocky or gravelly spots in wooded areas.

I found the spot on the north end of the preserve where a gravelly track runs to a small lake.  I had barely started walking when I spied a tiger beetle.  But it was just the uber common Ocellated Tiger Bettle.

Then a large bright rusty brown skipper.  I thought it was going to be a Silver Spotted Skipper but it turned out to be a Hoary Edge.  Only the second I've ever seen.

And then another tiger beetle but this one was a metallic blue with a white apical lunule.  Eastern Red-bellied Tiger Beetle!  I got lucky as this was the only one I saw and it cooperated nicely.

I spent the next couple of hours chasing dragon and damsel flies.  But by 1pm the temperature had reached the 90s and I was done for the day.  Mission accomplished!

Blomfild's Beauty at NBC, 7/12/26

I ran over to the National Butterfly Center this morning and took a look at the Big Board in the visitor's center.  They were up to a very respecable 78 species of butterflies for July.  Not bad.  I noticed Desert Checkered Skipper was missing for the month so I thought I would make a try for it.  I can usually find one up front if I dig through enough checkered-skippers.  It didn't take long before I found one.  I called Woody over and he was happy to see it.

Well, what to look for next?  Woody took care of that.  "Blomfild's Beauty" was the cry from the woods.  I ran in the direction of Woody's voice and found him by a bait log holding a big stonking perfect Blomfild's Beauty.  What a knockout!.  Picasso would have been proud of that wild abstract underwing.

That will be hard to beat.  I think it's the first of 2026.  I returned to the front garden and found a nice Brown-banded Skipper.  A pretty good butterfly but it pales in comparison to Woody's find.

Several fresh Theona Checkerspots were about.

Then I saw a big sulphur and the color was wrong for Cloudless or Large Orange.  I was right.  It was a female Statira Sulphur.  I got our first of the year a few days ago.

And a little later I got a male.

Woody had reported a Gray Cracker on the lower Hackberry Trail so I drove to the south garden and it didn't take long to find it.  In fact I foud three Gray Crackers.

Lots of Mexican Bluewings.

It got hot fast and I called it quits.  Woody found a White Scrub-Hairstreak and a Turk's-Cap White-Skipper to push the Big Board to 82.  Hoping for rain.

Giant Swallowtail 10

• Checkered White 3
• Great Southern White 25
• Cloudless Sulphur 3
• Large Orange Sulphur 30
• Statira Sulphur 2
• Lyside Sulphur 20
• Little Yellow 8
• Dainty Sulphur 10
• Gray Hairstreak 1
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Clytie Ministreak 1
• Cassius Blue 6
• Ceraunus Blue 3
• Curve-winged Metalmark 1
• American Snout 25
• Gulf Fritillary 2
• Julia Heliconian 1
• Mexican Fritillary 2
• Theona Checkerspot 3
• Bordered Patch 12
• Elada Checkerspot 1
• Texan Crescent 3
• Pale-banded Crescent 2
• Phaon Crescent 20
• White Peacock 15
• Mexican Bluewing 12
• Gray Cracker 3
• Blomfild's Beauty 1
• Tropical Leafwing 10
• Empress Leilia 2
• Tawny Emperor 20
• Queen 6
• Soldier 3
• Brown Longtail 6
• Brown-banded Skipper 1
• White Checkered-Skipper 5
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 6
• Desert Checkered-Skipper 1
• Clouded Skipper 12
• Southern Skipperling 6
• Fiery Skipper 1
• Whirlabout 3
• Southern Broken-Dash 3
• Eufala Skipper 1
• Mexican Crescent 3

Fireworks Continue at NBC, 7/5/26

It's hot and dry in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, but the good butterflies keep coming.  Gotta get em before they fry!  Still getting hairstreaks.  Along with the usual for this summer Clench's, Ruddy and Marius, I found this guy.  It kind of looks like an Orange-crescent Groundstreak but I'm not getting a lot of support for that ID.  Most think it's a Ruddy.

My first Statira Sulphur for the year was in front in the white Duranta.

Nearby was a Brown-banded Skipper.  Woody found a second in the nursery.

Giant Whites were in the Mexican Orchid.

There were at least two Gray Crackers on the bait logs.

It took me several tries to finally see the Dingy Purplewing.

It was getting really hot and I was ready to head home when Woody reported two Ruddy Dagerwings by the nursery.

