Following is a small sampling of the many species of butterflies to be found throughout the state. Some, such as the Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus franki) and the Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes asterius), can be found in gardens during the entire growing season. Others, such as the Falcate Orangetip (Anthocharis midea) and Henry’s Elfin (Callophrys henrici), can be found in only small specialized areas and for only short periods of time each year.
The butterflies shown and described here were chosen because they exhibit some unusual interest, because they show the variability of the state’s insects, or simply because they are beautiful. There are many butterflies more common than some described, but space does not allow their inclusion.
No scientific order was followed in the arrangement of species within this section. Instead, they are placed generally by size—beginning with one of the largest butterflies, the Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes), and ending with one of the smallest, the Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exilis exilis). In a few instances, similar-appearing species have been placed near one another for easy comparison.
The sets of information at the beginning and end of each description will help explain each butterfly’s life cycle.
COMMON AND SCIENTIFIC NAMES: In most instances, the common names are the ones used in Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America by Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman. Scientific names follow A Catalogue of the Butterflies of the United States and Canada by Jonathan P. Pelham. In some instances, secondary common names are given (in parentheses) for clarity.
FAMILY: The family shows the butterfly’s particular place within the order Lepidoptera.
SIZE: Size of each species of butterfly varies from brood to brood, season to season, and region to region—sizes given here are from actual specimens or general literature.
BROODS: The exact number of broods remains unknown for many species. Even with some of the better-understood species, climatic factors and geography play a major role in the number of broods produced each year. The numbers given here are according to the best information available.
FLIGHT TIME: First months given are when that particular species flies, breeds, and can be expected to be seen on the wing after spending the winter in some other form. Dates given in parentheses ( ) refer to butterflies that spend part of their adult life cycle in hibernation during the coldest days of winter but can be seen flying about on warmer, nonfreezing days. They also indicate the period that particular butterflies spend the winter months in the Rio Grande Valley area.
OVERWINTERS: Resting or overwintering stages are spent in various forms specific to each species of butterfly. These are listed as egg, caterpillar (larva), chrysalis, or adult. The stage given in parentheses ( ) indicates the stage in which the butterfly spends the winter months in the warmer climate of the Rio Grande Valley area.
RANGE: For this book, the state has been divided into seven general regions (see map): High Plains/Rolling Plains (Region 1), Grasslands/Prairies/Savannahs (Region 2), Pine/Hardwoods (Region 3), Coastal Prairies/Marshes/Beaches (Region 4), Chaparral Plains and Rio Grande Valley (Region 5), Edwards Plateau (Region 6), and Trans-Pecos (Region 7). The region in which both the butterfly and its larval food plant(s) can be found is given by number. The first number(s) given is where the butterfly is known to consistently breed; numbers in parentheses ( ) are where the butterflies wander or emigrate and may occasionally breed but are not known to spend the winter in any form. “Throughout” indicates the butterfly breeds throughout the state.
Within each description there is a general, overall view of the butterfly and its characteristics and then the following information:
EGG: A general rather than in-depth description is given here because most eggs are so small that a microscope or strong hand lens is required to examine the features in detail.
CATERPILLAR: A caterpillar goes through several molts (discarding of outer covering) during this cycle, with some of the instars (stage between molts) often appearing quite unlike the previous one. The last instar is described here unless otherwise noted.
CHRYSALIS: The last, practically immobile, stage of the four stages of metamorphosis before the insect emerges as a fully fledged butterfly, and often very beautiful in its own right.
FOOD PLANTS: Some of the plants known to be eaten by the caterpillar (larva).
PARTS EATEN: Portions of plant eaten by the caterpillar, such as flower buds, flowers, young fruits, or foliage.
NOTE: An additional bit of information.
RELATED SPECIES: Butterflies or plants that are similar and may be of interest to the gardener.
Giant Swallowtail
(Papilio cresphontes)
Family: Swallowtail (Papilionidae)
Size: 4–6 inches
Broods: Two or more
Flight time: February–November (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
Of the three largest butterflies found in North America, the Giant Swallowtail is the most common. The brownish-black upper surface is marked by two broad yellow bands of yellow spots meeting near the tip of the forewing; the lower surface is yellow splashed with black bands, veins, and borders. A row of blue iridescent crescents decorates the black band on the hindwing. Tails on the hindwings are long, spoon-shaped, and centered with elongated yellow spots.
Usually a strong, high flier, the Giant Swallowtail is easily enticed down to flowers, drinking from them long and thirstily. It is especially fond of Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii), Glossy Abelia (Abelia × grandiflora), and the lantanas (Lantana spp.), flying about leisurely from one bush to another. It also partakes of the fluids of mud, fruit juices, and manure.
Caterpillars commonly feed on leaves of trees in the Citrus Family (Rutaceae) and are referred to as an “orange puppy” or “orange dog.” It is not hard to see the resemblance to a puppy as the caterpillar lies stretched out on a leaf in the sun. The caterpillar’s osmeteria, or scent organs, are red and emit a most unpleasant odor when the caterpillar is handled.
Females are prolific egg producers and will usually lay four or five hundred eggs during their lifetime.
EGG: Usually pale green, but sometimes yellowish to orange; laid singly on new growth, generally near leaf tip; sometimes deposited on branch near young foliage.
CATERPILLAR: Brownish- or greenish-maroon with white or cream markings, a wide, cream-colored band across middle of body, and large white patch on rear; shiny, resembling fresh bird droppings; larva rests exposed on upper or lower sides of leaves or along young branches; makes no “nest” or shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Mottled in white, grays to black, tans to dark brown, usually camouflaged to match strata where attached, usually a piece of wood or bark; head attached upright or horizontally by silken mat and silken thread around middle; may not emerge for one to two years.
FOOD PLANTS: Hercules’-club Prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis), Lime Prickly-ash (Z. fagara), Downy Prickly-ash (Z. hirsutum), Wafer-ash (Ptelea trifoliata), and the cultivated grapefruit (Citrus maxima × paradisi), lemon (C. limon), lime (C. aurantifolia), sour orange (C. aurantium), sweet orange
GIANT SWALLOWTAIL(C. sinensis), garden rue (Ruta graveolens), and fringed rue (R. chalapensis).
PARTS EATEN: Young to midmature foliage.
RELATED SPECIES: The Thoas Swallowtail (Papilio thoas) is difficult to distinguish from the Giant Swallowtail, especially on the wing. It is a rare resident only in the Rio Grande Valley but may occasionally wander throughout the state and as far north as Kansas. Two other similar swallowtails, the Ornythion (P. ornythion) and the Broad-banded (P. astyalus), are uncommon residents in the Valley area. The Thoas and Giant can best be identified by the yellow spot on the tails of the hindwings; the yellow spots are absent on the Ornythion and Broad-banded.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
(Papilio glaucus)
Family: Swallowtail (Papilionidae)
Size: 3-1/2–5-5/8 inches
Broods: Two or more
Flight time: February–November
Overwinters: Chrysalis
Range: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail has a most distinctive and descriptive coloring, primarily a soft, velvety yellow with the forewings displaying four large black stripes trailing downward from the upper or leading margin. The lower wing surface bears a row of several red dots set within a smudgy blue and black marginal band of the hindwing. An interesting dimorphism occurs in Eastern Tiger Swallowtails. Some of the females are black, mimicking the unpalatable Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor). The black coloration usually occurs only from female eggs laid by a black mother. Male eggs from the same black mother produce yellow males.
The Eastern Tiger is a strong flier, at times flying very rapidly, at other times slowly soaring with wings at an angle. It often flies high among the trees, frequently along watercourses or forest borders. It visits flowers readily, sometimes barely clutching the flower with the feet and with wings fluttering rapidly, similar to other Swallowtails. At other times it may cling below the nectar source with wings spread flat, thoroughly working the flowers. When nectaring at especially rich sources such as Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii), Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), azaleas (Rhododendron spp.), or lilacs (Syringa spp.), it closes its wings and crawls among the flowers, slowly extracting every minute drop of nectar. It may also occasionally be found on carrion. Male Eastern Tigers are fond of wet areas and often gather in groups to obtain salts from the moisture. This puddling behavior is practiced by many species of butterflies.
EASTERN TIGER SWALLOWTAIL. MIMIC BLACK COLORATION SHOWN AT RIGHT.
Both the male and female participate in the courtship ritual, with much fluttering and flying about before landing and actually mating. During the courtship flight, the male releases a perfumelike pheromone that acts as an aphrodisiac to calm the female for mating. If the pair is disturbed during copulation, the female flies carrying the male.
EGG: Round, smooth, large for butterfly egg, yellow-green; laid singly on leaf of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Young larva shiny, mottled in browns, with white saddle across back, much resembling a fresh bird dropping; mature larva green, the head portion enlarged, banded crosswise with a solitary narrow yellow band bordered by a black stripe, and with two yellow and black eyespots; eats at night; during the day rests on silken mat on top of leaf, with leaf edges pulled together to form a tentlike shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Yellowish to greenish or brownish; held upright or horizontally by silken mat and strand of silk, often formed on ground in leaf litter or low on trunk of tree.
FOOD PLANTS: Velvet Ash (Fraxinus velutina), Carolina Ash (F. caroliniana), Green Ash (F. pennsylvanica), White Ash (F. americana), Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina), Choke Cherry (P. virginiana), Mexican Plum (P. mexicana), Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa), Carolina Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), Cottonwood (Populus deltoides), American Snowbells (Styrax americanus), Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Sweet-bay (Magnolia virginiana), Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), Spicebush (Lindera benzoin), Wafer-ash (Ptelea trifoliata), and the cultivated Camphor Tree (Cinnamomum camphora), Fragrant Lilac (Syringa vulgaris), and apple (Malus pumila) and peach (Prunus persica).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
NOTE: The earliest known painting of an American butterfly is of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, supposedly painted by John White, a member of Sir Walter Raleigh’s 1587 expedition to this country. The drawing was published in 1634 as a black-and-white woodcut. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is the state butterfly of Alabama.
RELATED SPECIES: The Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) is very similar to the Eastern Tiger, bearing only one tail, but its range barely enters the state around El Paso. The Two-tailed Tiger (P. multicaudata) and Three-tailed Tiger (P. pilumnus) are similar to the Eastern Tiger in coloring but have more tails. Range of the Two-tailed is mostly in Regions 1, 6, and 7, while the Three-tailed is only in the lowermost portion of Region 5 with occasional sightings in the southwestern portion of Region 7.
Palamedes Swallowtail(Papilio palamedes)
Family: Swallowtail (Papilionidae)
Size: 4-1/2–5-1/8 inches
Broods: Two or more
Flight time: February–November
Overwinters: Chrysalis
Range: 3, 4, 6
A large, slow-flying denizen of more moist wooded or semishaded gardens, this splendid Swallowtail sails among the shrubbery, casually taking nectar from many species of flowers. These Swallowtails often congregate in showy numbers where there are good stands of flowers such as Pickerel Weed (Pontederia cordata), Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus), Summer Phlox (Phlox paniculata), Argentina Verbena (Verbena bonariensis), or azaleas (Rhododendron spp.).
PALAMEDES SWALLOWTAIL
There are several Swallowtails with similar coloring and markings, but the Palamedes is distinguished by its large size, the upper surface of the hindwings bearing an unbroken yellow band, and a long, creamy-yellow to orange-red stripe on the lower surface of the wings along the base and parallel to the body. This stripe is large and easily seen as the insect is feeding, for usually in taking nectar, it does not rest on the flower but hovers above the blossom with fluttering wings, lightly grasping the petals with its feet. Another identifying marking is the large abdomen conspicuously striped in black and yellow.
EGG: Smooth, pale yellowish or greenish; laid singly on the undersurface of young leaf.
CATERPILLAR: Young larvae blotched brown and white, shiny; mature larvae green on upper portion of body, velvety brown or buff on lower side; portion of body behind head enlarged and with two black eyespots circled in orange, two smaller yellow spots behind these “eyes,” rest of body covered with small blue dots circled in black; rests in a shelter constructed by making a bed of silk along the midrib on upper surface of a leaf and drawing the sides together.
CHRYSALIS: Mottled greenish; held upright by silken pad and silk thread around body.
FOOD PLANTS: Red Bay (Persea borbonia), Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Sweet-bay (Magnolia virginiana), and the cultivated avocado (Persea americana).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
NOTE: In some areas Palamedes Swallowtails roost communally at night with several taking shelter together high in the branches of tall Red Bay trees. More commonly associated with the swampy, steamy Big Thicket area, this butterfly can also be found in rare, local sites of the dry, rocky Hill Country and along the salt-laden Gulf Coast.
Pipevine Swallowtail
(Battus philenor)
Family: Swallowtail (Papilionidae)
Size: 2-3/4–5 inches
Broods: Five to six
Flight time: March–November (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
The Pipevine is one of the most common, plainer, or less marked of the Swallowtails. The upper surface of the forewings is a soft velvety black, and the hindwings are overlaid with metallic blue or turquoise scales. The metallic sheen on the wings of the male is usually brighter and covers a larger area than on the female. Two rows of very narrow, somewhat inconspicuous, creamy to yellow dashes rim the margins of both wings but are usually more prominent on the hindwings. The lower surface of the hindwing has a wide row of large orangish-red dots bordered with bands of metallic blue scaling.
Retaining some of the poisonous properties of its larval food plant, this butterfly is most unpalatable to its bird and lizard predators. Three other Swallowtails—the Spicebush (Pterourus troilus), females of the Eastern Black (Papilio polyxenes asterius), and black females of the Eastern Tiger (P. glaucus)—along with the Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis), have evolved their coloring to closely resemble the Pipevine, obtaining protection through this mimicry. The dark-phased female of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is the closest in coloring and markings, but the Eastern Tiger can instantly be recognized by the bright orange spots on the upper surface of the hindwings near the tip of the abdomen, which are lacking in the Pipevine. Scent scales of the male Pipevine Swallowtail are in a slender, pocketlike depression along the inner edge of the hindwings and are quite noticeable on close inspection. Like the Monarch’s (Danaus plexippus), the body of the Pipevine Swallowtail is very tough, enabling it to survive after being bitten or “tasted.” As an added protection, glands within the orangishred dots along the abdomen emit an acrid, unpleasant odor when the insect is molested.
The Pipevine Swallowtail has a swift flight but stops often to visit flowers. This butterfly seems to prefer pink to purple hues, although yellows and oranges are almost as readily used. Some of its favorite early-spring nectar sources are fruit tree blossoms, Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii), and azaleas (Rhododendron spp.). Summer will find it nectaring on Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa), Summer Phlox (Phlox paniculata), Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia), and various verbenas (Verbena spp.), lantanas (Lantana spp.), and liatris (Liatris spp.). Favorite fall sources include Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium fistulosum), Golden Crownbeard (Verbesina encelioides), and ironweed (Vernonia spp.).
PIPEVINE SWALLOWTAIL
During the day male Pipevine Swallowtails readily seek mud puddles and spend much time there.
EGG: Spherical, large, reddish-brown; laid singly or in small clusters of up to twenty on underside of host leaf, along leafstalk, or occasionally along stem of plant. Although each grouping usually consists of only a few eggs, almost every leaf and stem of the plant may be utilized.
CATERPILLAR: Young, brownish-colored larvae remain in small groups during the first two or three instars, dispersing as they become older; mature larva soft-bodied, ranging in color from almost orange to dark maroon; long, floppy tubercles extend along body, with two much longer ones on segment of body just behind head; feeds at night and during the day; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Greenish beneath with mottled yellowish patches on top portion; supported upright or horizontally from silken mat and silk strand around body.
FOOD PLANTS: All native species of Aristolochia are used as well as most cultivated spec0ies, especially Fringed Pipevine (A. fimbriata). The female occasionally lays eggs on the cultivar Elegant Pipevine (A. elegans), but young larvae will die on it. In the last in-stars (or almost-mature stages), the larvae can survive on this plant, although they do not like it much.
PARTS EATEN: Foliage or, in some instances, the entire aboveground portions of food plant.
NOTE: Large, loose groups of Pipevine Swallowtails often roost at night in a tree or large-leaved shrub, hanging from branches and undersides of leaves.
Eastern Black Swallowtail
(Papilio polyxenes asterius)
Family: Swallowtail (Papilionidae)
Size: 3-1/4–4-1/4 inches
Broods: Three or more
Flight time: February–November
Overwinters: Chrysalis
Range: Throughout
The Eastern Black Swallowtail is adapted to many situations within open country. This is a common butterfly of fields and meadows, cultivated farmland, parks, golf courses, and flower gardens. It seems to show no preference between dry uplands and moist marshes, as long as the area is open and not wooded.
A great lover of flowers, it likes to lazily drift among the plants, taking nectar and pausing frequently to bask with wings fully outspread. It is especially attracted to gardens that have both plentiful flowers and good stands of its favored cultivated larval food plants. Favored nectar plants include blossoms of fruit trees such as apple (Malus pumila) and peach (Prunus persica), along with various thistles (Cirsium spp.), zinnias (Zinnia spp.), and lantanas (Lantana spp.), Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium fistulosum), Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), Summer Phlox (Phlox paniculata), and Blue Mist flower (Conoclinium coelestinum).
EASTERN BLACK SWALLOWTAIL
Female Eastern Black Swallowtails closely mimic the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor), gaining an advantage from the Pipevine’s toxicity. Upper wing surfaces are mostly black with one or two rows of creamy to bright yellow spots bordering both wings, especially those of males. These bands of yellow spots are sometimes absent or very faint in the female. The rows of spots are separated on the hindwings by a narrow wash of metallic blue. Lower wing surfaces of both sexes are similar to those of the Spicebush Swallowtail (Pterourus troilus), being black with two rows of orange-red spots separated by a band of widely spaced smudged blue spots. A solitary large, black-centered red or orangish spot near the outer angle of each hindwing occurs on both upper and lower surfaces. Rows of small yellow dots line the black abdomen.
Eastern Black Swallowtails are often seen in moist areas or around mud puddles, methodically sucking up the moisture with its accumulated salts. To seek mates, a male patrols a chosen area or occasionally claims a perching place from which to fly out to inspect whatever passes by. He changes his perching site frequently, usually not using the same space more than two or three days. The female flies to a hilltop (or to the highest terrain around) to mate, with a male usually in pursuit. Once at the mating ground, the male and female flutter near one another briefly, then land, where they copulate. If the female lives longer than a week, she often mates a second time. The number of broods produced often depends on the availability of larval food plants.
EGG: Round to somewhat oval, smooth, cream to yellowish; laid singly on a flower bud or leaf of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Young larva may be various shades of brown, or perhaps black and white with a wide white saddle across back; mature larva primarily pale green to whitish with wide, crosswise bands of black, the bands interspersed with yellow dots or slashes; larvae do not eat cast skin after molting, as is common with many species.
CHRYSALIS: In summer can be of camouflaging shades of green or tannish mottled with darker browns and blacks; overwintering fall form usually of camouflaged mottled dark brown or blackish; two short projections on head; supported upright from silk mat and silk strand around body.
FOOD PLANTS: Nuttall’s Mock Bishop’s-weed (Ptilimnium nuttallii), Ribbed Mock Bishop’s-weed (P. costatum), Thread-leaf Mock Bishop’s-weed (P. capillaceum), Spreading Scale-seed (Spermolepis inermis), Texas Dutchman’s-breeches (Thamnosma texana), and the cultivated common fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), dill (Anethum graveolens), and parsley (Petroselinum crispum) seem to be favored food plants. Other natives less commonly used include Nuttall’s Prairie Parsley (Polytaenia nuttallii), Anise-root (Osmorhiza longistylis), Forked Scale-seed (Spermolepis divaricata), Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota), Rattlesnake Weed (D. pusillus), Stalked Berula (Berula erecta), Spotted Water-hemlock (Cicuta maculata), Water Parsnip (Sium suave), Wild Celery (Apium graveolens), Wild Chervil (Cryptotaenia canadensis), Yellow Pimpernel (Taenidia integerrima), and the cultivated garden rue (Ruta graveolens), fringed rue (R. chalapensis), and parsnip (Pastinaca sativa).
PARTS EATEN: Flowers and immature seedpods preferred but will consume almost all aboveground parts of plant except tough stems.
NOTE: Queen Anne’s Lace is often listed as a food source (and is included here), but I have yet to find a caterpillar on this rough plant.
Spicebush Swallowtail
(Pterourus troilus)
Family: Swallowtail (Papilionidae)
Size: 3–4 inches
Broods: Two or more
Flight time: March–November
Overwinters: Chrysalis
Range: 2, 3, 4, 6
The Spicebush is a beautiful butterfly with a majestic flight, covering ground quite rapidly when the need arises. Ordinarily, though, it flies about with an up-and-down motion, frequently sailing with motionless, outspread wings and veering around as if guided by the tails. It is usually quite wary, whether in flight or feeding, and not easily approached.
Often seen about edges of woodlands, along banks of streams, and in open fields and flower gardens, the Spicebush Swallowtail seeks out the lower-growing flowers. All the Swallowtails seem to prefer flowers that form heads or clusters, such as Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii), Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium fistulosum), Summer Phlox (Phlox paniculata), various lantanas (Lantana spp.), and liatris (Liatris spp.). When a Swallowtail finds choice plants, it remains for long periods, going from one flower cluster to another. While feeding, it continues to flutter its wings, lightly grasping the flowers with the feet. It has been suggested that the Swallowtails do this in order not to tip the flower with their heavier bodies and perhaps spill the nectar.
Spicebush Swallowtails are also great moisture lovers and frequently congregate around mud puddles and patches of moist dirt or along the edge of a stream.
SPICEBUSH SWALLOWTAIL
In coloration this butterfly mimics the unpalatable Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor), but the Spicebush Swallowtail differs in having a more complete row of large white or pale bluish spots along the edges of both fore- and hindwings on the upper surface (dots on the Pipevine Swallowtail are very small or nonexistent). Also, the iridescent sheen of the hindwings is reduced to a wide band on the Spicebush. In the female this sheen is a lovely blue; in the male it has a distinct greenish cast. A prominent round spot of orange-red occurs on the trailing margin of each hindwing near the outer angle, but these can rarely be seen in flight. There are two rows of orange or red dots on the lower surface of the hindwing, instead of one row as on the Pipevine Swallowtail.
EGG: Round, smooth, greenish-white; laid singly on underside of food plant leaf.
CATERPILLAR: Green above, with pale tan or grayish-beige beneath; rows of small blue dots cover body; two large yellow or orange eye-spots on enlarged, “humped” portion of body behind the head, one pair the largest and with large black dots forming pupil of the “eye”; mature caterpillars large; larvae feed at night and rest during the day on a silken mat on upper surface of a leaf with sides of leaf pulled together.
CHRYSALIS: Mottled greenish to tannish or various browns; two short projections on head; attached upright, horizontally, or occasionally head downward, from silken mat and silken thread around body.
FOOD PLANTS: Red Bay (Persea borbonia), Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Sweet-bay (Magnolia virginiana), Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), Spicebush (Lindera benzoin), and the introduced Camphor Tree (Cinnamo-mum camphora).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
Zebra Swallowtail
(Eurytides marcellus)
Family: Swallowtail (Papilionidae)
Size: 2-1/2–4 inches
Broods: Three or more
Flight time: February–November
Overwinters: Chrysalis
Range: 3
Descriptively named the “Zebra” Swallowtail from its distinctive coloration, this butterfly is the only native representative in North America of a group known as the “Kite” butterflies because of their long, slender tails. The triangular-shaped wings are sharply striped in black and greenish-white, beautifully accented with red and blue dots on both surfaces of the wings near the very long tails. A brilliant red stripe occurs about midway on the lower hindwing.
ZEBRA SWALLOWTAIL
This beauty remains low to the ground in flight. Although it flaps its wings slowly, because of its size it moves very quickly and with an erratic, bobbing motion. It does not remain long in one place but flits from flower to flower, sipping briefly. Males are especially fond of congregating in groups at mud puddles and will remain at some length, sipping the enriched moisture.
Zebras show a variation of color during the season. Brood relationships are extremely complex and in the past have been given different names by various authors. Early-spring forms have short wings and short tails and are the palest in coloration; this brood is the most numerous. Summer forms are larger, with darker coloring and longer wings and tails. Butterflies that emerge latest in the season are the largest and darkest of all. Some larvae from each brood hibernate until the next year, causing still more confusion in the coloring of those seen on the wing.
There is no mimicry involved with this species, and although they are palatable to all forms of predators, their worst enemy seems to be spiders, both the ones that lie in wait on flowers and the web builders.
This butterfly does not seem to adapt very well to urban development, needing wilderness conditions for breeding. However, if some larval food plants are provided in gardens near natural stands of pawpaw (Asimina spp.), the female readily uses them along with the wild plants for depositing eggs.
Zebra Swallowtails rarely emigrate, usually remaining in the area of the earlier stages of their life cycle.
EGG: Pale green; deposited singly on underside of food plant leaf.
CATERPILLAR: Pale green with crosswise rows of tiny black dots and narrow bands of pale yellow and blue; wider and darker bands of yellow, black, and blue occur on larger, “humped” portion of abdomen directly behind the head; some larvae may be mostly black, with narrow orange and white lines across the body and with the head solid black; rests on underside of a leaf or at base of plant; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Brownish to blackish, mottled in various tans, browns, and blacks, resembles piece of wood; rests upright from silken mat and silken strand around middle.
FOOD PLANTS: Tall Pawpaw (A. triloba) and Dwarf Pawpaw (A. parviflora).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
NOTE: Both the male and female often use the underside of pawpaw leaves for roosting at night and resting during inclement weather.
Arizona Sister (Eulalia Sister)
(Adelpha eulalia)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 3–5 inches
Broods: Two or more
Flight time: April–October
Overwinters: Caterpillar
Range: 1, 2, 6, 7 (5)
Usually seen only when gliding high among oak trees (Quercus spp.), the Arizona Sister spends much time patrolling moist canyons, gullies, or oak-covered hillsides and woodlands while seeking mates. They are fond of basking and frequently alight on sun-drenched rocks to soak up the much-needed warmth. While not an avid nectar feeder, if some rich source such as Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), Texas Colubrina (Colubrina texensis), Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii), or Sweet Almond Verbena (Aloysia virgata) is sighted in the garden, they visit often and partake deeply of the sweet liquid. They also readily take nutrients from moist soils, fruit, and aphid honeydew.
The Arizona Sister is one of the largest and most gorgeous of our western species, with upper wings velvety dark brownish-black, the forewing with three large white spots and a large, startling orange-red patch near the tip. Hindwings are marked with a wide, slanting white band, tapering to a point near the lower edge of the wing. Below, the wings are of soft, muted colors, appearing “washed” or somewhat indistinct. A group of two short blue bands and one orange band occurs on upper wings, while the lower bears a distinct row of blue crescents along the margin and an interrupted blue line bordering the wide white band.
EGG: Surface of small, six-sided cells and covered in minute hairs, pale green; laid singly on margin of leaf near base of spine.
CATERPILLAR: Well-camouflaged, dark green on upperside and along sides, olive-brown beneath, or sometimes yellow-orange; both forms with four to six pairs of green, spiny, elongated knobs, the pair near head the longest; forms resting perch by extending frass pellets with silk from tip of leaf.
CHRYSALIS: Head with two short horns extending forward, pale brown or tannish, with fine, brown and metallic gold streaks and markings; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: The oaks, Bur (Q. macrocarpa), Emory (Q. emoryi), Gambel (Q. gambelii), and Plateau Live Oak (Q. virginiana var. fusiformis).
ARIZONA SISTER (EULALIA SISTER)
PARTS EATEN: Young foliage on young trees or “sprouts.”
NOTE: The Arizona Sister has a curious habit of finding formerly moist areas or places where some chemically rich substance once existed, then spitting a fluid on the area. By doing so, micro particles of nutrients are dissolved. The butterfly then “drinks” or “sucks up” the enriched moisture.
Monarch
(Danaus plexippus)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 3-3/8–4-5/8 inches
Broods: One to three
Flight time: March–May and September–December
Overwinters: Adult in Mexico
Range: Throughout
MONARCH (female)
The Monarch is probably the best-known and most easily recognized butterfly in North America. The upper surface of the wings is a rich burnt-orange with black veins and borders, the borders liberally sprinkled with a double row of small white dots. The male also has a conspicuous black hindwing dot, which is a cluster of special scent scales. From these scales the male can emit a strong fragrance that attracts nearby females for mating. Females lack these black scent scales and are generally a little darker in color. The lower wing surface of both sexes is paler, duskier orange, with a black, white-dotted marginal border.
Moving in a slow, rather deliberate, soaring flight, Monarchs begin to return from their Mexico wintering grounds in early March, just as milkweeds (Asclepias spp.), the larval food plants, are showing fresh young growth. Females have mated before leaving their wintering grounds, and by the time they reach Texas, they are ready to begin depositing their eggs. A few males may be intermingled with the females, but they will soon die with few if any making a very long journey northward.
Monarch larvae feed on many species of Asclepias as well as some other genera of the Milkweed Family. Most members of this family are poisonous; the plants contain cardiac glycosides, or heart poisons. These chemicals are carried over from the larval stage to the adult butterfly, especially in the female, making the insect unpalatable to predators. However, some species of Asclepias and other related genera have very low toxin concentrations, leaving the adult butterfly relatively unprotected. Given a choice, a female Monarch finds the most poisonous plants on which to lay her eggs.
During the breeding season, the Monarch’s favorite habitats are open fields, meadows, and flower gardens. It is a great lover of flower nectar and freely visits many different species. In the fall it seems especially fond of Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), Crucita (Chromolaena odorata), Virginia Frostweed (Verbesina virginica), Giant Ironweed (Vernonia gigantea), Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia), and various lantanas (Lantana spp.), goldenrods (Solidago spp.), and verbenas (Verbena spp.). In many instances, milkweed serves as both the larval food source and favored nectar source. Butterflies are one of the pollinators of milkweed, as can be observed from the not infrequent presence of pollen bundles dangling from their legs.
The Monarch has a strong, powerful flight and moves among flowering plants with much deliberation. Its sight is exceptional, and it is not easily approached, especially in the spring. On the southward migration during autumn, Monarchs are often tired and anxious to feed, so they can be observed more closely at this time.
EGG: Short, cone-shaped, with many lengthwise ridges and crosslines, creamy to pale green; usually laid singly on undersurface of leaf; if plant is large, more than one leaf often used.
CATERPILLAR: Conspicuously striped crosswise with narrow black, yellow, and white bands, and with two long, black, threadlike, fleshy filaments near the head and two shorter filaments near the rear; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Rounded, bluish-green with row of small gold dots and narrow bands of black and gold near top; hangs downward from silken pad.
FOOD PLANTS: Various members of the Milkweed Family, especially Antelope-horns Milkweed (A. asperula), Green Milkweed (A. viridis), Prairie Milkweed (A. oenotheroides), and the cultivated Tropical Milkweed (A. curassavica). Probably many other species are used, as well as Climbing Milkweed Vine (Funastrum cynanchoides) and Net-leaf Milkvine (Matelea reticulata). Butterfly Weed (A. tuberosa) is often listed as a food plant, but because of its roughness and a very low concentration of toxins, it is less commonly used.
NOTE: The fall Monarch migration is a familiar sight to most people, especially to those traveling during this period. The insects commonly move southward with cold fronts, similar to the movements of geese. In some areas at certain times, there are continuous, seemingly unending lines often a mile or more wide.
During these autumn movements, Monarchs spend the nights roosting in trees in large groups. Each evening near sunset they begin dropping from the sky to settle on lower tree leaves and branches. Incredibly, the same trees are used year after year. This phenomenon is as unexplainable as the Monarchs’ eventual return to exactly the same spot and Oyamel Fir (Abies religiosa) trees where their ancestors had spent the previous winter in Mexico.
The Monarch is the official insect of Texas, listed in 1995.
RELATED SPECIES: The more coastal-occurring Queen (Danaus gilippus thersippus) and Soldier (D. eresimus) also feed on milkweed and related plants in the larval stage and are toxic to most predators. They do not migrate but spend the winter in the pupal or adult stage. The nonpoisonous Viceroy (Limenitis archippus), which belongs to another family and uses entirely different food plants in the larval stage, has evolved coloration similar to the Monarch’s and thereby gains even more protection.
Viceroy
(Limenitis archippus)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 2-1/2–3-1/8 inches
Broods: Two or more
Flight time: April–November (all year)
Overwinters: Third instar caterpillar (adult)
Range: Throughout
Of the same genus as the Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis), which mimics the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) for protection, the Viceroy is totally different in coloration and here in Texas, mimics the poisonous Monarch (Danaus plexippus). In the southeastern states it often mimics the various color phases of the Queen (D. gilippus thersippus), which is also toxic and distasteful and often may be more common than the Monarch. General coloration of the Viceroy, above and below, is a rich, russet-orange with conspicuously wide, black venation. A distinctive black line curves across the lower wings above the black-bordered margins. Both wings are bordered in wide, white-dotted black bands with a group of white dots near the tips of the forewings.
VICEROY
The Viceroy is very fond of a wide variety of flowers but is especially attracted to white-flowered ones such as Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), Mountain-mint (Pycnanthemum incanum), and the fall-flowering vine Climbing Hempweed (Mikania scandens). While nectaring, the Viceroy usually keeps its wings partially expanded, differing from the Monarch, which usually feeds with its wings closed. Taking advantage of the sun’s warmth, Viceroys can frequently be seen basking with half- or fully opened wings.
Flight consists of a series of rather rapid wing beats alternating with a period of gliding, enabling the insect to cover ground in a slow, erratic pattern. This butterfly prefers open fields, meadows, and sunny gardens but likes a bit of moisture. It is one of the most commonly seen species along open, sunny stream banks or along edges of marshes if there are flowering plants around. Not only does the Viceroy take nectar readily but it also sips moisture from sap, mud, rotting wood, fungi, dung, and insect honeydew.
EGG: Dome-shaped, flattened on bottom, covered in minute protrusions, pale green or yellow; laid singly, usually on upper side of tips of young leaves of food plant; deposition in midafternoon.
CATERPILLAR: Mature larva mottled brown and olive, with creamy white saddle patch on the back, shiny, resembling fresh bird dropping; region behind head enlarged or “humped” with two short, feathery black horns.
CHRYSALIS: Mottled brownish and whitish, conspicuous rounded disk projecting from abdomen; first brood(s) hangs downward from silken mat; last (fall) brood spends winter in rolled-up leaf attached to food plant tree.
FOOD PLANTS: Black Willow (Salix nigra), Carolina Willow (S. caroliniana), Sandbar Willow (S. exigua), Cottonwood (Populus deltoides), Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina), the cultivated Weeping Willow (S. babylonica), Silver-leaf Poplar (Populus alba), apple (Malus pumila), and pear (Pyrus communis). Probably all species of willow are used as well as many other plants not listed here.
PARTS EATEN: First spring larvae often feed at night on catkins (inflorescences) of some tree species; later in the season larvae eat tips of leaves, preferably young ones.
NOTE: The Viceroy was previously thought to have derived all its protection from imitating the coloration of other poisonous species, but it is now known that willow, the preferred food plant of the Viceroy, also contains poisonous compounds, thus making the Viceroy somewhat unpalatable in its own right.
There are two subspecies in Texas—L. a. watsoni from the east to Central Texas and L. a. obsoleta in far West Texas (Big Bend area).
Red-spotted Purple
(Limenitis arthemis)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 2-1/4–4 inches
Broods: One to three
Flight time: March–November
Overwinters: Third instar caterpillar
Range: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7
Commonly seen flying along forest edges, woodland paths, and water courses, the Red-spotted Purple is a great lover of flowers and visits parks and gardens where good nectar sources are available. Not being particular about food choices, it can just as readily be seen feeding on sap, fruit, decaying wood or fungi, insect honeydew, dung, or dead animals.
When mating, the male does not patrol but chooses a perch in the open on trees or tall bushes and waits for the female to fly by. Similar to the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) in its plainness and lack of conspicuous markings, the Red-spotted Purple is nevertheless very striking with a beautiful iridescent sheen of blue across the outer portion of the black wings on the upper surface. The blue is a bit darker and most noticeable on the basal portion of the hindwings. Faint, iridescent reddish patches near the tips of the forewings are visible under certain lighting. The undersurface is distinguished by a cluster of red markings near the body in addition to a row along the outer white- and black-banded margins. When trying to separate the two in the field, note the absence of tails on the Red-spotted Purple.
RED-SPOTTED PURPLE
Even though it is in an entirely different family, the Red-spotted Purple has evolved to mimic the poisonous Pipevine Swallowtail and thus obtains protection from birds and other predators.
EGG: Dome-shaped, flattened on bottom, pitted, covered in minute protrusions, grayish- to pale green; laid singly on upperside tip of young leaves of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Brownish, reddish, or greenish with white or cream saddle patch on the back, warty; area behind the head white, enlarged or “humped,” and bearing two small, brushlike horns or bristles; eats both night and day; rests on top of leaf or along stem; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Yellowish-brown, mottled in dark greens and grays; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Cottonwood (Populus deltoides), Carolina Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), Eastern Hop-hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina), Choke Cherry (P. virginiana), Deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum), and the cultivated Silver-leaf Poplar (Populus alba), apple (Malus pumila), and pear (Pyrus communis).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage, preferably young or immature.
RELATED SPECIES: There are two subspecies in the state, with the eastern subspecies shown here (L. a. astyanax) ranging west as far as Real County and the westernmost subspecies (L. a. arizonensis) occurring west of the Pecos River.
Malachite
(Siproeta stelenes biplagiata)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 3-1/4–4 inches
Broods: Two or more
Flight time: October–December (all year)
Overwinters: Adult
Range: 5 (4, 6, 7)
A freshly emerged Malachite is one of the most beautiful of butterflies. Unfortunately, the green coloring of the wing scales fades in the sunlight and is not nearly so brilliant within a day or so after emergence. There is no mistaking the Malachite for any other, though, for the green and brownish markings are very distinctive. The dark chocolate or brownish-black on the upper wing surface is richly spotted and banded with dark jade or emerald-green. The lower wing surface is beautifully patterned in tawny-orange or rusty-brown, with large spots and wide bands of a lighter, pearly-green. A short but prominent tail is present on the hindwings. Females are usually paler in coloring than the males.
MALACHITE
Malachites frequent flower gardens and can be seen even in cool weather visiting favorite nectar sources. For this beauty, have an abundance of Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra), Crucita (Chromolaena odorata), Queen’s Wreath (Antigon leptopus), White-flowered Plumbago (Plumbago scandens), Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinea), lantana (Lantana spp.), and verbena (Verbena spp.) in the garden. In Mexico one of the best flowers for nectaring is Male Mujer (Cnidoscolus palmeri), a member of the Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae). It is closely related to the more familiar Bull Nettle (C. texanus) and, like the Bull Nettle, is clothed with stinging hairs. This butterfly also makes use of various other substances as food sources, such as mud, dung, rotting fruit, and rotting leaf litter. At night, several adults roost communally on the undersides of leaves and branches on low shrubbery.
In seeking females with which to mate, the male perches on vegetation and waits for passing females or will occasionally patrol an area, slowly flying back and forth.
EGG: Dark green, laid singly or in small groups of two or three on lower surface of very young food plant leaves or plant seedlings.