Today's list of 53 species

• Giant Swallowtail 10
• Checkered White 2
• Great Southern White 20
• Giant White 2
• Cloudless Sulphur 2
• Large Orange Sulphur 20
• Statira Sulphur 1
• Lyside Sulphur 40
• Little Yellow 3
• Dainty Sulphur 2
• Marius Hairstreak 3
• Clench's Greenstreak 8
• Gray Hairstreak 2
• Red-crescent Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 5
• Ruddy Hairstreak 1
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 6
• Clytie Ministreak 6
• Cassius Blue 3
• Ceraunus Blue 3
• Red-bordered Metalmark 1
• Curve-winged Metalmark 2
• American Snout 500
• Gulf Fritillary 2
• Mexican Fritillary 2
• Theona Checkerspot 1
• Bordered Patch 3
• Elada Checkerspot 1
• Texan Crescent 2
• Pale-banded Crescent 3
• Phaon Crescent 5
• Question Mark 1
• White Peacock 10
• Mexican Bluewing 12
• Dingy Purplewing 1
• Gray Cracker 2
• Ruddy Daggerwing 2
• Tropical Leafwing 8
• Empress Leilia 1
• Tawny Emperor 25
• Queen 3
• Soldier 2
• Brown Longtail 5
• Brown-banded Skipper 2
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 10
• Laviana White-Skipper 5
• Clouded Skipper 10
• Southern Skipperling 1
• Whirlabout 3
• Southern Broken-Dash 3
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 5
• Eufala Skipper 2
• Mexican Crescent 10

• 
  

Tmolus echion at National Butterfly Center, 7/3/26

Well I found a fantastic butterfly at the National Butterfly Center yesterday and rather than "beating my breast", I'm feeling a little sheepish about it.  The sayings "I'd rather be lucky than good" and "Even a stopped clock is right twice a day" probably apply.

With the parade of rare to uncommon butterflies at the National Butterfly Center, I ran over yesterday to take another try at finding something really good.  I was fortunate that Ryan Shaw was down from Katy and Tom Forwood, the new Superintendent at nearby Bentsen State Park, came over.  So there were some good eyes in the field.  They found some good stuff too including a Gray Cracker and a Dingy Purplewing.

Meanwhile I was stumbling around, checking the fiddlewoods and finding some pretty good stuff like more Clench's Greenstreaks and Marius Harstreaks.  But they are rather ho-hum this summer.  As lunch time approached I drove to the lower garden, ate lunch and then checked the Mexican Orchid bush for swallowtails.  I've twice seen Ornythion there this summer and Woody had one the day before.  Not much going on.  So I checked out the bait logs and ran into Danny Salinas.  He told me about the Dingy Purplewing.  I left him looking for the Gray Cracker and I decided to go back to the upper garden for the purplewing.

As I walked back to the jeep I decided to check the Mexican Orchid again.  Nothng great.  Then I remembered the little blooming fiddlewood under the chomonque.  I need to check that again.  So I did and there was a pretty Curve-winged Metalmark and a damn snout and a really pretty Clytie Ministreak.  So I took a few photos.  As I photographed the ministreak, I remember a voice in my head saying "That one looks a little weird.  Remember to check it out later."  Yeah.  Sure.

So this moring I edited my photos and started putting them into iNaturalist.  When I entered the pretty Clytie, the idiot iNat Ai suggested Tmolus echion as a first choice with Clytie Ministreak second.  What the hell?  Then I looked at the photos of Tmolus echion which they call Lantana Hairstreak (Glassberg calls it Red-spotted Hairstreak.)  The first thing I noticed was the postmedion band looked like my photo and not the usual M shape of a Clytie.  And then... duh... my Clytie lacked the tell tale red cell end bar.  Other than the green eyes, that's the most important field mark.  I'm so stupid.  I had always wanted to see a Red-spoted Hairstreak and I had one handed to me and I completely missed it.  iNaturalist saved me.

So I put put it on the Dischord alert and apologized profusely for not getting the word out earlier on this very rare butterfly.  Turns out Mike Rickard had found one back in 2017 and it's listed as rare in Glassberg's 2012 edition.  So this has got to be one of my all time best butterfly finds.  Tmolus echion is a lifer for me and only the second iNat record for the USA.

With all the Clyie Ministreaks seen lately, we are now all wondering if we have been missing Tmolus echion.  We're sure going to be examining these guys more closely.