CATERPILLAR: Head with two long, red or black horns curving backward; body velvety black with many branching spines.
CHRYSALIS: Two small horns on head, two rows of short, gold, spikey tubercules on body, pale yellowish-green, covered with powdery “bloom”; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Violet Ruellia (Ruellia nudiflora), American Water-willow (Justicia americana), Runyon’s Water-willow (J. runyonii), Hooker’s Plantain (Plantago hookeriana), Red-seed Plantain (P. rhodosperma), Virginia Plantain (P. virginica), and Green Shrimp Plant (Blechum pyramidatum). Possibly Downy Water-willow (J. pilosella) and probably many other species of Ruellia are used.
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
Mourning Cloak
(Nymphalis antiopa)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 2-1/4–3-3/4 inches
Broods: One
Flight time: January–May and September–December
Overwinters: Adult
Range: Throughout
Largest and most striking of the Anglewings, the Mourning Cloak has an extraordinary range, covering most of the Northern Hemisphere from Alaska to South America and straying to England, where it is known as the Camberwell Beauty.
The coloring and pattering of this butterfly are distinctive, the wings primarily a rich brownish-maroon overlaid with a shimmering purplish sheen. Wing margins are conspicuously angled and rimmed in a pale, velvety yellow border with an inner row of large, brilliant blue spots. The undersurface of the wings is dull, grayish-black with an irregular, dirty cream or pale yellowish border.
MOURNING CLOAK
Its flight is strong and erratic, but the insect will often remain on the ground until almost stepped on, then leap into the air in a circling flight, only to settle down again close to its original position. This flight is often accompanied by a rattling noise and then a loud conspicuous click as it closes its wings on alighting. The Mourning Cloak has a habit of resting on tree trunks or posts, head downward with wings closed over the back, but often basks on the ground or on low shrubbery in the sun with wings expanded. When resting on the ground with wings closed, it is almost impossible to see.
Mourning Cloaks are one of the hibernators but can often be seen flying around on sunny days during the winter even though there may be snow on the ground. They often come forth for a bit of tree sap and then retreat to a crack or crevice until the next “warm” day. They are one of the first butterflies to visit sap flows in the early spring, and trees that have been “tapped” by the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) are especially favored feeding sites. Mourning Cloaks generally are not frequent visitors to flowers, preferring open woodlands, but they will occasionally be seen around Frostweed (Verbesina microptera), Tooth-leaved Goldeneye (Viguiera dentata), or asters (Symphotrichum spp.), usually later in the year. They are especially fond of nectar from the flowers of various milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) and goldenrods (Solidago spp.). During the hot days of summer, Mourning Cloaks estivate, remaining dormant until fall. With cooler days they emerge to feed and store fats for winter hibernation.
EGG: Whitish, becoming darker before hatching; laid in one layer of two hundred or more, forming a wide band around twig of food plant tree.
CATERPILLAR: Velvety black with raised white dots and several rows of branching black spines or bristles on the body and with row of red spots along the back; caterpillars remain in groups until pupation, raising their heads and thrashing about in unison if disturbed; often leave the feeding area en masse to pupate.
CHRYSALIS: Mottled pale brown to grayish-black, covered with bluish-gray, powdery “bloom”; short “horns” on head, many tubercles on body; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Black Willow (Salix nigra), Carolina Willow (S. caroliniana), Sandbar Willow (S. exigua), Arizona Cottonwood (Populus fremontii), Cottonwood (P. deltoides), Carolina Basswood (Tilia americana), American Elm (Ulmus americana), Slippery Elm (U. rubra), Western Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), Net-leaf Hackberry (C. laevigata var. reticulata), Red Mulberry (Morus rubra), White Ash (Fraxinus americana), Berlandier’s Ash (F. berlandieriana), Eastern Hop-hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), and the cultivated Weeping Willow (S. babylonica), Siberian Elm (U. pumila), and Silver-leaf Popular (Populus alba), as well as the cultivated pear (Pyrus communis).
PARTS EATEN: Young foliage.
NOTE: The Mourning Cloak is our longest-lived butterfly, with some adults surviving up to almost a year.
Zebra Longwing
(Heliconius charithonius vazquezae)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 2-3/4–3-3/4 inches
Broods: Two or more (several)
Flight time: April–December (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (1, 7)
This butterfly belongs to a very small subfamily with most species in the Tropics. The Zebra Longwing is our most distinctively marked and colored member, with bold black and yellow zebra stripes across the upper surface of the long, narrow wings. Two rows of yellow dots border the lower margins of the hindwings. The lower surface of both wings is much paler, with a cluster of bright crimson spots near bases of both wings. Banding is similar on the lower surface, but the yellow becomes more creamy-colored and the red is replaced with a beautiful rosy-pink patch decorating the tip of the hindwing.
ZEBRA LONGWING
The Zebra Longwing does not usually stray far from its place of emergence but may occasionally wander widely from spring to fall. Its flight is rather slow, with more sailing and drifting than flapping of the wings, but when disturbed or alarmed, it can move quickly and usually darts into low shrubbery. It prefers white, bluish, or purplish flowers such as Climbing Plumbago (Plumbago scan-dens), Crucita (Chromolaena odorata), Gregg’s Mistflower (Conoclinium dissectum), Trailing Lantana (Lantana montevidensis), and Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida), as well as sand-verbena (Abronia spp.).
The Zebra Longwing and the Crimson-patched Longwing (H. erato petiverana) are the only two known breeding butterflies in the state with the ability to use pollen as a food source. Gathering minute amounts of pollen on the knobby tip of the proboscis, the butterfly releases a drop of fluid to dissolve the pollen; the insect is then able to drink the liquid in the usual manner. Pollen is extremely rich in protein, and this special food enables the female to lay an unusually large number of eggs—up to one thousand eggs over a long lifetime of three months or more.
Adults choose low shrubbery for roosting, with both males and females gathering in small groups and returning to the same site night after night. Longwings are thought to be the most intelligent among the butterflies, as shown by freshly emerged Longwings readily learning locations of good flower sources and communal roosting sites by association with the older insects.
The male chooses only a small territory for patrolling for females. He is also attracted to female pupae by scent; just before the female is ready to emerge, the male opens her shell with his abdomen and mates with the still unreleased female. He then deposits a repellent chemical or pheromone on the tip of the female’s abdomen, which repels other males and thereby prevents her from mating again.
EGG: Ribbed, pale yellow, becoming darker; laid singly or in occasional clusters on very young terminal leaves.
CATERPILLAR: Pure white dotted with brownish-black, with six rows of branching, shiny black spines; larvae feed at night; make no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Mottled tans and browns, dotted with gold and silver, several “winged” areas and covered with numerous short spines; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: The passionflowers, Purple (Passiflora incarnata), Bracted (P. affinis), Corky-stemmed (P. suberosa), Slender-lobe (P. tenuiloba), Red-fruited (P. foetida), and Yellow (P. lutea).
PARTS EATEN: Especially young leaves but occasionally buds, flowers, tendrils, and young fruits.
NOTE: Even though the Zebra Longwing may breed in certain areas of the state and raise one or more broods there, it neither emigrates southward nor overwinters in another form, so does not survive the first severe freezes.
Gulf Fritillary
(Agraulis vanillae incarnata)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 2-1/2–3-3/4 inches
Broods: Two to several
Flight time: April–December (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
The tropical or semitropical Gulf Fritillary is one of the most common yet spectacular butterflies found in the state. The upper surface of both wings is a bright tawny-orange with prominent black veins and markings, with a group of three silver dots near the body on the forewing. The lower surface of both wings is a soft, rich brown heavily splashed with silver spots and bars. A large patch of coral-pink in the basal portion of the forewing is usually visible, or at least partially so, at all times. To watch a group of these insects as they fly about, flashing their silver in the sun, is a breathtaking sight long remembered.
Genetically placed with the Longwings, which include the Zebra (H. charithonius vazquezae) and Julia (Dryas iulia), the Gulf Fritillary does not have the exceptionally long, narrow wings so characteristic of these other species.
The Gulf Fritillary is a fast flier but usually stays within a few feet of the ground while searching for nectar plants. It is quite addicted to flower visiting and works good nectar sources continually, hardly leaving the plants during the day. It is extremely fond of Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii), Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia), and various zinnias (Zinnia spp.), lantanas (Lantana spp.), thistles (Cirsium spp.), and verbenas (Verbena spp.). This butterfly is one of the few readily attracted to white flowers, and it also visits red-flowered ones. Both of these colors are the least used by most butterflies.
GULF FRITILLARY
If there are several vines of passionflower (Passiflora spp.) in the garden or nearby available as a larval food source, there will be a continuous parade of Gulf Fritillaries during the entire season. Where both larval food and nectar sources are available, there is continual egg laying by the females, with great overlaps of emerging adults.
These insects contain toxic body juices from the poisonous larval food and generally go unmolested by predators. Spiders, however, are voracious predators on both the adults and larvae. For protection during the night, adults often roost in small groups near the ground on blades of grass or on the leaves and lower stems of herbaceous plants.
Adults do not stray far from the larval food plants for most of the year, although they occasionally migrate long distances northward. Breeding is not possible in these regions since Passiflora does not grow in such cold climates.
EGG: Oblong, ribbed, pale yellow, becoming golden-brown; laid singly on practically any part of the food plant but especially on the underside of a leaf.
CATERPILLAR: Head with two much longer backward-curving spines; body striped lengthwise in muddy maroon and bluish-black and covered with branching black spines; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Head with two short points; mottled in various browns and blacks; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Almost all Passiflora, but the native species preferred. The evergreen cultivated Blue Passionflower (P. caerulea) is much utilized where available.
PARTS EATEN: Mostly leaves but sometimes buds, flowers, and young fruit.
NOTE: Where it overwinters as an adult, the Gulf Fritillary becomes greatly reduced in numbers during periods of severe cold. Due to the abundance of native food plants and favorable climatic factors most of the time, though, they are able to reestablish rather quickly.
The Gulf Fritillary is one of the fifteen butterflies now found in Hawaii; they arrived there in 1977 and probably made the journey from California. It is quite possible they were introduced in an attempt to control an invasion of Passiflora that was rampant at the time.
Goatweed Leafwing
(Anaea andria)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 2-3/8–3-1/4 inches
Broods: Two to several
Flight time: March–November (all year)
Overwinters: Adult
Range: Throughout
Belonging to a group commonly referred to as Anglewings or Leafwings, this large, robust butterfly, with an underwing coloring of softly mottled grays or purplish-browns, does much resemble a dried and withered leaf. Tips of the forewings are pointed; the hindwings are somewhat scalloped and with short tails. This irregularity, along with the Goatweed Leafwing’s habit of resting on the ground with wings folded and at a decided slant, adds even more to its illusion of being a fallen leaf. In such a position it is very difficult to see, and it often flies from directly beneath your feet. If captured and handled, it usually “plays possum” by falling over on its side and pretending to be dead. Because it habitually rests on the ground or on tree trunks, when it takes flight, the bright red-orange color of its upper wing surface is quite unexpected, giving it an edge in escaping predators.
GOATWEED LEAFWING
Food fare of the Goatweed Leafwing is usually made up of tree sap, juices of fruits, or moisture from dung, decaying wood, or rotting fungi. Having a rather short proboscis, the butterfly can gain nectar from only a few flower species. This butterfly is an occasional inhabitant of the garden, however, feeding from the more daisylike flowers. When not feeding, it frequently chooses a warm spot on a tree trunk, where it rests head downward.
Last-brood adult Goatweed Leafwings do not die during the cold winter months but become partially inactive, taking refuge inside unheated buildings, behind loose boards or tree bark, or in protected crevices of trees or posts.
EGG: Greenish-cream becoming reddish on top; laid singly on the underside of food plant leaf.
CATERPILLAR: Head with orange horns; body grayish-green, covered in minute points or bumps, tapering toward rear; in later instars, the larva pulls the lengthwise edges of a leaf together, making a loose tent open at both ends; when caterpillar uses smaller-leaved species of Croton, several leaves will be silked together, making a tentlike shelter but with top and bottom portions open.
CHRYSALIS: Blunt, thick, pale green mottled in white and various browns; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Tropic Croton (Croton glandulosus), Texas Croton (C. texensis), Leatherweed Croton (C. pottsii), One-seeded Croton (C. monanthogynus), Silver-leaf Croton (C. argyranthemus), and Woolly Croton (C. capitatus), with the latter seemingly the most preferred.
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
RELATED SPECIES: The similar but darker Tropical Leafwing (A. aidea) is an uncommon resident in the Rio Grande Valley and lower coastal area. A rare stray into the Valley is the Crinkled or Angled Leafwing (Memphis glycerium). Quite unlike any of these in coloration is the Pale-spotted Leafwing (M. pithyusa), which also finds its way occasionally into South Texas. Instead of the orange upper surface of other Texas Leafwings, the Pale-spotted is black above with blue-green iridescence and with a marginal line of white or blue spots on forewings.
Great Southern White
(Ascia monuste)
Family: White/Sulphur (Pieridae)
Size: 2-1/4–3-3/8 inches
Broods: Many
Flight time: May–November (all year)
Overwinters: Adult
Range: 4, 5 (1, 2, 3, 6, 7)
This large, white butterfly lacks any prominent markings on the lower surface of the wings except the veins and some scaling, which are dusted in soft charcoal. The upper surface of wings is strikingly edged with dark gray or black half diamonds. Tips of the antennae of the Great Southern White are a lovely pale blue. Females are of two color forms, depending upon day length; the spring and summer broods, living in longer days, are dark gray, while the late summer and fall broods, living in shorter days, are white like the males.
GREAT SOUTHERN WHITE
Often when areas become overpopulated or food becomes scarce for other reasons, Great Southern Whites migrate northward. During migration flights the insects apparently continue on their course in a steady flight and in an unchanging direction, rarely stopping to nectar at flowers. Otherwise, both males and females sip flower nectar, with the females beginning to feed earlier in the day than the males.
Great Southern Whites are common at all times in the Rio Grande Valley area, where they breed almost throughout the year. They can readily be seen along edges of coastal marshes, on beaches, and in tidewater areas searching for nectar plants or Saltwort (Batis maritima), their larval food plant. Farther inland, they are readily observed in gardens or along roadsides during the warmer months, where they breed but do not winter in any form.
EGG: Elongated but wider in middle, ribbed, pale yellow; laid singly or in clusters of up to fifty on certain food plants; eggs can withstand inundation by salt water for short periods of time.
CATERPILLAR: Gray to brownish-green or yellow with several stripes of maroon, purplish-green, or dark gray, covered with black dots of various sizes and short hairs; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: White or creamy with black dots and markings; rests upright from silken mat and silk strand around body.
FOOD PLANTS: Saltwort along coastline; inland a wide range of both native and cultivated members of the Mustard Family (Cruciferae), such as native Shepherd’s-purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris), Virginia Peppergrass (Lepidium virginicum), Southern Marsh Yellowcress (Rorippa teres), and Clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra). The cultivated Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) and Bird’s Rape (Brassica rapa) are readily used, as well as cultivated broccoli (B. oleraceae var. italica), brussels sprouts (B. o. var. gemmifera), and radish (Raphanus sativus).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
NOTE: The Giant White (Ganyra josephina), also a resident of the Rio Grande Valley area, is similar but is larger (largest of North American Whites) and has a distinctive black spot on both surfaces of upper wings. The Florida White (Glutophrissa drusilla) is distinguished by having long upper wings conspicuously pointed at the tips. Also a resident of the Rio Grande Valley, it prefers shaded hardwoods to the open coastal areas.
Variegated Fritillary
(Euptoieta claudia)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 1-3/4–3-1/8 inches
Broods: Three or more
Flight time: March–October (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
The Variegated Fritillary is a tannish to tawny-orange and black butterfly, with black markings covering the upper surface of both wings in bars, dots, lines, and dashes to form a rather complex pattern. A somewhat narrow, zigzag black band marks the middle of both wings. Lower surfaces of both wings are marked with a mottling of white and brown, with a large orange area on the forewing near the body and a smaller patch on the hind-wing. This insect does not have the silver markings on the lower wing surfaces as do the true Fritillaries.
VARIEGATED FRITILLARY
Relationship to the true Fritillaries is shown through its use of violets and pansies (Viola spp.) as larval food plants. It also shows a close relationship to the Longwings with the larvae using passionflowers (Passiflora spp.) as a food plant. The Variegated Fritillary is known to use a wide assortment of plants other than these, and in some areas it is commonly found on flax (Linum spp.). In order to find the correct food plant, females rapidly move the forelegs about or scratch the plant’s surface, testing and tasting for suitability.
These butterflies are widespread and usually not present in great numbers at any one time in a garden. They are fast fliers and rather far-ranging but readily come to gardens where a good supply of nectar plants is available, remaining longer if proper plants are available for egg deposition. Whether feeding, mating, or searching for plants on which to lay eggs, they usually fly close to the ground in a hovering or darting manner.
EGG: Ribbed, cream to pale green; laid singly on a leaf or stem of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Striped in orange-red and white, the stripes with white and black dashes; six rows of black branching spines lengthwise of body, the front pair larger and pointing forward over the head; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Pearly- to silvery-white, sprinkled with black dots and gold-colored bumps; hangs downward from silken pad.
FOOD PLANTS: In Texas the genus Linum is apparently the most preferred, with almost all species being used. Other food plants include Purple Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), Red-fruited Passionflower (P. foetida), Erect Spiderling (Boerhaavia erecta), Spreading Spiderling (B. intermedia), Scarlet Spiderling (B. coccinea), Purslane (Portulaca umbraticola), Whorled Nod-violet (Hybanthus verticillatus), the cultivated Garden Pansy (Viola × wittrockiana) and Blue Passionflower (P. caerulea), and probably any or all violets.
PARTS EATEN: Leaves, buds, petals, and young fruit.
NOTE: These butterflies occasionally stray as far north as Ontario and Quebec but do not breed there.
Cloudless Sulphur
(Phoebis sennae)
Family: White/Sulphur (Pieridae)
Size: 2-1/4–3-3/8 inches
Broods: One to several
Flight time: February–December (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
One of the largest and most common of the Sulphurs, this denizen of open, sunny places is distinctive and impressive when seen. The upper surface of the wings is clear, bright yellow, unmarked in males; the forewings have a solitary square or diamond-shaped spot near the middle of the wings in females. Some summer broods of Cloudless Sulphur females may be almost white, while fall broods have varying amounts of black markings along outer margins. The lower surface is yellow with small brownish markings; the female is darker and more heavily marked. Each wing bears one or two small whitish or translucent spots near the middle.
A very strong flier, the Cloudless Sulphur moves about the garden very rapidly. If approached too closely, it will fly for quite a distance before coming to rest again. These butterflies are frequent visitors to gardens and can be seen working flowers throughout the day. They are much more common, and come to the garden in greater numbers, during late summer and fall months.
Although not able to tolerate cold northern winters, Cloudless Sulphurs migrate northward each summer, rearing two or more broods where breeding conditions are favorable. By the end of summer, local southern populations may also have built to intolerable numbers, at which times they migrate northward in large groups. They may travel as far north as Canada. With the arrival of cooler temperatures many perish; however, others begin a return flight southward, where at least some of them overwinter. Their impressive flights can be seen in many areas each fall but are never as spectacular in numbers or frequency as the migratory flights of the Monarchs (Danaus plexippus).
CLOUDLESS SULPHUR
Since the Cloudless Sulphur is found in almost every open habitat, plants used for nectaring are very diverse. Some of the most common ones include Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii), Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), Pentas (Pentas lanceolata), lantanas (Lantana spp.), and zinnias (Zinnia spp.). This is another of the butterflies that uses red-colored flowers extensively, often being seen around Showy Bergamot (Monarda didyma), Drummond’s Wax-mallow (Malvaviscus drummondii), Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinea), and Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis).
As with other Sulphurs, the Cloudless likes to congregate around mud puddles and spend a lot of time taking moisture from such areas.
Males patrol their territory all during the day seeking females. Once a receptive female is found, the male approaches and touches her with his wings, using his scent brushes to release pheromones. Once mated, the joined pair usually flies off, the male flying and the female passive beneath.
EGG: Elongated, ribbed, white or cream, later turning orange or red; laid singly on flower bud or young leaf of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Yellowish to greenish, striped along sides, and with rows of small blue-black dots across the back; sometimes may be orange-yellow, with narrow crosswise bands of greenish-gray to black, interspersed with rows of tiny black dots; makes shelter of folded and silk-tied leaves of food plant.
CHRYSALIS: Green, pink to brownish, usually camouflaged to match pupation site; rests upward from silken mat at rear and with silken strand around body.
FOOD PLANTS: Christmas Senna (Senna pendula), Maryland Senna (S. marilandica), Two-leaved Senna (S. roemeriana), Partridge-pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata), Delicate Sensitive-pea (C. nictitans), and the cultivated Argentina Senna (S. corymbosa), Coffee Senna (S. occidentalis), Sickle-pod Senna (S. obtusifolia), and Candle-stick Senna (S. alata).
PARTS EATEN: Buds, flowers, and young leaves.
NOTE: There are several intermediate, varying colorations and markings of the caterpillar. The greener form (which eats mostly foliage) seems to be the most common from Central Texas eastward. The yellow form (which eats mostly flowers) is more frequent westward. Any caterpillar found on a species of Senna is most likely one of the Sulphurs, Yellows, or Whites.
Question Mark
(Polygonia interrogationis)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 2-1/4–3 inches
Broods: Two or three
Flight time: February–November (all year)
Overwinters: Adult
Range: Throughout
Another of the Anglewing or “dead-leaf’ butterflies, the Question Mark is not a frequent visitor to flowers but is easily attracted to mud, tree sap, insect honeydew, carrion, and rotting fruit. It is especially fond of spoiled fruit and actually becomes intoxicated if the fruit has fermented. The Question Mark spends most of its time along the edges of semishaded trails, in woodland openings, or along shrubby borders, preferring the shaded coolness to sunlit areas. During winter, adults take shelter in cracks or crevices or behind loose boards and tree bark, coming out to fly around during the warmer days.
The Question Mark usually rests with its wings folded above the back. If basking, it tips over until almost lying flat on the ground. When doing so, the Question Mark is camouflaged so well it is hard to distinguish this butterfly from rocky ground or fallen leaves, the type of area it prefers for resting.
QUESTION MARK
The upper surface of the jagged-edged wings is brightly colored, being primarily orange with black dots, spots, mottling in the outer portion, and violet extending around the wings to form a narrow border. The lower surface is brownish with a violet-gray sheen; the hindwings are tailed and bear a small silver streak somewhat in the form of a printed question mark.
EGG: Slightly longer than wide, widely ribbed, pale green; laid singly or in groups of up to eight, attached either in columns to the upper surface or in chains hanging beneath lower surface or in rows along the margins of young leaves of the food plant; often deposited on plants near the food plant instead of on it.
CATERPILLAR: Mature larva mottled reddish-brown to black, with numerous orange-brown, branched spines covering the head and body; young caterpillars somewhat gregarious; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Yellowish to mottled grayish or brownish, spotted with gold or silver; several projections; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: American Elm (Ulmus americana), Cedar Elm (U. crassifolia), Winged Elm (U. alata), Slippery Elm (U. rubra), Sugar Hackberry (Celtis laevigata), Net-leaf Hack-berry (C. l. var. reticulata), and the herbs False Nettle (Boehmeria cylindrical) and Heart-leaf Stinging-nettle (Urtica chamaedryoides). The cultivated Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila) is sometimes used.
PARTS EATEN: Young foliage.
NOTE: There are two forms of the Question Mark, with the winter form described and shown here. In the summer form, the upper surface of the hindwings is almost black, and the undersurface is dark grayish-black with mottling of maroon and blue.
Large Wood-Nymph (Common Wood-Nymph)
(Cercyonis pegala)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 1-3/4–3 inches
Broods: One
Flight time: May–November
Overwinters: Newly hatched larva
Range: 1, 2, 3, 6
Although called a Wood-Nymph, this butterfly is not much of a true forest dweller. It much prefers brushy roadsides, woodland edges, trails, or even grassy meadows. It is a great lover of flowers and visits them often, seeming especially fond of Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium fistulosum), Virginia Frostweed (Verbesina virginica), and various milkweeds (Asclepias spp.), mistflowers (Conoclinium spp.), and thistles (Cirsium spp.). It will readily be found on fallen or fermenting fruit such as peaches (Prunus spp.), pears (Pyrus spp.), or persimmons (Diospyrus spp.).
Flight of the Large Wood-Nymph is usually short and with an appearance of being slow and weak, yet it is very erratic and extremely difficult to follow. The butterfly commonly sits fully exposed with folded wings on a leaf or branch. If disturbed, it will take off, often dropping into the grass or flying into thick shrubbery, where it alights on the underside of a leaf or a twig and is almost impossible to find again.
LARGE WOOD-NYMPH (COMMON WOOD-NYMPH)
To see this butterfly with wings spread is an uncommon sight, for it seems a bit reluctant to show the rich, dark chocolate-brown coloring and bright yellow banding of the upper surface. Two large, blue-centered black dots decorate this wide yellow band. The lower surface is just as striking, with the wings mottled with fine, barklike striations. Forewings bear a wide pale yellow band decorated with two large eyespots of white or blue circled with black. Females are usually larger than the males, with a softer, lighter brown coloring and paler but larger eyespots. Both sexes have a series of smaller eyespots edging the hindwings.
To bask, the Large Wood-Nymph tilts the folded wings to one side, almost laying them flat. When warm enough on one side, it flips the wings over to warm the other side.
EGG: Elongated and larger in middle, deeply ribbed, white, cream, or yellow, becoming pale brownish, with brown or pink mottling; females deposit between two hundred and three hundred eggs singly on or near grasses in late summer.
CATERPILLAR: Pale yellowish or greenish, striped lengthwise with green and yellow lines and covered with short, fuzzy hairs; rear of caterpillar with two reddish tails; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Yellowish-green with various white or yellow bands, stripes, or lines; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Various grasses, including Purpletop Tridens (Tridens flavus) and several of the bluestems in the genus Andropogon.
PARTS EATEN: Leaves.
NOTE: Males live only two to three weeks after emerging; females, which emerge up to a week after the males, may live several months, delaying egg laying as late in summer as possible. After emerging in late fall, the tiny larvae do not eat but immediately hibernate for the winter at the base of the food plant.
Southern Dogface
(Zerene cesonia)
Family: White/Sulphur (Pieridae)
Size: 2-1/8–2-3/4 inches
Broods: Two to several
Flight time: April–December (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
In the more northern portion of its range and from a distance, the Southern Dogface can be mistaken for the Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice), but a close inspection of the upper surface of the wings quickly distinguishes one from the other. The Southern Dogface is aptly named. Other Sulphurs have an almost even black border on the upper wing surface. The black in the border of the Southern Dogface is such that the remaining yellow of the wings forms a “dog face.” A black dot within each yellow forewing patch forms the “eye” of the dog. The lower wing surface of the Southern Dogface is generally greenish-yellow, with a black-rimmed white dot on the forewings. Rosy or magenta scaling along the veins and along the wing margins of a fresh specimen is usually conspicuous. This rose coloring becomes even more noticeable in the winter form rosa. The forewing tips of the Southern Dogface are prominently pointed, in contrast to the rounded tips of the Clouded Sulphur.
Flying swiftly, the Southern Dogface stops only briefly around each flower, although it spends much time in the garden sipping nectar. It is frequently seen around red flowers, such as Drummond’s Wax-mallow (Malva-viscus drummondii), Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis), and various species of Salvia.
Both sexes, but especially males, stay around mud puddles for hours. If disturbed, they usually circle around briefly, then return to the moisture. When not nectaring or puddling, males patrol their territory in search of females. Once a receptive female is located, the male attracts her both by ultraviolet light reflected from the outer portion of the dog’s face on the forewings and by scent pheromones.
SOUTHERN DOGFACE
EGG: Elongated, ribbed, yellowish-green, later turning dark red; laid singly on underside of terminal leaf of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Mostly green but may be striped lengthwise with white bands containing orange dashes or with crossbands of white and black or yellow; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Green- to bluish-green-striped with white and covered with black dots; held upright from silken mat and strand around body.
FOOD PLANTS: Bearded Dalea (Dalea pogonanthera), Black Dalea (D. frutescens), Purple Dalea (D. purpurea), Baby Bonnets (Coursetia axillaris), False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), Texas Kidneywood (Eysenhardtia texana), and the cultivated Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), Soybean (Glycine max), and White Clover (Trifolium repens).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
NOTE: This butterfly is sometimes placed in the genus Colias.
White Peacock
(Anartia jatrophae luteipicta)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 2–2-5/8 inches
Broods: One to several
Flight time: August–December (all year)
Overwinters: Adult
Range: 4, 5 (1, 2, 3, 6, 7)
Although the White Peacock breeds mostly in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, it migrates northward and may possibly be seen anywhere during the summer months, occasionally breeding as far north as the Hill Country. However, it is not a regular migrant to some areas of the state and is never noted for massed groups or noticeable numbers at any one time. It is common within its southern breeding range and can be seen around any patch of wildflowers or in a garden, especially if water or areas of extra moisture are nearby. It is quite common around irrigation canals and dripping faucets or leaking waterlines where its food plants grow.
The White Peacock is closely related to the Buckeyes, with which it often flies, but the upper surface of the White Peacock’s wings is washed with a pearly sheen, making the butterfly appear almost white in flight. The white shades into buff, marked with orange crescents forming a border along the wing margins. The hindwings are shortly and bluntly tailed. The undersurface is not as white and has numerous scrawled lines, bands of orange, and various shades of light brown. Both surfaces bear one large black eyespot on the forewing and two smaller, widely separated ones on the hindwing. Summer broods are darker than spring and fall broods.
The White Peacock is not a strong flier and remains low, seeking flowers near the ground. Easily approached if movements are slow, the White Peacock is a fascinating subject to watch while it is feeding. Once it finds a good nectar source, it slowly crawls from flower to flower, seeming to be completely absorbed in nectar gathering. If disturbed, it flutters and glides to the next flower to continue with its feeding. Once really frightened, it flies into nearby grasses or shrubbery, closes its wings, and immediately disappears from view.
In seeking females, the male patrols back and forth in a rather erratic flight interspersed with periods of gliding. Males also perch on low, exposed branches of shrubbery or a blade of grass near the larval food plant to await passing females. To reject a male, the female lands and leans her wings from side to side until the male leaves.
WHITE PEACOCK
EGG: Pale yellow; laid singly on underside of food plant leaf or on nearby vegetation.
CATERPILLAR: Head with two long, curved, clubbed horns; body dark brown to black, with white or silver spots forming crosswise bands, with four rows of black or orange-red spines; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Pale green to black, occasionally with small spots; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Texas Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora), Diamond-leaf Frogfruit (P. strigulosa), Scented Lippia (Lippia graveolens), White-flowered Lippia (L. alba), Coastal Water-hyssop (Bacopa monnieri), Western Ruellia (Ruellia occidentalis), and Violet Ruellia (Viola nudiflora). Probably several other species of Ruellia are used as well.
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
Janais Patch (Crimson Patch)
(Chlosyne janais)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 1-7/8–2-5/8 inches
Broods: Three or more
Flight time: June–November (all year)
Overwinters: Half-mature caterpillar(adult)
Range: 4, 5, 6 (1, 2, 7)
The Janais Patch is an extraordinarily beautiful butterfly and one not too often seen in the state. Primarily the coloring is soft, velvety black with a sprinkling of white dots on the forewings and very large, prominent patches of burnt-orange to reddish-orange on the upper surface of the hindwings. The lower surface of the forewings is black, heavily dotted in white, while the hindwings are banded in creamy-yellow, reddish-orange, and black. A row of white dots lies within the black band.
This butterfly is usually present in the Rio Grande Valley area, but severe winters can wipe it out. When this happens, it takes only a year or two to become recolonized from Mexico and once again is a welcome sight in gardens and woodlands and along watercourses. Recently it has become an occasional breeding resident as far north as the Austin area, through landscape usage of its larval food plant. During the summer or early fall months, it occasionally strays eastward and as far north as the Rolling Plains area.
This beauty is very specific in its larval food plant, feeding almost entirely on Flame Acanthus (Aniscanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii). It also uses this plant as a nectar source, along with Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), Beebrush (Aloysia gratissima), Annual Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), and other good nectar-producing plants near its larval food plant. While breeding, it does not venture far from the Flame Acanthus, preferring to use its flowers for nectaring instead of flying long distances to other sources. Where there is a colony of plants established, there is a great overlap of the breeding cycles, with courtship, egg laying, pupation, and adult emergence all going on at once.
JANAIS PATCH
EGG: Cream to pale yellow; laid in clusters on undersides of leaves of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Head orange-red in upper portion; body white to pale metallic grayish-green with many rows of branched, black spines; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Yellow, covered in tiny black bumps; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Flame Acanthus and Virginia Frostweed (Verbesina virginica).
PARTS EATEN: Buds, flowers, and young leaves.
NOTE: Flame Acanthus can be grown outside its native range and does quite well as far north as the Dallas–Fort Worth area and as far east as Robertson County, but there are no known records of the Janais Patch becoming established that far north or east.
Guava Skipper
(Phocides polybius lilea)
Family: Skipper (Hesperiidae)
Size: 1-5/8–2-1/2 inches
Broods: Several
Flight time: (All year)
Overwinters: (Adult)
Range: 5
On wings of brilliant blue, the Guava Skipper flits through gardens and woodlands, stopping frequently at all available flowers. Never far from its larval food plant, this southern straggler to the Valley is becoming more commonly seen because home gardeners are planting guava trees.
No other butterfly of this size or shape in the Valley area has the solid brilliant coloring of the Guava Skipper. The smoky black upper wings are covered with blue scales. The scaling is such that it forms contrasting radiating turquoise streaks along the veins in the wing and on the upper body. There is a vivid, red, two-spotted bar on the upper edge of the wings and a narrow red “collar” behind the head. Both wings are edged with a snowy-white fringe. Underside coloring is the same.
These Skippers seem to be more active in mornings and late evenings—look for them in gardens aroundAnacahuita (Cordia boissieri) trees, one of their favorite flowers for nectaring. They will often be found in openings of subtropical woodlands. The Guava Skipper is a fast, erratic flyer but rests often with wings spread wide. During very hot or inclement weather, it takes refuge beneath the foliage of large-leaved plants.
GUAVA SKIPPER
EGG: Bluish-green becoming reddish, laid singly on upperside of young terminal leaf.
CATERPILLAR: Head of mature caterpillar brown with two yellow spots, conspicuously shiny; half-grown caterpillar red with narrow yellow rings around body; body of mature caterpillar chalky-white; eats at night; rests in rolled leaf shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Smooth, dirty-white to greenish, tiny gray and black dots; rests in silk-lined “nest” in rolled-up leaf of food plant.
FOOD PLANTS: The introduced Common Guava (Psidium guajava) and Pineapple Guava (Feijoa sellowiana).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
Red Admiral
(Vanessa atalanta rubria)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 1-3/4–2-1/2 inches
Broods: Two to several
Flight time: March–October (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
First described in Europe in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, the Red Admiral is one of the best-known and most widespread butterflies. It is one of the most common species in the state, occurring in city parks, gardens, and shrubby fields and along woodland edges and brushy roadsides.
Coloring of the Red Admiral is beautiful in its simplicity. The upper surface of the wings is a soft velvety black, the forewings are crossed with a diagonal band of orange-red or vermillion, and the tips are sprinkled with white dots. A narrower band of the same orange-red color borders the curved hindwings. When the butterfly rests with the wings open, the banding of fore- and hindwings seems connected, forming two bowed or curved lines that almost complete a circle. This banding also appears on the undersurface of the forewing but is much paler in color, appearing more pink than red.
The Red Admiral is similar to the Painted Lady (V. cardui) in being widespread along with its larval food plant. Few plants have a wider distribution than nettles (Urtica spp.), and where nettles grow, caterpillars of the Red Admiral will almost always be found. Adults are fast fliers and have a tendency to wander away from where they were reared, mainly because the nettle food plants grow in semishaded areas and the adults must seek masses of nectar-producing flowering plants in more sunny areas.
The Red Admiral is particularly fond of salts from human perspiration, often alighting on exposed legs, arms, or hands. It feeds on a variety of substances, including sap, fruit, and dung, as well as regularly visits flowers. On warm winter days it can be seen sipping the sap of trees or the juice of wild fruits that have burst open after freezing, and if the fruit has begun to ferment, the more the butterfly seems to enjoy it. Often it then appears intoxicated and has difficulty flying.
Habitually resting head downward on vertical surfaces and with its wings closed, it is extremely difficult to see. It is one of the first to emerge from hibernation in the spring, spending much time on the ground at moist areas or basking on flat surfaces with opened wings. The male is very territorial and extremely aggressive and will defend his chosen resting site against all intruders.
RED ADMIRAL
EGG: Somewhat barrel-shaped, faintly and widely ribbed, pale green; laid singly on upper side of young food plant leaf, but many leaves on the same plant may be used.
CATERPILLAR: Extremely variable but usually blackish; body has many bumps and branching spines; makes silken “nest” or shelter of leaves.
CHRYSALIS: Reddish- to gray-brown with splotches of gold and short bumps; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Heart-leaf Stinging-nettle (Urtica chamaedryoides), Florida Pellitory (Parietaria floridana), Pennsylvania Pellitory (P. pensylvanica), and False Nettle (Boehmeria cylindrical).
PARTS EATEN: Leaves, within silken shelter.
NOTE: During summer months the Red Admiral strays as far north as Alaska and is one of the fifteen species of butterflies in Hawaii, where it is now a common resident, having been documented there first about 1882.
Painted Lady
(Vanessa cardui)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 2-1/4–2-1/2 inches
Broods: Two to several
Flight time: March–November (all year)
Overwinters: Hibernating adult (adult)
Range: Throughout
The Painted Lady is the most widespread of all the butterflies in the world. It bears other descriptive common names, such as Cosmopolitan and Thistle Butterfly, the first from its almost worldwide distribution, and the second from its favored food plant. This butterfly is a most familiar sight, being one of the first seen in early spring and one of the last in the fall or seen all year in the southern part of its range. It is a common visitor to the garden during the flowering season but is usually seen in greater numbers in the autumn. In most of its range, it spends the winter months tucked away in some crevice and inactive except on the very warmest days.
The upper wing surface of the Painted Lady is a complex mottling of black and pinkish-orange, with a sprinkling of white dots near tips of the forewings. Patterning on the lower surface is even more complicated, being a mixture of golds, tans, black, and white. Forewings are dominantly rose-pink near the base, patterned with olive, black, and white on the outer margins. A row of small eyespots and a narrow blue band occur near margins of the hindwings. In coloration and markings the Painted Lady is very similar to its near relative, the American Lady (V. virginiensis), but differs by having four or five small black marginal spots on the lower surface of the hindwing, whereas the American Lady has only two very large black spots with blue centers.
Painted Ladies occur in almost all environments, as long as they are open, sunny, and filled with flowers. They cannot overwinter in any stage where the temperatures are severe, and because they do not move southward, they perish. But by February or March the overpopulated southern broods begin moving north and east from their warmer wintering grounds, and by late spring the Painted Lady has once again become a common sight throughout North America.