Great Day at the National Butterfly Center, 6/25/26

It's been normally hot and breezy for this time of year in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.  But a Gold-spotted Aguna and a Ruby-spotted Swallowtail were reported at the Nationaal butterfly Center so I thought I had better get myself over there before everything fries.

It was hot and nasty when I stepped out of the apartment but when I got over to the NBC and started sweating a bit with a nice breeze it was fine.  My first butterfly was a Clytie Ministreak.  There were lots of them.

I worked the front garden a while and saw only common stuff.  Then all of a sudden, at about 11am, the hairstreaks started to pop.  First there was a White Scrub-Hairstreak.  New for the month!

And then a Ruddy/Muted.  This one never opened it's wings although the probability it's a Ruddy is about 99%.

But this one flashed orange when it flew so it's a male Ruddy Hairstreak.

Then the usual Dusky-blue Groundstreaks and Mallow Scrub-hairstreaks.  And then the common for this summer but usually rare Clench's Greenstreak.

Peggy had joined me by this time and two more Clench's showed up.  We totaled six of them for the morning with six species of hairstreaks in this one little fiddlewood.  Nearby I found the first of three Marius Hairstreaks,

A bit later I showed Peggy a blooming crucillo and explained to her it was the host plant for Band-celled Sister.  A minute later I was shocked when she called one out.  I got my camera out and shot a photo.  The band was wrong.  Not a Band-celled Sister.  Then I realized the under wings were all wrong and it was not even a sister.  It was a female Silver Emperor.  Another new one for the month!  We  had so many last winter I was expecting we would see some this summer.  It was a pretty easy to make mistake on the blooming Randia rhagocarpa.

It was a really good morning with eight species of hairstreaks and a Silver Emperor.  I drove to the south garden, ate my lunch and made another try for a ten hairstreak day.  I failed on my last try a few weeks ago.  The Curve-winged Metalmarks are still plentiful.

And plenty of Mexican Bluewings.  I caught this one in the act laying an egg on the Vasey's Adelia.

Then I noticed the Brush Holly patch was blooming.  This is our spot for daggerwings during summer.  Today it was covered in American Snouts but I did mange to pull out another Silver emperor.

Then I saw a Tachytes species of wasp just sitting there on a leaf waiting for a photo.  So I took one.  Woops it's not a wasp at all but a damn Dipteran!  The antennae say fly as to the tiny green vestigal wings.  I haven't entered it into iNaturalist yet but I'm guessing this is a Tachytes mimic.  Look at those freaky eyes!

It was getting warm.  I walked over to the blooming Mexican Orchid and found it loaded with Lyside and Large Orange Sulphurs and Great American Whites.  But one of them had spots.  First Giant White for the month.

There were several Western Giant Swallowtails.

And then the one I was looking for, a fresh Ornythion Swallowtail.

So a pretty fantastic day with four new species for the Big Board briging the June total to a record 92 species.  53 species today is pretty incredible for this time of year.

• Giant Swallowtail 5
• Ornythion Swallowtail 1
• Checkered White 6
• Great Southern White 20
• Giant White 1
• Large Orange Sulphur 25
• Lyside Sulphur 40
• Little Yellow 6
• Dainty Sulphur 6
• Marius Hairstreak 3
• Clench's Greenstreak 6
• Gray Hairstreak 1
• White Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 66
• Ruddy Hairstreak 3
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 10
• Clytie Ministreak 15
• Cassius Blue 3
• Ceraunus Blue 5
• Reakirt's Blue 2
• Red-bordered Metalmark 1
• Curve-winged Metalmark 10
• American Snout 25
• Gulf Fritillary 4
• Mexican Fritillary 2
• Bordered Patch 12
• Texan Crescent 5
• Pale-banded Crescent 8
• Phaon Crescent 5
• Question Mark 3
• White Peacock 10
• Mexican Bluewing 12
• Tropical Leafwing 6
• Empress Leilia 1
• Tawny Emperor 12
• Silver Emperor 2
• Queen 5
• Soldier 5
• Brown Longtail 6
• Sickle-winged Skipper 1
• White Checkered-Skipper 3
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 6
• Laviana White-Skipper 5
• Common Sootywing 2
• Clouded Skipper 6
• Double-dotted Skipper 2
• Southern Skipperling 2
• Whirlabout 8
• Southern Broken-Dash 5
• Common Mellana 1
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 10
• Eufala Skipper 5
• Mexican Crescent 10