Despite their wide distribution, Painted Ladies do not congregate when feeding. Almost always only one or two are in the garden at a time, unless they are around the larval food source. They are easily attracted to the garden by flowers of the Aster Family (Asteraceae), such as Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), various thistles (Cirsium spp.), and the single zinnias (Zinnia spp.) and marigolds (Tagetes spp.).
Courtship flights of these butterflies are usually quite elaborate and preferably take place on open hilltops or at least the highest terrain possible. After mating, the female returns to lower ground and seeks out stands of thistle to lay her eggs.
PAINTED LADY
EGG: Elongated, wider in middle, pale green; laid singly on upper surface of food plant leaf.
CATERPILLAR: Grayish-brown or black, with numerous narrow crosswise lines and rows of long, branched spines; larvae live in silk shelter formed by folding leaves of food plant together and binding with silk.
CHRYSALIS: Pale tannish mottled in greens and browns with several gold-colored bumps; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: More than one hundred species of plants have been reportedly utilized by this butterfly, but thistles are preferred above all others. Some of the most commonly used are Texas Thistle (C. texanum), Horrid Thistle (C. horridulum), and Wavy-leaf Thistle (C. undulatum). Other species reportedly used include White Sage (Artemisia ludoviciana subsp. mexicana), Small-flowered Mallow (Malva parviflora), Alkali Little-mallow (Malvella leprosa), Annual Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), American Elm (Ulmus americana), and the nonnative and cultivated White Goosefoot (Chenopodium album), Common Mallow (Malva neglecta), Milfoil (Achillea millefolium), Soybean (Glycine max), Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), Hollyhock (Alcea rosea), and Calendula (Calendula officinalis), as well as Borage (Borage officinalis), beet (Beta vulgaris), and garden bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). Many more species of several genera are reportedly used.
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
American Lady
(Vanessa virginiensis)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 1-3/4–2-1/2 inches
Broods: Two or more
Flight time: March–November (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
Inhabiting almost all open areas, including gardens, the American Lady is found wherever flowers are abundant. It does not seem particularly attracted to special colors or species and freely visits whatever flowers are available. It occasionally flies along woodland trails or borders because of the flowers found there, such as wild azaleas (Rhododendron spp.) or asters (Symphotrichum spp.), not because of a preference for shade. When nectaring, it habitually holds its wings open or at least partially so, moving warily about, constantly changing position. It can occasionally be seen basking on bare earth with wings widely spread.
The best time to see the undersurface of the folded wings is to find a butterfly in late evening, after it has gone to roost for the night, in early mornings before it takes flight, or in cool or inclement weather, when it takes shelter beneath a leaf or a blade of grass. At such times the intricate markings, large blue-centered eyespots, and brilliant pink forewing patch can be closely observed and appreciated. The surface of the upper wings is a dark pinkish-orange, with dark markings across the tips of the forewings and sprinkled with a few white dots. A row of small blue eyespots circled in black follows the outer margins of the hindwings; these spots connect or run together to form a band.
If startled, this butterfly takes off in sudden, erratic flight but often returns in a few moments to the former site if there is no further movement. It frequently dashes out at other butterflies that approach the flower it is feeding on, fluttering its wings until the intruder seeks other flowers or leaves the area entirely.
In the more northern regions, this butterfly usually spends winter in the chrysalis stage. In warmer, more southern climes, with the arrival of first really cold nights, it seeks snug, protected places where it will remain mostly inactive during the winter months. With approaching warmer days of early spring, some of them will once again head north, raising two or more broods. The last brood usually emigrates south for the winter.
AMERICAN LADY
EGG: Barrel-shaped, pale green or yellowish; laid singly on upper surface of food plant leaf.
CATERPILLAR: Greenish with black marbling or velvety black with groupings of several narrow cross bands of yellow; black, branching spines with red dots at the bases and two large white dots in each black portion; solitary caterpillars live inside nestlike shelter made of the food plant; young spin plant hairs and small bits of the inflorescence into shelters, while older larvae use larger bits of the inflorescence and leaves to make a larger, more compact shelter; caterpillars often pupate inside the shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Variable, ranging from greenish to brownish, mottled in various whites, greens, browns, and blacks, with small bumps and projections; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Fragrant False Cudweed (Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium), Gray False Cudweed (P. canescens), Purple Cudweed (Gamochaeta purpurea), Pennsylvania Cud-weed (G. pensylvanica), Big-head Evax (Evax prolifera), Spring Evax (E. verna), Silver Evax (E. candida), and Parlin’s Everlasting (Antennaria parlinii) are the preferred food plants. Many more genera and species are commonly listed as being used.
PARTS EATEN: Buds, flowers, and young leaves.
Common Buckeye
(Junonia coenia)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 1-5/8–2-1/2 inches
Broods: Two or more
Flight time: February–November (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
Wings of the Common Buckeye are generally tawny to dark brown, overlaid with various iridescent colors, and with one white band and two smaller lengthwise orange bars on the forewings. Most noticeable are the large blue and black eyespots set near an orange marginal border on the upper surface of both wings. Beneath, the forewing somewhat resembles the upper surface, while the hindwing is beautifully mottled in soft rose-browns and tans and dotted with much smaller eyespots. The large eyespots on this butterfly give it another common name, Peacock Butterfly.
One of the most frequently seen butterflies, the Common Buckeye ranges almost throughout North America south of the Canadian border. In early spring, some of the butterflies that have overwintered in the adult stage in nonfreezing climes quickly move northward, rearing two or more broods there. Not able to overwinter, in the fall the last brood heads southward in massive movements. For most of the ones in Texas, the winter is spent in the chrysalis stage.
Male Common Buckeyes, not as active as the females, sit for long periods on the ground or on low shrubbery, basking and waiting for passing females. A male chooses a special perch from which he patrols a territory; and within the chosen boundaries he takes quick flights to intercept passing females or pugnaciously attack other males or any other intruder, no matter its size or description. While most individuals live only an average of ten days, the flight period is long in the southern portion of the Common Buckeyes’ range.
Common Buckeyes like to bask with wings spread wide in early mornings or after inclement weather. They are also fond of mud puddles and spend much time there. They are equally fond of flowers and are found in almost all gardens as well as other open areas where flowers are plentiful. A rapid flier, this butterfly tends to be nervous and wary when approached. It usually flies low to the ground, alternately gliding and flapping its wings.
EGG: Flattened on top, ribbed, dark green; laid singly, usually on upper side of a leaf of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Generally black with lengthwise rows of cream or white and with numerous black, branching spines; rows of spines nearest underside of body conspicuously orange at base; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Pale cream mottled with reddish-brown to black; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Almost all species of the genera Agalinis, Castilleja, Linaria, Plantago, and Phyla with the first three most commonly used in Texas. Other food plants include Yellow False Foxglove (Aureolaria flava), American Bluehearts (Buchnera americana), Violet Ruellia (Ruellia nudiflora), Snapdragon Vine (Maurandya antirrhiniflora), and the cultivated Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majas).
COMMON BUCKEYE
PARTS EATEN: Flower buds, young fruit, and leaves.
Hackberry Emperor
(Asterocampa celtis celtis)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 2–2-1/2 inches
Broods: One to three
Flight time: March–October
Overwinters: Third instar larva
Range: Throughout
The Hackberry Emperor is one of the most common butterflies in the state but is not one to visit flowers very often. On occasion it will be seen gathering fluids from blossoms in the wild, but mostly it feeds on tree sap, rotting fruit, insect honeydew, carrion, and mud.
Even if the Hackberry Emperor is not a great flower visitor, it likes to patrol open areas and bask. If there are any Hackberry (Celtis laevigata) trees in or near the garden, the Hackberry Emperor will be seen making frequent forays into the open areas. And if damp sand and rotting fruit are provided, it will be a common visitor to the garden. It is especially fond of fermented dewberries (Ru-bus spp.), mulberries (Morus spp.), overripe bananas (Musa spp.), peaches (Prunus spp.), pears (Pyrus spp.), and persimmons (Diospyrus spp.). It also loves canned fruit cocktail, especially if a shot of rum or some beer has been added. While feeding on this mixture, the insect becomes so engrossed in sipping the juices it can be approached closely enough to actually be moved about with the fingers without its taking flight.
The Hackberry Emperor is a medium-sized butterfly, with the upper wing surface colored a most distinctive orange and olive-brown; the black outer wing tips of the forewing are dotted in white. Patterning and coloring of the lower surface of the wings are complex and variable, with markings of brown, black, and purplish-gray and with eyespots on both wings.
This butterfly is always found in close association with its food plant, Hackberry; the female leaves the trees only while searching for food or basking. Frequently the female will sun with wings spread wide, especially if she is carrying a heavy egg load. The female commonly basks in this position on low vegetation in an open area, where the male “dive-bombs” her in courtship before mating. The male also perches on Hackberry trees, awaiting passing females, or occasionally wanders a short distance, patrolling for feeding females. Some sites are more attractive than others to the male for perching, and an occupant’s perching rights are often contested by another male. Male Hackberry Emperors are usually the last butterfly to be seen in the day, continuing to fly until almost dark.
From a favored perching area, males frequently fly out to inspect moving objects, especially if the object is shiny. His main objective is to find a female, of course, but he has a tendency to be curious about any moving object, no matter what its size or color.
This butterfly usually perches on the trunk of the host tree until disturbed, then flies to another perching site, such as a fence post or the handle of a hoe being used. Often it alights on arms or hands, seeking the salts from perspiration.
HACKBERRY EMPEROR
EGG: Cream to pale green; laid singly or in small groups on underside of leaf or occasionally on stem near leaves.
CATERPILLAR: Head with two small, branched spines; body leaf-green with faint yellow lengthwise stripes, tapered at both ends, forked at rear; each upper straight yellow line ends at a branched spine on the head and a “tail” at the rear; middle instar larvae of last brood hibernate in crevices along a tree trunk or in leaf litter until the following spring; larvae make no “nest.”
CHRYSALIS: Yellow to blue-green, yellowish line down back, two short horns on head; hangs downward from silken mat.
TEXAS EMPEROR
FOOD PLANTS: Known to use all species of Hackberry within its range.
PARTS EATEN: Leaves of young trees or new growth on older trees.
Texas Emperor
(Asterocampa clyton texana)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 2–2-5/8 inches
Broods: One to three
Flight time: March–October (all year)
Overwinters: Third instar caterpillar (adult)
Range: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7
The Texas Emperor is the West Texas form of the Tawny Emperor (A. clyton clyton), which ranges more eastward. Both the Texas and Tawny Emperors are very similar to the Hackberry Emperor, but with the orange and black coloring of the wings reversed. The best field marks to look for are the blue eyespots on both the upper and lower surfaces of both the fore- and hindwings of the Hackberry Emperor—the Texas and Tawny Emperors have dots only on the hindwings. Also, the bodies of the Texas and Tawny Emperors are usually orange or reddish-brown, whereas the body of the Hackberry Emperor is much darker and generally gray.
The Texas Emperor has a very swift and powerful flight, but it can and frequently does glide slowly from tree to tree. Generally, it does not fly very far between stops, except the male may fly some distance back and forth from his perching area and the closest larval food plants, where the females usually stay. Mating flights are most often performed from the middle of the day to late evening. The Texas Emperor likes large, mature trees, especially if they bear fruit abundantly. Basking often, it opens its wings wide to fully partake of the sun’s warmth. It is commonly seen resting head downward and especially likes to perch on leaves in full sun and on tree trunks, fence posts, rocks, paved roads, and people.
This insect’s food preferences are similar to those of the other hackberry-feeding butterflies, and they all are frequently found imbibing liquid from the same source. Sometimes there are so many individuals gathered together, they jostle each other about to try to get the best position. The Texas Emperor also spends a lot of time around mud puddles, either with others of its own kind or with various Sulphurs, Hairstreaks, or Swallowtails.
EGG: Thick sculpturing of usually twenty ridges, cream to greenish; laid in large, moderately tightly packed cluster or layer on underside of leaf or occasionally on bark of host tree.
CATERPILLAR: Pale green with two wide, yellowish lines down back separated by a very narrow blue line; downy, with short hairs, forked at rear, and with two spiny horns on head; larvae gregarious in early instars and commonly found in groups of fifty or more; third instar larvae of the last fall brood hibernate.
CHRYSALIS: Pale green to yellowish-green, raised, sawtooth ridge down portion of back, the ridge narrowly edged in dark yellow with tiny, shiny dot at point of each “tooth,” two very short horns on head; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Known to use all species of hackberry (Celtis spp.) in the state within the insect’s range, except Spiny Hackberry (C. pallida).
PARTS EATEN: Mature foliage.
Silver-spotted Skipper
(Epargyreus clarus)
Family: Skipper (Hesperiidae)
Size: 1-3/4–2-1/2 inches
Broods: Three or more
Flight time: February–November
Overwinters: Chrysalis
Range: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6
One of the largest Skippers, this is a wide-ranging butterfly equally at home in wilderness areas, parks, and suburban gardens or along country roadsides. Its flight is very strong, swift, jerky, and erratic. It is generally very pugnacious in character and will attack just about anything in its range, especially other butterflies, no matter which species they happen to be.
Generally brownish in coloring, the upper surface of the long forewings has a broad, indistinct band of clearish orange-yellow bars. On the lower surface this band is often hidden by the large hindwings, as the butterfly usually rests with wings folded above the body and covering the forewings. The undersurface of the large hindwings is mostly filled with a large, irregularly shaped patch of silvery-white.
Males often engage in impressive aerial combat flights. From early morning until around noon, they remain on favorite perch sites in open areas to await passing females, and when a female is sighted, the male launches out and tries to persuade her to alight for copulation. Often the female is sighted by more than one male, and the aerial battle is on. Generally the female continues her flight. In the afternoons, males can be seen hanging upside down from beneath leaves when not nectaring.
The Silver-spotted Skipper frequently appears around mud puddles as it sips the moisture there, as well as in open, sunny areas, where it seeks nectar. It visits many species of flowers, briefly visiting one, then quickly flying to another.
SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPER
EGG: Round, widely ribbed, pale greenish with red band around middle and reddish on top; laid singly on upper side of food plant leaf.
CATERPILLAR: Head dark brownish-red with two large, orange-red oval spots; body yellow or greenish with darker patches or speckles, and with fine, black crosswise lines; larva builds shelter by binding leaves of food plant together with silken threads.
CHRYSALIS: Pale brown, banded and streaked in darker brown; forms in silken “nest” among foliage or ground litter.
FOOD PLANTS: False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), Groundnut (Apios americana), Kentucky Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens), Southern Hog-peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata), Thicket Bean (Phaseolus polystachios), Round-head Bush-clover (Lespedeza capitata), and Wild Licorice (Glycyrrhiza lepidota). Almost all of the tick-clovers (Desmodium spp.) are occasionally used as are the nonnative and cultivated Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), Bristly Locust (R. hispida), Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata), Japanese Wisteria (Wisteria floribunda), and Chinese Wisteria (W. sinensis). The genus Robinia is reportedly the favored larval food plants, but Amorpha, Apios, and Wisteria are quite readily used, especially in the southeastern portion of the state.
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
Brazilian Skipper
(Calpodes ethlius)
Family: Skipper (Hesperiidae)
Size: 1-3/4–2-1/4 inches
Broods: Two to several
Flight time: April–December (all year)
Overwinters: (Adult)
Range: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (1, 7)
An inspection of any patch of cannas (Canna spp.), especially in city gardens, will probably yield this large Skipper in all its stages. Look for rolled leaf edges, large portions of the leaves eaten, or adults zipping about nectaring on the flowers.
The Brazilian Skipper certainly has a personality all its own, and the more you watch this butterfly, the more intriguing it becomes. Quick in flight and almost secretive, it alights, then appears to be watching to see if you have noticed. Then it quickly flies to another perch in plain sight to do the same thing; the game seems endless.
An especially fast flier with strong, powerful wing beats, the Brazilian Skipper often basks with wings spread in the “airplane” pose, at which times the beautiful markings of translucent spots on both wings are very conspicuous against the dark brown scaling. When the wings are folded, the hindwings are marked with three translucent dashes, and the forewings appear to be marked with two smaller ones. Forewings of this butterfly are very long and pointed.
BRAZILIAN SKIPPER
Favorite flowers for nectaring include the Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa), Old-fashioned Petunia (Petunia axillaris), Summer Phlox (Phlox paniculata), and the lantanas (Lantana spp.) and cannas.
At times there may be so many larvae on the food plants that practically all of the leaves will be eaten. Often these Skippers disperse to great distances, lay their eggs, and then immediately leave for yet another area. Especially susceptible to viruses, entire colonies are periodically wiped out.
EGG: White to greenish-white becoming reddish; laid singly or in small clusters on upper surface of younger leaves of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Head of last instar large, orange and black, the body translucent grayish-green with dark line down back and a pale line along each side; rests during day in a leaf stitched together with silk to form tentlike shelter from which it emerges at night to feed.
CHRYSALIS: Head pointed with long, conspicuous proboscis case; body long, slender, pale greenish, pointed at rear, covered with powdery or waxy “bloom”; rests in silken shelter in rolled-up leaf.
FOOD PLANTS: Native Powdery Thalia (Thalia dealbata) as well as almost all native and cultivated cannas.
PARTS EATEN: Leaves, usually the midmature ones first.
NOTE: Females reportedly prefer green-leaved cannas with red flowers over the red- or variegated-leaved plants for egg deposition, but some gardeners have found them to show no preference. When a number of caterpillars are feeding, their nighttime chomping can be heard for some distance. If the chrysalis is disturbed, they make a loud “rattling” noise by vibrating rapidly against their leaf shelter. The Brazilian Skipper larvae are sometimes referred to as the “Canna leaf roller” and considered a “pest” on cannas.
Dorantes Longtail (Lilac-banded Longtail)
(Urbanus dorantes dorantes)
Family: Skipper (Hesperiidae)
Size: 1-1/2–2 inches
Broods: One to several
Flight time: April–November (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: 2, 4, 5, 6
As with other Longtails, the Dorantes is noted for the long, pointed forewings and the hind-wings that conspicuously narrow into long, slender tails. The upper surface of the wings is generally dark to grayish-brown, with an overall iridescent glimmer of lilac or rosy-lavender covering the hindwings. A grouping of irregularly placed translucent spots occurs on the forewings. The lower surface of the forewings is dark gray; the hindwings are frosty-gray with dark brown spots and banding. Both wings are beautifully tinged purple with iridescent scaling, which is darker and more conspicuous on the hindwings.
This butterfly is found in the coolness of shade more often than in the sun, but it can be found in gardens. It is a great lover of flowers; it feeds for long periods, then darts into the foliage or to a shaded tree trunk to keep cool between feedings. It is a strong flier and rapidly zips back and forth across pathways or small openings before finally settling down on a flower to feed.
It takes nectar from Huisache Daisy (Am-blyolepis setigera), Missouri Ironweed (Vernonia missourica), Narrow-leaf Liatris (Liatris punctata var. mucronata), Phacelia (Phacelia congesta), Summer Phlox (Phlox paniculata), Texas Thistle (Cirsium texanum), and the lantanas (Lantana spp.), verbenas (Verbena spp.), mistflowers (Conoclinium spp.), and morning glories (Ipomoea spp.), as well as many others.
Although the Dorantes Longtail is a common resident only in the southern portion of the state, it emigrates as far north as Kansas and Missouri and eastward to Georgia. It may breed in some areas where the food plant is available. It cannot overwinter in any form in the colder climes, and large numbers perish each year.
DORANTES LONGTAIL (LILAC-BANDED LONGTAIL)
EGG: Flattened on both top and bottom, ridged, shiny iridescent green.
CATERPILLAR: Head black; body yellowish-green to reddish-orange, with paler-colored spots, downy with short hairs; forms shelter of silked-together leaves.
CHRYSALIS: Pale brown, has no waxy coating or “bloom” similar to others in this genus; rests in silken “nest” within silked-together leaves of food plant.
FOOD PLANTS: Pigeon-wings (Clitoria mariana), Purple Bush-bean (Macroptilium atropurpureum), and the cultivated garden bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and lima bean (P. lunatus). The native Butterfly-pea (Centrosema virginianum) is probably used.
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
Checkered White
(Pontia protodice)
Family: White/Sulphur (Pieridiae)
Size: 1-1/2–2 inches
Broods: Two to several
Flight time: January–November (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
Overall coloration of the Checkered White varies considerably, differing from habitat to habitat and with the seasons; also, the male is less marked than the female. The upper wing surface of spring broods is white with charcoal-gray or brown markings and washes. Veins of the lower surface are lined and speckled in brown or olive-green. The summer male is solid snowy-white, with the exception of a small black dot on the upper surface of the forewing and pale beige or pale brown tracery on the lower surface. Summer females usually have much paler markings than the spring brood. All color gradations of gray, brown, tan, and olive can and do occur in the Checkered White, yet the patterning and flight characteristics are such that identification is not difficult.
Checkered Whites frequent open, sunny spaces and can commonly be found in gardens, fields, and vacant lots and along roadsides. They are great puddlers, and hundreds can be seen at times around small areas of water or temporarily moist areas in a roadway. The Checkered White usually flies in a fast, skipping manner. If disturbed, it flits away into an open area instead of taking refuge among trees or brush. In seeking females for mating, the male flies back and forth near the food plants. Both sexes use ultraviolet reflection instead of scent to identify the opposite sex. The male and the female have different pigments in their wing scales, resulting in ultraviolet light being reflected by the female and absorbed by the male.
These butterflies are known to readily disperse after emerging, traveling as far as the Canadian border and forming new colonies where their weedy food plants are plentiful. Because they cannot overwinter, in the fall there are massive movements back southward.
EGG: Spindle-shaped, yellow, becoming orange; laid singly on bud, flower, or young leaf of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Blue-green speckled with small black tubercles and with four lengthwise yellow stripes, downy with short, soft, fine hairs; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Bluish- or grayish-green, marked with black; held upright or horizontally from silken mat and silk strand around body.
FOOD PLANTS: Numerous genera of the Mustard Family (Brassicaceae), including native Shepherd’s-purse (Capsella bursapastoris), Virginia Peppergrass (Lepidium virginicum), Gregg’s Keelpod (Synthlipsis dissectum), Clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra), Rocky Mountain Spider-flower (Cleome serrulata), and Spectacle-fruit (Wislizenia refracta), as well as the cultivated Bird’s Rape (B. rapa), Field Mustard (Sinapis arvensis), Sophia Tansy-mustard (Descurainia sophia), Western Tansy-mustard (D. pinnata), and broccoli (Brassica oleraceae var. italica), brussels sprouts (B. o. var. gemmifera), cabbage (B. o. var. capitata), and cauliflower (B. o. var. botryris). Other species reportedly used include Field Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense), Tumble-mustard (Sisymbrium altissimum), and Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima), as well as radish (Raphanus sativus).
PARTS EATEN: Flower buds, flowers, fruits, leaves, and tender stems.
NOTE: Both the invasion of the Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) and the agricultural pattern of people are changing the distribution of the Checkered White, continually forcing it to find new areas. With expanding farming practices in the Western states, along with the accompanying introduced or “weedy” members of the Mustard Family, the Checkered White has had no problem becoming established there. Often populations build to serious numbers in some areas, where the Checkered White may be considered a pest. This butterfly was previously placed in the genus Pieris.
CHECKERED WHITE
Bordered Patch
(Chlosyne lacinia adjutrix)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 1-3/8–2 inches
Broods: Three to several
Flight time: March–December (all year)
Overwinters: Third instar caterpillar (adult)
Range: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7
One of our most variable butterflies, the Bordered Patch is a little difficult to identify, especially on the wing. However, within its range it is usually abundant and is a frequent visitor to flowers, thus offering many opportunities for closer inspection.
The Bordered Patch is very showy, both with wings open and closed. The upper surface of both wings is primarily black, with a wide band of bright orange. Rows of tiny white dots edge both the band and the wing margins. The lower surface of the wings is black, banded, and dotted in cream or pale yellow and orange.
An avid flower visitor, the Bordered Patch visits almost anything in bloom. It is especially attracted to white and yellow flowers, such as Beebrush (Aloysia gratissima), Havana Snakeroot (Ageratina havanensis), Annual Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), Tooth-leaved Goldeneye (Viguiera dentata), Golden Crown-beard (Verbesina encelioides), Hispid Wedelia (Wedelia acapulcensis var. hispida), and dewberries (Rubus spp.). When in bloom and available, Beebrush and Golden Crownbeard seem to be top choices for nectaring. It is not uncommon to see several of these butterflies working a large stand of these plants, with a lot of chasing of “intruders” of other species as well as frequent mating pursuits. Males feed on mud, carrion, and dung, as well as flower nectar.
The reproductive cycle of this butterfly is impressive. Females may lay up to five hundred eggs during their lifetime, and the entire life cycle, from egg to adult, is completed in thirty days.
BORDERED PATCH
EGG: Pale greenish or yellowish becoming reddish; laid in clusters of more than one hundred on the underside of food plant leaves.
CATERPILLAR: Quite variable, ranging from an all orange to orange-red form, to an all black form with white stripes on the back, to a black form with an orange-red interrupted stripe down the center of the back; younger caterpillars gregarious and usually remain in groups until the fourth or fifth instar, when they begin to disperse; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Variable, from solid white to white with black markings to solid black; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Annual Sunflower is a major food plant from spring until late summer, with Golden Crownbeard becoming the major choice from late summer until the end of the breeding season in November or December. Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) is used if one of the first- or second-choice plants is nearby as a nectar source. Plants occasionally used include Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Bush Sunflower (Simsia calva), Weak-stem Sunflower (Helianthus debilis), Virginia Frostweed (Verbesina virginica), Tooth-leaved Goldeneye, and Hispid Wedelia.
PARTS EATEN: Buds, flowers, leaves, and tender stems.
Snout
(Libytheana carinenta)
Family: Snout (Libytheidae)
Size: 1-3/8–2 inches
Broods: Two or more
Flight time: March–November (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
Snouts are odd-appearing butterflies, still closely resembling their primitive ancestors.
Both forewing and hindwings are square-tipped as if deliberately clipped, giving the insect a curiously angular appearance. To make its appearance even more unusual, the two palpi that protect the proboscis are exceptionally long, projecting forward from the head and resembling a “snout” or the beak of a bird. The Snouts are the only butterflies in North America with such long palpi, and the only genus representing the family known as the Long-beaks.
There are several subspecies of this butterfly, with research showing that gradations exist from one subspecies to the next. Coloring varies with the subspecies, but generally the upper surface is blackish-brown with orangish-brown patches and white spots toward the tips of the forewings. The lower surface of forewings is orangish-brown in the basal portion, but this area is usually hidden when the insect is at rest. Hindwings are a mottled grayish-brown overlaid with iridescent scales reflecting greens, pinks, and lavenders. In general, females are lighter in hue than the males. The two forelegs of the male are undeveloped, making him appear to have only four legs, but all six legs of the female are well developed.
Snouts do not exhibit any type of mimicry but have evolved an almost perfect leaflike camouflage. When at rest, they fold the wings together and direct the body parallel to a twig, where the wing coloring and shape much resemble a leaf. The forward-projecting palpi and antennae appear as the petiole or “stalk” of a leaf.
Their flight is very swift and rather jerky or fluttery and usually low to the ground, although they will fly several feet high to nectar on flowering shrubs and trees. They are regular visitors to flowers and often gather by the dozens at a flowering plant extra rich in nectar or amino acids, such as Bumelia (Sideroxylon celastrina) or plum (Prunus americana) and peach (P. persica). They are equally attracted to muddy streams and lake margins and are often seen at such sites in the company of various Sulphurs (family Pieridae) and Swallowtails (family Papilionidae). They are rather wary and do not usually allow a close approach.
Snouts are strong voyagers, and massive numbers of them travel northward each year in late summer. These butterflies do not have a return flight southward and perish with the onset of winter.
SNOUT
EGG: Pale green; laid singly on petiole or underside of leaf on young, terminal growth of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Generally dark green with yellow stripes, the enlarged segment behind head with a pair of black tubercles ringed primarily with yellow; coloring and markings vary greatly according to subspecies; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Dark green, bluish-green to yellowish-green sprinkled with yellow dots, with whitish or yellowish lines; hangs downward from silken mat but often extends sideways.
FOOD PLANTS: All native hackberries (Celtis spp.).
PARTS EATEN: Young foliage.
NOTE: Several subspecies of L. carinenta occur in Texas. At this time confusion of names/range occurs in the literature with much more work needed.
GOLDEN BANDED-SKIPPER
Golden Banded-Skipper
(Autochton cellus)
Family: Skipper (Hesperiidae)
Size: 1-3/8–2 inches
Broods: Two or more
Flight time: April–November
Overwinters: Chrysalis
Range: 2, 3, 6, 7
Not only is the Golden Banded-Skipper one of the less common Skippers in the state but it is also one of the most wary of insects. Even when one flits into view, it is usually difficult to keep it in sight, for it is extremely alert and generally will not tolerate a close approach. When disturbed, it takes off with strong wing beats and in very rapid flight, usually flying quite a distance or even out of sight before alighting again. Even though this Skipper ranges through a large portion of the state, populations are usually small, very local, and often widely separated.
The overall blackish-brown coloring of this Skipper is highlighted by wide, unbroken, golden-yellow bars or bands across both the upper and lower surfaces of the forewings. A small white bar occurs near the tip of each forewing. The fringe of the hindwings is brown-and-white checkered in the upper portion, becoming brownish near the body. The lower surface of the hindwings is gray-frosted with two bands of darker spots near the outer margins.
The Golden Banded-Skipper readily takes nectar, preferring plants in open, moist woodlands near streams, woodland lakes, or humid ravines. It should be looked for on heavy nectar producers such as Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), and azaleas (Rhododendron spp.), hawthorns (Crataegus spp.), ironweeds (Vernonia spp.), and milkweeds (Asclepias spp.). In the garden it often uses flowering shrubs such as Glossy Abelia (Abelia × grandiflora) and lilacs (Syringa spp.).
EGG: Pale yellow becoming tan or brownish; usually laid in cluster of two or three but occasionally in string of as many as seven or eight, usually at base of food plant leaf.
CATERPILLAR: Head reddish-brown with two eyelike yellow dots; body yellowish-green, yellow dotted or speckled and with broad, clear yellow line along each side; feeds at night, hides during day in rolled or tied leaf shelters; as caterpillars become larger and go to larger leaves, they cut the silken threads that bound the old shelter together, removing signs of their presence.
CHRYSALIS: Dark brown with greenish tint, covered with waxy or powdery “bloom”; remains in silken “nest” in leaf shelter.
FOOD PLANTS: Most commonly Southern Hog-peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata), although Pigeon-wings (Clitoria mariana) and Purple Stylisma (Stylisma aquatica) are also given in the literature as probable food sources. Wright’s Bean (Phaseolus filiformis) is given for the western portion of the state.
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
SICKLE-WINGED SKIPPER
Sickle-winged Skipper
(Eantis tamenund)
Family: Skipper (Hesperiidae)
Size: 1-3/8–1-7/8 inches
Broods: One to many
Flight time: May–October (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: 2, 4, 5, 6
This is one of the largest Skippers, and its size, shape, and coloring are most distinctive. The wings are wide and rounded, with the forewing indented just below the hooked tip, forming a “sickle.” The upper surface of this wing is blackish-brown to mahogany-brown, with pale areas of purplish-gray forming bands and irregular groupings of spots. A beautiful iridescent sheen of coppers and lavenders covers both wings. The undersurface of both wings is similar but paler. Females are paler in overall coloration and appear somewhat more mottled, instead of banded as in the males, but the hooked forewing tips and overall violet sheen easily separate this Skipper from all others.
Sickle-winged Skippers visit flowers often, especially those close to shrubby borders or around clusters of trees. They move about with an unusual jerky flight, until alighting on a flower to nectar or on a rock or leaf, where they rest with wings spread tightly against the surface. During midday or periods of extremely high temperatures, it is not uncommon to see them fly to the cooler underside of a leaf after nectaring.
They are especially attracted to Beebrush (Aloysia gratissima), Texas Kidneywood (Eysenhardtia texana), and lantanas (Lantana spp.) and mistflowers (Conoclinium spp.).
These Skippers are year-round residents in the Rio Grande Valley area, but in some years they make flights northward as far as Kansas and Arkansas during the summer and fall months.
EGG: Not described; laid singly on upper side of food plant leaf.
CATERPILLAR: Yellowish-green or grayish-blue, with darker stripe down back and broad band of yellow dashes along each side; lives in silk-lined nestlike shelter formed in a leaf.
CHRYSALIS: Green covered with whitish powder or “bloom”; bound by silken thread, resting in “nest” of silked-together leaves of food plant.
FOOD PLANTS: Lime Prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum fagara) and possibly some cultivated Citrus.
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
Hoary Edge
(Achalarus lyciades)
Family: Skipper (Hesperiidae)
Size: 1-1/2–1-7/8 inches
Broods: Two
Flight time: April–December
Overwinters: Last instar caterpillar/chrysalis
Range: 2, 3, 6
HOARY EDGE
The Hoary Edge is another uncommon and widely distributed Skipper, similar in appearance to both the Golden Banded-Skipper (Autochton cellus) and Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus). The dark, blackish-brown, triangular-shaped forewings are marked by four or five yellow-orange, squarish bars forming a translucent band above and below. The forewing above is marked by a paler shade of brown between the orange bar and the outer margin. The lower surface of the hindwings is mottled black and dark brown near the body, with the outer half of the hindwing conspicuously frosted in a large, silver-white patch. The irregular shape and amount of “frosting” of this patch give it a “smeared” effect.
While not as fast or strong a flier as its two look-alikes, the Hoary Edge is a mover, and when not basking or perched and waiting for females, the male seems never to be still for long. Its stay at any one flower is brief, but it will continue to nectar in an area at length if not disturbed.
Frequently seen around flowers, these butterflies are continually alert—dipping into the middle of a blossom and then quickly backing out, looking around, and going back in for more feeding. They use many different plants but obviously prefer those in open, sunny spots. The best places to look for these beauties are along the outer edges of wide roadsides where unmowed plants are in flower.
For a courting territory, males usually choose small openings within woodlands or along woodland edges, brushy fencerows, or the sunny edges of shrubby areas in parks or gardens where they perch on outer twigs or leaves and wait for passing females. Females fly by in search of nectar-filled flowers, and the males dash out, circling around them, fluttering their wings, and releasing certain scent pheromones. Often the female is sighted by more than one male, and the males then begin contesting the rights of territory. Courting is forgotten until one of the males is persuaded to leave.
EGG: Whitish or creamy; laid singly beneath leaves of food plant or often on nearby plants.
CATERPILLAR: Head dark reddish-purple to black, no facial markings, covered with very short, stiff hairs; body pale to dark green becoming pinkish in latest instars, blue-green stripe down the back, and a narrow yellow stripe along each side, covered in small yellow dots and short pale hairs.
CHRYSALIS: Pale brown with dark and paler yellowish-tan patches and black dots; rests in silked-together leaves or debris at base of food plant.
FOOD PLANTS: False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), Downy Bush-clover (Lespedeza hirta), Texas Bush-clover (L. texana), Little-leaved Tick-clover (Desmodium ciliare), Canadian Tick-clover (D. canadense), Panicled Tick-clover (D. paniculatum), Bare-stem Tick-clover (D. nudiflorum), and Trailing Tick-clover (D. glabellum).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
Amymone (Common Mestra)
(Mestra amymone)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 1-3/8 –1-7/8 inches
Broods: One to several
Flight time: March–December (all year)
Overwinters: (Adult)
Range: 4, 5, 6, 7 (1, 2, 3)
Common in the Rio Grande Valley and occasionally breeding as far north as Austin and possibly Waco in the Hill Country, the Amymone sometimes wanders to Minnesota in small numbers. With colorings and markings quite different from those of most other members of the Brush-foots, the Amymone is easily recognized in the field. The upper surface of both wings ranges in various grays at the base near the body, dusted with a pearly-white sheen in the middle section, and with a wide charcoal band on the tips of the forewings. A bright orange-yellow band edges the hindwings. The lower surface of the wings is brownish-orange, with large, irregular creamy-white spots forming bands. Broods occurring during periods of unusual moisture are reportedly darker in general coloration. The soft, subtle coloring of a freshly emerged adult is truly beautiful, but the colors quickly fade, scales are lost, and the fragile wings easily become tattered and torn.
Flight of the Amymone is slow and sailing, with few wing beats. Never flying far even when disturbed, it stays close to the ground, taking nectar from low-growing flowers and slowly making its way from plant to plant. If really frightened, the Amymone quickly darts into nearby vegetation and disappears. This butterfly is at home wherever the flowers are, whether dense woodlands or the edges of hot, sunny areas.
AMYMONE (COMMON MESTRA)
EGG: Somewhat globe-shaped, ridged to near top, covered in soft hairs, pale yellow.
CATERPILLAR: Head with two longer spines than on body, each of which ends with a knob or crest of smaller spines; body brown with green diamond shapes on back and with eight rows of spines; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Green or brown; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Catnip Noseburn (Tragia ramosa) is the only known food plant.
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
Fulvia Checkerspot
(Chlosyne fulvia fulvia)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 1-1/4–1-7/8 inches
Broods: Three
Flight time: April–October
Overwinters: Third instar caterpillar
Range: 1, 6, 7
Seldom wandering far from its food plant, the paintbrushes (Castilleja spp.), the Fulvia Checkerspot flies slowly about, nectaring at various flowers and lazily basking in the sun. The general color and pattern of the upper surface of the wings are variable, but the lower surface is distinctive, making this one easy to recognize. With a basic ground color of orange, the upper surface of both wings is bordered and lined with dots and spots of cream, yellow, and black. The veins are black, merging into the checkered marginal fringe. The undersurface of the forewings is orange with black- and cream-colored bands near the outer margins; the hindwings are cream-colored with black veins and a black band enclosing a row of cream-colored spots forming a “chain.” Males and females of this species usually look very different from one another, the males appearing smoky or dusky and much darker. Females are usually larger than the males.
While the Fulvia Checkerspots will be found in gardens, where they show a preference for yellow-colored flowers, in the wild they inhabit rocky ridgetops and slopes. They are not widespread but tend to stay in colonies near the food plant. Males gather on hilltops to seek females for mating.
FULVIA CHECKERSPOT
THEONA CHECKERSPOT
EGG: Cream to pale yellow becoming orange; laid singly or in clusters of ten to thirty on lower surface of leaves near base of host plant.
CATERPILLAR: Yellow to dull orangish with black bands and numerous black spines; gregarious in loose silk web when young, later dispersing.
CHRYSALIS: White, mottled with black stripes and spots and with pale brown or tannish between the black stripes; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: The paintbrushes, Tall (C. integra), Woolly (C. lanata), Purple (C. purpurea), Downy (C. sessiliflora), and Texas (C. indivisa).
PARTS EATEN: Fleshy bracts, tenderest leaves, and buds if foliage not available.
Theona Checkerspot
(Chlosyne theona)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 1–1-5/8 inches
Broods: Two to several
Flight time: April–October (all year)
Overwinters: Third or fourth instar caterpillar (adult)
Range: 1, 4, 5, 6, 7
Theona Checkerspots are never found very far from their larval food plants. This, their weak flight, and distinctive coloration make for easy identification. Upper wing surfaces of this butterfly are dark grayish or blackish, with orange spots forming bands. A row of pale yellow or cream-colored rectangles forms a wide band across both wings, with another row of orange rectangles just below it, making both wings double-banded. Both wings are bordered in black with a double row of small white dots. Lower wing surfaces are a series of bands of white or cream and reddish-orange highlighted by conspicuous black veins. The abdomen is black with very narrow yellow crosswise bands on the upperside.
This is a butterfly of open country. In its natural habitat it flies slowly among scattered shrubbery of the brushlands or chaparral, stopping to take nectar from blossoms of low-growing herbs. Often after a rain shower it spends much time around mud puddles or concave rocks where the moisture remains standing. Natural seepage areas are an excellent place to look for the adult in the wild. For the home garden within its range, good nectar sources, a group planting of Leucophyllum or Castilleja, and a constantly moist area readily bring it in.
EGG: Cream-colored; laid in cluster beneath leaf of food plant; often several leaves of the same plant are utilized by the same female.
CATERPILLAR: Velvety brownish-black, dotted and banded with cream, and with many branching spines; young caterpillars tend to stay together in close groups, almost completely defoliating certain portions of the food plant; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Smooth, white with few black dots and stripes, black stripe down back with orangish spots; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Big Bend Silver-leaf (L. minus), Cenizo (L. frutescens), Violet Silver-leaf (L. candidum), and almost all paintbrushes (Castilleja spp.).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
NOTE: The Theona Checkerspot enters the United States from Mexico along two different routes, forming two distinct populations. One population enters the United States from western Mexico along the Pacific, with the Texas population entering along the Gulf Coast from eastern Mexico.
Falcate Orangetip
(Anthocharis midea)
Family: White/Sulphur (Pieridae)
Size: 1-3/8–1-3/4 inches
Broods: One
Flight time: February–May
Overwinters: Chrysalis
Range: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
One of the earliest butterflies to appear each spring, the Falcate Orangetip can be seen flying low to the ground around garden shrubbery and along the edges of open woodlands. It is very local in distribution, but once one is spotted, there are often several in the same area.
Undaunted by unpredictable spring weather, the Falcate Orangetip is on the wing even on very cool or partially cloudy days. The male seems to never perch, continually flying back and forth and often along the same route day after day. Its stops for nectar are numerous but usually very brief. Females are usually seen less often than males but seem to visit flowers more often. They spend a lot of time hovering about, low to the ground, going in and out of brambles, and inspecting numerous plants for the proper ones for egg deposition. Normal flight is composed of a short period of slow sailing or gliding, then a series of quick, jerky wing beats, then more sailing.
For the most part, the upper wing surface of the Falcate Orangetip is a soft, snowy-white. Forewings of the male bear a solitary, elongated black dash about midway in from the margins, and the wings are tipped with a bright orange patch. Forewings of the female bear only the black dash. Lower wing surfaces of both sexes are similar, with the forewings white, black-dotted, and with a patch of greenish-brown mottling near the tip. The hindwings are beautifully marbled in greenish to grayish. Forewings of both sexes are conspicuously hooked (falcate) at the tips. This curving and the orange patch on the wings of the male give this butterfly its common name.
Because it is only a spring visitor to the garden, flower preferences are those that are low to the ground and in full bloom by March and April. Some plants regularly visited are Rose Verbena (Glandularia canadensis), Prairie Verbena (G. bipinnatafida), False Garlic (Nothoscordum bivalve), Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica), Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris), and Yellow Star-grass (Hypoxis hirsuta), as well as dewberries (Rubus spp.), bluets (Houstonia spp.), violets (Viola spp.), wild onions (Allium spp.), and various members of the Mustard Family (Brassicaceae).
FALCATE ORANGETIP (female)
EGG: Elongated, ribbed, yellow-green becoming orange; laid singly, usually at the base of a flower, with rarely more than one egg per plant deposited, but several females may deposit on same plant.
CATERPILLAR: Primarily yellow-green, with conspicuous orange stripe down the center of the back and with blue, white, and yellow stripes along the sides; cannibalistic in early stages; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Head portion long-pointed, greenish, yellowish becoming tannish-brown with brown and black mottling; slender, crinkled; rests upright from silken mat and silken strand.
FOOD PLANTS: Best-known food plants in Texas are Spring Bittercress (Cardamine rhomboidea) in the east and Brazos Rockcress (Arabis petiolaris) in the Hill Country and Valley area. Others include Sand Bittercress (C. parviflora), Downy Bittercress (C. hirta), Virginia Peppergrass (Lepidium virginicum), Prairie Peppergrass (L. densiflorum), and Woolly-fruit Peppergrass (L. lasiocarpum).
PARTS EATEN: Buds, flowers, and seedpods.
NOTE: It usually takes two years for this butterfly to emerge.
Great Purple Hairstreak (Great Blue Hairstreak)
(Atlides halesus halesus)
Family: Gossamer-winged (Lycaenidae)
Size: 1-1/4–1-3/4 inches
Broods: Two to several
Flight time: February–November (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
Wing scaling on the upper wing surface of the Great Purple is one of the most brilliant iridescent blues found among the hairstreaks, making this one of the most unusual and beautiful. The lower wing surface is not quite so lavish in coloring, being more a purplish or bluish sheen over dark charcoal-gray, with spots of bright red on the base near the body and a patch of metallic blue and green spots near the tail. A large patch of brilliant blue covers the base of the forewing but is usually hidden by the hindwing. The upper portion of the abdomen is black with white dots; the rear portion is a spectacular bright reddish-orange. Males are more brilliantly colored than the females but with only one tail on the hindwing, whereas the female has two.
Commonly visiting flowers, the Great Purple Hairstreak can readily be found in gardens if certain conditions are favorable. During most of the year, it does not wander far from trees infested with the semiparasitic mistletoe (Phoradendron spp.), its larval food plant. So, if there are trees near your garden with a healthy and thriving growth of this plant, the Great Purple Hairstreak will most likely be a regular visitor to nearby flowers. In some areas greater numbers of these butterflies can be seen in the spring or early summer, but at least a few are almost always around, and anytime this striking beauty is sighted is a special treat.
Some flowers regularly visited for nectar include cultivated fruit tree blossoms such as peach (Prunus persica) and plum (P. americana). Others include natives such as Mexican Plum (P. mexicana), Virginia Frostweed (Verbesina virginica), Giant Ironweed (Vernonia gigantea), goldenrods (Solidago spp.), various wild onions (Allium spp.), redbuds (Cercis spp.), asters (Symphotrichum spp.), and thistles (Cirsium spp.).
Males are quite long-lived for a Hairstreak, often surviving three weeks or more. Their chosen area for pursuing mates is usually very local, such as one particular tree and a very small surrounding territory. They usually perch in the open near the top of the tree from midday to dusk.
GREAT PURPLE HAIRSTREAK (GREAT BLUE HAIRSTREAK)
EGG: Somewhat rounded, flattened on top and bottom with deep depression on top, outer surface covered with tiny bumps arranged in more or less regular horizontal rows, white to creamy, shiny.
CATERPILLAR: Slug-shaped, dull green covered with short hairs and appearing velvety, with tiny, bluish-white diamond behind head; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Short, stout, rounded, brown, heavily mottled with black; attached only by silken strand beneath bark or among debris at base of food plant tree.
FOOD PLANTS: Christmas Mistletoe (Phoradendron tomentosum) growing on Honey Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) or elms (Ulmus spp.) and hackberries (Celtis spp.) is preferred. Other host trees include ashes (Fraxinus spp.), cottonwoods (Populus spp.), oaks (Quercus spp.), and willows (Salix spp.), as well as Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). Oak Mistletoe (Phoradendron villosum) grows on oaks; and Rough Mistletoe (P. hawksworthii), on junipers (Juniperus spp.). Several other trees are used as well.
PARTS EATEN: Young foliage and occasionally male flowers.
Texan Crescent
(Anthanassa texana)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 1-1/4–1-3/4 inches
Broods: Three or more
Flight time: March–November (all year)
Overwinters: Caterpillar/chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
With a low, strong, fluttering flight, the Texan Crescent moves from one clump of flowers to another. Once on a good nectar source, such as frogfruit (Phyla spp.) or the fall-flowering Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium fistulosum), however, it remains for long periods, basking in the warm sun while lazily feeding from the plentiful flowers. Many confrontations with bees, wasps, and other butterflies take place, all of them vying for the freshest flowers and most nectar, but the Texan Crescent usually sends them scurrying with strong flicks of its wings.
Primarily a dark brownish-black in color, the upper surface of the Texan Crescent’s wings is heavily dotted in white; the large dots, somewhat squarish and variously placed on the forewings, form a horizontal row on the hindwings. Orangish bars and splotches combine to form bright patches at the bases of the wings near the body. The lower surface of the forewings has white markings near the tip, and the hindwings are generally more buff-colored and marked with black lines and dots. A white band crosses the wings about midway. Both body and basal area of the wing near the body are overlaid with iridescent greenish, copper, and purple scaling. Females are usually larger than the males.
Texan Crescents are denizens of low, open, shrubby-type areas, such as in rocky creek bottoms and along edges of thin, rocky woodlands or open trails. It also readily inhabits flower gardens for nectar and will remain in the area if some shrubs or low trees are present, providing it has an escape site. It can be found at various altitudes and is at home on tops of low mountains, along the shrubby edge of a foothill stream, or in flat, coastal grasslands.
In seeking mates, male Texan Crescents usually perch on an exposed twig, rock, or grass blade in a low habitat such as a gully or an open area between hills or along a mountain stream. From his chosen perch within his territory, he flies out to inspect everything that passes by and fiercely chases off other butterflies, especially other male Texan Crescents. Females are an exception, of course; when one flies into a male’s territory, he begins an elaborate courtship dance, flying loops behind and above her, attracting her attention, and hopefully persuading her to mate.
Some individuals of the first spring broods of Texan Crescents have a tendency to wander, and specimens are occasionally seen as far north as Minnesota, east to Illinois, and west to California.
EGG: Pale greenish-yellow; laid in clusters on underside of leaves of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Young larva greenish-brown, with four rows of pale-colored, flattened bumps or tubercles, each bump bearing a hair; mature caterpillar yellow-brown, with the sides striped in black and white; one white band broad and mottled with greenish and brown; spines on lower portion of body greenish-white; all other spines brown; young caterpillars feed and rest in groups in silken shelter on underside of leaves.
CHRYSALIS: Tannish to brown, practically unmarked, short spines down back and on sides; held by silken strand, rests in silken “nest” within folded-over leaf of larval food plant.
FOOD PLANTS: Bracted Dicliptera (Dicliptera brachiata), American Water-willow (Justicia americana), Lance-leaved Water-willow (J. ovata var. lanceolata), and the cultivated Flamingo Plant (Jacobinia carnea), Mexican Ruellia (Ruellia brittoniana), and Green Shrimp Plant (Blechum Pyramidatum). In Louisiana, the cultivated King’s Crown (J. suberecta) and Mexican Honeysuckle (J. spicigera) have recently been discovered to be excellent larval food plants.
TEXAN CRESCENT
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
Little Yellow
(Pyrisitia lisa lisa)
Family: White/Sulphur (Pieridae)
Size: 1-1/4–1-1/2 inches
Broods: Three or more
Flight time: February–November (all year)
Overwinters: Caterpillar/chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
Although small in size, the Little Yellow makes up for it in numbers and is probably the state’s most plentiful butterfly. It is on the wing year-round in the southern portions of its range and by midsummer is encountered in every field, meadow, garden, and open woodland and along almost every roadside in the rest of its range. It is not a fast flier and stays low to the ground, where it visits flowers readily and also seeks areas of moisture. Inclement weather does not seem to bother the Little Yellow, for it can be seen flying on windy and cloudy days. It is not uncommon to find it in great numbers, along with Hairstreaks and Blues (family Lycaenidae), Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice), or Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia), taking moisture from mud puddles or seepage areas.
The basic color of the male is usually a clear yellow, with a solid black border on the upper surface of the wings. Females are usually a little larger in size, and their wings have spotted borders. Occasionally a female is chalky-white or creamy-white with black markings and is known as forma alba. The undersurface of both sexes is yellowish-green with minute dark speckling and brownish blotches and smudges. Females have a large, dark-colored, but indistinct spot near the tip of the hindwing.
A courting male patrols constantly during the day seeking females. The upper surface of the wings of the male reflects ultraviolet light, and he also uses pheromones to attract a mate.
Although Little Yellows migrate north as far as Canada during the summer and even produce two or more broods there, they cannot survive the harsh winters. Each fall the adults either fly southward or perish, with new adults again flying northward the next year.
LITTLE YELLOW
EGG: Minute, pale green when deposited; laid singly on upper surface of food plant leaf, usually between two leaflets.
CATERPILLAR: Pale green, marked lengthwise with white and green lines, downy with fine, short hair; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Translucent green tinged bluish, with black dots; held upright from silken mat and with silken strand around middle of body.
FOOD PLANTS: Partridge-pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata), Delicate Sensitive-pea (C. nictitans), Powderpuff (Mimosa strigillosa), Maryland Senna (Senna marilandica), Southern Hog-peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata), Illinois Bundleflower (Desmanthus illinoensis), and the introduced Coffee Senna (S. occidentalis).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
Pearl Crescent
(Phyciodes tharos tharos)
Family: Brush-footed (Nymphalidae)
Size: 1-1/4–1-1/2 inches
Broods: Two to several
Flight time: February–December (all year)
Overwinters: Third instar caterpillar (adult)
Range: Throughout
Pearl Crescents are one of the most abundant and familiar small butterflies in the state. In almost any open field, meadow, flower garden, or roadside, this little gem can be seen flying low, taking nectar or sipping moisture from wet ground. Males patrol for females with which to mate or perch with closed wings on a bare branch, rock, or grass blade, darting out to inspect everything that passes by. It is especially fond of darting at other butterflies being photographed and sending them off in terrified flight.
The upper surface of the wings is primarily orange, with numerous black blotches, lines, and spots. Bases of both wings are intricately marked with networks of fine curving or scrawly lines. A row of small black dots borders the hindwings near the outer margins. Females have more black than males, and both sexes are darker in the early-spring form. The lower surface of the forewings is pale orange, with black and cream patches vaguely forming a border, while the hind-wings are softly mottled in cream and yellows, with fine, brown, curvy lines. Along the darker border of the hindwing is a conspicuous purplish-brown patch surrounding a pearly crescent- or boomerang-shaped mark.
Pearl Crescents often use the same plants for nectaring as ones used for egg deposition and are almost always found around whichever aster (Symphyotrichum spp.) is in flower at the time. Other members of the Aster Family (Asteraceae) are preferred to the deeper-throated flowers since the butterfly’s proboscis is short, making nectar gathering difficult. While feeding, Pearl Crescents move about with wings opened flat or almost so and characteristically raise them up and down while continually turning the body around and around in slow circles. Flight is usually very low, hardly rising above the grasses or flowers. For protection they usually dart down among plant stems and debris close to the ground.
EGG: Slightly elongated, ribbed, whitish to pale green; laid in a mass, sometimes in a layer, on underside of basal leaves of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Dark reddish- or chocolate-brown with tiny white dots, lined with black and cream or yellow, and covered with numerous branching spines; gregarious when young; makes no shelter.
PEARL CRESCENT
CHRYSALIS: Mottled gray or yellowish to tannish with brownish markings, many bumps along back; hangs downward from silken mat.
FOOD PLANTS: Many species of asters such as Willow-leaf Aster (S. praealtum), Bushy Aster (S. dumosum), Calico Aster (S. lateriflorum), Texas Aster (S. drummondii var. texana), and the cultivated New England Aster (S. novae-angliae). Probably several other species are used, especially in the western and Plains areas.
PARTS EATEN: Foliage; at first only the lower surface but later the entire leaf.
White M Hairstreak
(Parrhasius m-album)
Family: Gossamer-winged (Lycaenidae)
Size: 1–1-1/4 inches
Broods: Two to several
Flight time: February–December
Overwinters: Chrysalis
Range: 2, 3, 4, 6
WHITE M HAIRSTREAK
Like most other Hairstreaks, the White M is an avid feeder on flower nectar and crawls from flower to flower when it finds a good nectar source. While feeding, it is relatively docile but, if startled, takes off in rapid, often erratic flight. Although it is widely distributed and seen in many different habitats, nowhere or at any time is it abundant. Peak emergence occurs usually in the early spring months of March and April. In the fall the butterflies are again frequently seen but are usually very local in distribution and in groups. At this time, they will often be in the company of other Hairstreaks around a good nectar source, and close observation is necessary to separate the different species present.
White M Hairstreaks can be identified quite easily by the large and conspicuous M (or W—depending on which way the wing is viewed) on the hindwings formed by narrow white and black bands. At the outer angle and above the two long, narrow tails are large red and blue areas. The upper sides of the wings are brilliant, iridescent blue with wide black borders along the wing margins. Occasionally this butterfly will partially open the wings while nectaring or basking, but more often even basking is done with the wings closed and turned sideways to the sun. The beauty of the upper sides is generally viewed only briefly as the butterfly alights and takes off in flight.
EGG: Rather flat, pale greenish becoming white; laid singly on buds, young leaves, and twigs of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Head brownish-black, smooth; body from dull red to red and green with various markings of olive to light yellowish-green, with darker green stripe along the back and with seven dull, dark green, slanting stripes along each side, downy with soft hairs; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Brown with darker brown blotches and with black ridge along abdomen segments; when disturbed, the abdomen moves, producing faint “squeaking” sounds; held by silken thread, probably in the leaf litter beneath host oak (Quercus spp.) trees.
FOOD PLANTS: Probably any species of oak, especially trees with narrow or very lobed leaves, such as Live Oak (Q. virginiana), Water Oak (Q. nigra), Post Oak (Q. stellata), White Oak (Q. alba), and Shumard Red Oak (Q. shumardii).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage, especially the reddish to pale green immature leaves or the tenderest portions of mature leaves.
Fiery Skipper
(Hylephila phyleus)
Family: Skipper (Hesperiidae)
Size: 1–1-1/4 inches
Broods: Several
Flight time: March–December (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
A familiar sight in most gardens is this small, rapidly flying wizard among the flowers. With quick, darting take-offs the Fiery Skipper seems to “leap” from one flower to the next and never stays long at any of them. These butterflies are rather pugnacious and will flit at other nectaring butterflies until they leave.
There is a difference in coloration between the male and female of this species. The upperside of the male is bright orange with a long black mark on the forewing and sawtooth marginal border; the female is dark brown with a band of orange spots across the wings. Below, the male is paler orange with a scattering of black spots; the female is pale yellow or somewhat brownish with scattered dark spots and a wide, paler band. The male is smaller than the female.
One of the easiest identifying features of this Skipper is its conspicuously short antennae. The exceedingly long proboscis enables Fiery Skippers to partake of nectar deep within tubular blossoms of such flowers as salvias (Salvia spp.), penstemons (Penstemon spp.), and morning glories (Ipomoea spp.).
EGG: Pale turquoise, shiny; laid singly on food plant leaf.
CATERPILLAR: Gray, pale green to greenish-brown or yellowish-brown, with dark stripes along back and sides; lives in silk-lined shelter at base of food plant.
FIERY SKIPPER
CHRYSALIS: Pale tan, mottled with darker brown dashes; rests horizontally in silken shelter among roots and debris at base of food plant.
FOOD PLANTS: Native grasses such as Southern Crab (Digitaria ciliaris), Teal Love (Eragrostis hypnoides), the nonnative St. Augustine (Stenotaphrum secundatum) and Common Bermuda (Cynodon dactylon), and the cultivated Sugar Cane (Saccharum officinarum).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
NOTE: This is the only North American member of the genus Hylephila.
Common Checkered-Skipper
(Pyrgus communis)
Family: Skipper (Hesperiidae)
Size: 1–1-1/4 inches
Broods: Three to several
Flight time: February–November (all year)
Overwinters: Last instar caterpillar (adult)
Range: Throughout
This is possibly the most abundant and most often encountered Skipper in North America. In Texas it can be seen on the wing throughout the year in the southern portion of its range and all through the breeding season in the rest of the state. Common Checkered-Skippers are one of the earliest to fly in spring as well as late fall, visiting whatever is in bloom at the time.
Coloration of this butterfly is quite variable, occasionally causing some confusion in identification. Generally, the upper surface of both wings is dark gray, checkered, and banded with white. The lower surface of both wings is much paler, variously mottled in grays and white. Wing margins are fringed, the fringe checkered dark gray and white. Long, hairlike scales produce a bluish or turquoise sheen at the base of the wings and on the body. Males are somewhat paler in color than females.
Frequently visiting flowers in short, fast, direct flights, this Skipper often stops to bask with wings spread wide. While feeding, it continually turns round and round, and the wings make frequent up-and-down movements. It usually remains low to the ground.
Favorite flowers used for nectaring include New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus var. pitcherii), Bur-clover (Medicago polymorpha), False Garlic (Nothoscordum bivalve), Golden Crownbeard (Verbesina encelioides), New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae), Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica), White Sweet-clover (Melilotus albus), and various zinnias (Zinnia spp.), milkweeds (Asclepias spp.), dewberries (Rubus spp.), bluets (Houstonia spp.), frogfruits (Phyla spp.), verbenas (Verbena spp.), and violets (Viola spp.).
Males are seemingly very territorial and have been described as being pugnacious. It is interesting to watch as a male defends his area, darting out at everything that passes by. He either perches on some exposed twig or branch to await passing females or patrols a regular path, flying slowly back and forth from one boundary to the other. Once he encounters a female, he follows in pursuit until either mating occurs or he has been rejected.
EGG: Bluish-green, changing to cream just before hatching; laid singly on a bud or on upper surface of young leaf of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Head black, covered in minute tannish hairs; body mostly greenish to pale tan, with darker stripe down back and narrow pale brown and white stripes along sides, downy with short whitish hairs; lives in rolled-up leaf shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Greenish in head portion, brownish toward rear, crossbanded with darker mottling and streaks; attached by silken strand within curled or folded-over leaf.
FOOD PLANTS: Scarlet Globe-mallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea), Copper Globe-mallow (S. angustifolia), Lindheimer’s Globe-mallow (S. lindheimeri), Common Mallow (Malva neglecta), Three-lobe False-mallow (Malvastrum coromandelianum), Alkali Little-mallow (Malvella leprosa), Mexican-mallow (Meximalva filipes), Carolina Modiola (Modiola caroliniana), Tall Poppy-mallow (Callirhoë leiocarpa), Crested Anoda (Anoda cristata), Arrow-leaf Sida (Sida rhombifolia), Prickly Sida (S. spinosa), Spreading Sida (S. abutifolia), Lindheimer’s Sida (S. lindheimeri), and the cultivated Hollyhock (Alcea rosea).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
RELATED SPECIES: Three other very similar Skippers occur in the southern half of the state: White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus albescens), which can be separated from the Common only by dissection in the lab; Desert Checkered-Skipper (P. philetas), in which the dark checks in fringe evenly spaced; and the Tropical Checkered-Skipper (P. oileus), in which the dark checks in the fringe of the upper hindwing run together, whereas they are separated in the other two species.
COMMON CHECKERED-SKIPPER
Common Streaky-Skipper
(Celotes nessus)
Family: Skipper (Hesperiidae)
Size:3/4–1-3/16 inches
Broods: Several
Flight time: March–November (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7
One of the state’s most interestingly and uniquely marked butterflies, the Common Streaky-Skipper is unmistakable. The upper wing surface is primarily yellowish-brown with various darker lengthwise lines, streakings, spots, and chevrons, creating a folded or “pleated” appearance. The fringe of the wings is conspicuously checkered in dark brown and white, with the hindwings somewhat to prominently indented or scalloped.
The Common Streaky-Skipper is a regular flower visitor and can be readily observed while flying from flower to flower with slow, weak movements. It is a great percher, spending long periods of time just sitting between flights for sips of nectar. In the early morning it spends a lot of time basking in the sun in an open, exposed area, usually on a broad leaf or on a stick or rock low to the ground. Often groups of several individuals are found gathered around areas of moisture. Males can be seen during the day flying back and forth just above the ground, seeking females with which to mate.
Flowers that attract this butterfly to the garden are Bur-clover (Medicago polymorpha), Fine-leaf Star-violet (Stenaria nigricans), Phacelia (Phacelia congesta), Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), Golden Crown-beard (Verbesina encelioides), Huisache Daisy (Amblyolepis setigera), and the verbenas (Verbena spp.), lantanas (Lantana spp.), wild onions (Allium spp.), and frogfruits (Phyla spp.).
COMMON STREAKY-SKIPPER
EGG: Strongly ridged, white to greenish; laid singly on leaves of food plant.
CATERPILLAR: Pale green with pale yellow stripes along back and sides sometimes present, covered with tiny yellow dots and fine, short hairs.
CHRYSALIS: Not described; rests inside silken shelter on food plant leaf.
FOOD PLANTS: Texas Abutilon (Abutilon fruticosum), Copper Globe-mallow (Sphaeralcea angustifolia), False Wissadula (Allowissadula holosericea), Mexican-mallow (Meximalva felipes), and the cultivated Hollyhock (Alcea rosea).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
NOTE: Although a wide range is given for this butterfly, it is a more “western” species, with its greatest distribution west of a line running from Cook County on the Texas-Oklahoma border to Cameron County in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
RELATED SPECIES: The Common Streaky-Skipper may possibly be confused with the Chisos Streaky-Skipper (Celotes limpia) within their overlapping range in the Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains area.
Gray Hairstreak
(Strymon melinus)
Family: Gossamer-winged (Lycaenidae)
Size: 7/8–1-1/4 inches
Broods: Three to several
Flight time: February–November (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
This is probably the state’s most common Hairstreak, found in a wide range of habitats and throughout the season from earliest spring to freezing weather or all year, depending on the region. Anywhere there are flowers, the Gray Hairstreak can be seen flying swiftly about. At times the larvae are so numerous they cause serious damage to cultivated beans, corn, or cotton. Larvae sometimes bore into young flower buds of cotton, seeking the high-protein pollen, and are known as the cotton square borer.
The Gray Hairstreak is colored with soft blackish or bluish-gray scaling on the upper surface of both wings and with an orange spot on each hindwing. Below, the wings are a soft dove-gray, with black and white lines forming narrow bands; there are two large, orange-red and black patches near the tails on the hindwings. The gray coloring is darker in the spring specimens, and males are darker than females. Males also have orange along the abdomen.
As do other Hairstreaks, this one moves the tailed and eyed portion of the wings about while feeding, simulating a head complete with eyes and antennae in case of attack by a predator. In basking, it generally only partially opens the wings and rarely spreads them completely open for any length of time. In the afternoons, males perch on a low tree limb or shrub to await passing females for mating.
This Hairstreak uses many species of flowers for nectaring, especially Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus), White Sweet-clover (Melilotus albus), and various milkweeds (Asclepias spp.), phlox (Phlox spp.), and verbenas (Verbena spp.). It is an avid partaker of the nectar of Parsley-leaved Hawthorn (Crataegus marshallii) and the wild plums (Prunus spp.).
EGG: Pale green; laid singly on a bud or young flower of food plant.
GRAY HAIRSTREAK
CATERPILLAR: May range from white to various shades of pink, purplish- or reddish-brown, but usually green; white or rose stripes line the side; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Various shades of brown and cream, mottled with darker brown; attached by silken mat and lies within debris on ground.
FOOD PLANTS: Larval food plants of this butterfly are extensive, with more than ninety species being recorded as utilized. However, members of the Bean Family (Fabaceae) and Mallow Family (Malvaceae) are preferred. Native species include Downy Bush-clover (Lespedeza hirta), Round-head Bush-clover (L. capitata), Small-flowered Mallow (Malva parviflora), Round-leaf Mallow (M. rotundifolia), Scarlet Pea (Indigofera miniata), Texas Thistle (Cirsium texanum), Texas Lantana (Lantana urticoides), Desert Lantana (L. achyranthifolia), One-seeded Croton (Croton monanthogynus), and Silver-leaf Croton (C. argyranthemus). The shrubs False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa) and Parsley-leaved Hawthorn are reported as sometimes used. Some of the more commonly used cultivated species are Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), Peanut (Arachis hypogaea), and Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). Others include garden bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), lima bean (P. lunatus), and garden pea (Pisum sativum), as well as White Clover (Trifolium repens), White Sweet Clover (Melilotus albus), Common Mallow (Malva neglecta), and the shrub Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus).
PARTS EATEN: Flower buds, immature fruits, and occasionally young leaves.
Henry’s Elfin
(Callophrys henrici)
Family: Gossamer-winged (Lycaenidae)
Size: 1–1-1/8 inches
Broods: One
Flight time: February–May
Overwinters: Chrysalis
Range: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7
Although it has a wide distribution, Henry’s Elfin is very local within its range—even when found, there never seem to be very many of them. They can often be seen taking moisture from the ground but, when disturbed, quickly fly into woodland shrubbery and disappear.
This butterfly will rarely be found anywhere except near its larval food plant. Shrubby or brushy areas along fencerows, woodland edges, and openings in deciduous or pine hardwood forest are much to its liking, but it can also be found in swampy, shady deciduous woodlands.
One of the best ways to find these little beauties is to walk slowly and quietly to one of their larval food plants and gently shake the bush. If a colony of butterflies has become established in the area, more than likely some will fly out, for when not taking nectar or moisture, courting, or laying eggs, they are usually hidden among the foliage. They freely visit the blossoms of any nearby spring flowers, but especially those of its larval food plants.
Coloring of this Elfin varies greatly; the ones in the eastern half of the state are the most darkly colored and marked. These colorings and markings gradually become less conspicuous the farther west this species occurs; the more western ones are rather dull-colored and only faintly marked. The eastern is shown and described here, in which the upper surface of both wings is a dark grayish-brown with reddish scaling. The lower surface of the forewings is a rich, dark brown in the basal two-thirds, with a paler brown covering the marginal third. The two areas are separated by thin, interrupted lines of black and white. Hindwings are dark blackish-brown with brownish scaling, followed by bands of paler brown, then bluish-gray near the wing margin. The two brown areas are separated by thin black and white lines as in the forewings; the lighter brown and grayish area, by a row of dark brown or blackish crescents. Short, stubby, tail-like projections are conspicuous on the hindwings and help in the identification of this species.
EGG: Ribbed, pale green becoming white; laid singly on flowers or near leaf buds.
CATERPILLAR: Green or reddish-maroon with wide, white slanting dashes along sides; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Short, stubby, greenish-brown to brown mottled with dark brown to black; attached by silken strand to leaf litter at base of tree.
FOOD PLANTS: In eastern portion of the state Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis canadensis) is first choice, along with Huckleberry (Vaccinium arboreum) and Highbush Blueberry (V. corymbosum); Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) and American Holly (I. opaca) are sometimes used. In the western portion of the state Texas Redbud (C. c. var. texensis) and Mexican Redbud (C. c. var. mexicana) are the preferred choices, but Mexican Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa) and Texas Persimmon (Diospyros texana) are also readily used.
PARTS EATEN: Flowers, young fruits, and leaves.
HENRY’S ELFIN
NOTE: This butterfly is sometimes placed in genus Callophrys.
Olive Juniper Hairstreak
(Callophrys gryneus gryneus)
Family: Gossamer-winged (Lycaenidae)
Size: 7/8–1-1/8 inches
Broods: Two or more
Flight time: February–December
Overwinters: Chrysalis
Range: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7
The Olive Juniper Hairstreak is the most common green Hairstreak and one not easily mistaken. Although this butterfly is widely spread over the state, it is quite local in some areas in the sense that it remains near good-sized stands of juniper (Juniperus spp.), often referred to as cedar, which also aids in identification. An established population remains in a particular area unless some environmental catastrophe forces it to seek a new site. Or, as is often the case, overcrowding will cause a portion of a population to seek another stand of juniper and form a new breeding area. Areas where hardwoods are harvested and not replaced, abandoned fields, and cleared but neglected sites are all beneficial to this Hair-streak. Juniper (or cedar) readily becomes established in such unkempt areas, and the Olive Juniper Hairstreak correspondingly increases in numbers as well as new locations.
The upper wing surface is a dark brown flushed with rust or reddish-brown. The female often has more orange or gold scaling than the male and appears paler. The lower surface of both sexes is a bright green, with a straight line of white dashes set in brownish-copper on the forewings. On the hindwings white and brown dashes form two very irregular marginal bands with two very short lines near the base. A small, indistinct orange spot is set in a patch of blue scaling near the tails on the hindwings. Coloring of the summer broods is usually darker than in the spring and fall broods.
Olive Juniper Hairstreaks visit a large variety of flowers; some of the best liked are Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana), Agarita (Mahonia trifoliolata), Eastern Baccharis (Baccharis halimifolia), Summer Bluet (Houstonia purpurea), and various redbuds (Cercis spp.), milkweeds (Asclepias spp.), wild onions (Allium spp.), and asters (Symphyotrichum spp.).
Flight of this butterfly is very swift. When disturbed, it darts about for a few minutes, then frequently returns to the same spot from which it left. Even when disturbed several times, instead of flying off a great distance, it flies to nearby shrubbery (often a juniper tree) and disappears among the branches for a brief period.
To seek mates, males remain around juniper trees, perching on an outermost branch tip near the top of a tree. Mating grounds are more often on hilltops or toward the crests of slopes than in lower gullies or valleys.
OLIVE JUNIPER HAIRSTREAK
EGG: Pale green with white ridges; laid singly on tips of juniper branches.
CATERPILLAR: Dark green, with pale green or yellowish dashes along sides, forming lines; makes no shelter.
CHRYSALIS: Short, stout, largest in head portion, rich brown with pale greenish sheen, generally covered with black-brown blotches.
FOOD PLANTS: Any native juniper within range, especially Eastern Red Cedar (J. virginiana) and Ashe Juniper (J. ashei).
PARTS EATEN: Tips of young foliage.
RELATED SPECIES: While the range of this butterfly is given as almost throughout the state, it is far more common in the western half. Another subspecies, Siva Juniper Hair-streak (Callophrys gryneus siva), occurs in Region 7 and can be separated from the Olive by having straight marginal lines forming the band on the hindwing and the absence of the two short white dashes near the body.
Fatal Metalmark
(Calephelis nemesis australis)
Family: Metalmark (Riodinidae)
Size:3/4–1 inch
Broods: Three or more
Flight time: March–November (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: 4, 5, 6, 7
The Fatal Metalmark is probably the most common Metalmark in the state, yet because of its small size, dull coloration, and rather secretive habits, it is often not noticed.
Most Metalmarks are noted for the two wide, shiny, silver bands across the wings, but the Fatal has only thin, inconspicuous lines of silver, a darker brown band near the middle of the wings, and irregularly checkered fringes. The Fatal displays much variation in coloring, and usually the female is much paler and less noticeably marked than the male. The lower surface of the wings of both sexes is a dull yellow-orange with diffuse blackish markings. Males have shorter forelegs, which are less than half the length of the other legs and are not used when walking or perching.
Fatal Metalmarks are most active during the warmest part of the day and at this time seek flowers growing near the ground, where they nectar with wings open or almost so. If heat becomes unbearable, they fly to nearby shrubbery and rest beneath the leaves. They are usually quite calm and do not fly far when disturbed. A local resident, the Fatal rarely flies far from where it was raised and almost never migrates.
EGG: Pitted, reddish with network of white ridges; laid singly on midrib of food plant leaves.
FATAL METALMARK
CATERPILLAR: Dark gray studded with small silvery bumps, a ridge of short, grayish-yellow hairs along back and a “skirtlike” fringe of long hairs low on sides.
CHRYSALIS: Pale dirty-yellow or grayish with few brown spots, sparsely covered with yellow hairs; attached by silken mat and strand to stem or in leaf litter at base of food plant.
FOOD PLANT: Drummond’s Virgin’s Bower (Clematis drummondii).
PARTS EATEN: Foliage.
Western Pygmy-Blue
(Brephidium exilis exilis)
Family: Gossamer-winged (Lycaenidae)
Size:3/8–3/4 inch
Broods: Two to four
Flight time: March–October (all year)
Overwinters: Chrysalis (adult)
Range: Throughout
Not only is the Western Pygmy-Blue supposedly the smallest butterfly in the state but it is the smallest known in the world at this time, with the Eastern Pygmy-Blue (B. isophthalma), Cyna Blue (Zizula cyna), and Antillean Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) running a close second. Although often overlooked, it is one of the most beautiful Gossamer-wings. In its range, the Western Pygmy-Blue is very common, flying slow and low to the ground, visiting the smaller flowers. The upper wing surface is a rich reddish-brown, with iridescent blue scaling near the body. The brown undersurface is interrupted with small white striations in the outer portion of the fore-wings that become mixed with blue-gray near the body. A row of black spots lines the outer margins of the hindwings, the lower spots centered with iridescent blue-green. The wings are delicately fringed in white. Females are generally a little larger than males and somewhat browner.
Despite the fragile appearance of this tiny mite, some of the southern population emigrates northward each year while rearing broods along the way. Since it cannot survive the harsh winters nor does it return south, each year the northward movement is repeated. Its appearance in certain breeding areas is also somewhat sporadic, as in some locales it is abundant in a particular year, then absent the next. Perhaps it depends on food plants of a certain age, but this is not known.
Low-growing or sprawling plants with flowers close to the ground attract this butterfly for nectaring. Also, because its proboscis is very short, the Western Pygmy-Blue uses only flowers with shallow nectaries. Some favorites are Agarita (Mahonia trifoliolata), Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida), and Phacelia (Phacelia congesta), as well as frogfruit (Phyla spp.), phlox (Phlox spp.), wild onions (Allium spp.), bluets (Houstonia spp.), zinnias (Zinnia spp.), and various asters (Symphotrichum spp.), especially New England Aster (S. novae-angliae).
Males slowly and continuously fly back and forth over the larval food plants during the day, seeking females with which to mate.
EGG: Pale bluish-green becoming white; laid singly on almost any part of the food plant, particularly on the upper leaf surface.
CATERPILLAR: Variable, most commonly creamy-white to pale green, covered with tiny, white-tipped brown bumps and yellow and pinkish stripes on back and sides; when touched by ants, produces a honeydew that is then eaten by the ants; makes no shelter.
WESTERN PYGMY-BLUE
CHRYSALIS: Pale yellowish, greenish to pale brown, mottled in browns; attached on top of leaf of food plant by silken strand around body.
FOOD PLANTS: Four-wing Saltbush (Atriplex canascens), Slender-leaf Goosefoot (Chenopodium leptophyllum), Alkali Seepweed (Suaeda monquinii), Utah Swampfire (Sarcocornia utahensis), Desert Horse-purslane (Trianthema portulacastrum), Winged Sea-purslane (Sesuvium verrucosum), and the nonnative Australian Saltbush (A. semibaccata), Prickly Russian Thistle (Salsola tragus), and White Goosefoot (C. album).
PARTS EATEN: Flowers, fruits, leaves, and stems.
SOUTHERN BROKEN-DASH (Wallengrenia otho) ON TEXAS THISTLE (Cirsium texanum)