South Texas Butterfly Photos - Spread-wing Skippers
by Will Cook
Here's a selection butterfly images from three trips to Texas, June 5-7 and October 13-19, 2004 (full trip list) and April 29, 2011. South Texas is a butterflier's paradise!
Papilionidae | Pieridae | Lycaenidae | Riodinidae | Nymphalidae 1 | Nymphalidae 2 | Hesperiidae 1 | Hesperiidae 2
Hesperiidae - Skippers
Pyrginae - Spread-wing Skippers
| Zilpa Longtail (Chioides zilpa) Mission, Hidalgo Co., TX 10/13/04. |
| Emerald Aguna (Aguna claxon) Though very worn, this ultra-rarity is just brilliant! |
| Dorantes Longtail (Urbanus dorantes) |
| Brown Longtail (Urbanus procne), male |
| Brown Longtail (Urbanus procne) |
| Brown Longtail (Urbanus procne), female |
| Brown Longtail (Urbanus procne) |
| Coyote Cloudywing (Achalarus toxeus) |
| Fritzgaertner's Flat (Celaenorrhinus fritzgaertneri) This mega-rarity was found by the bathroom at Santa Ana. It was flashed so much by photographers that it left and flew into the visitor's center, where it perched upside down under a bookshelf! (The two photos were taken without flash, as were 95% of the others here.) |
| Fritzgaertner's Flat (Celaenorrhinus fritzgaertneri) Looking directly up towards the ceiling. |
| Mimosa Skipper (Cogia calchas) |
| Mimosa Skipper (Cogia calchas) Not the most exciting butterfly I've ever seen... |
| Glazed Pellicia (Pellicia arina) Distinctive posture - shrouding the flowers. |
| Mazans Scallopwing (Staphylus mazans) Nearly identical to Hayhurst's Scallopwing, which doesn't occur in south Texas. |
| Texas Powdered Skipper (Systasea pulverulenta) A very worn individual! Barton Creek greenbelt, Austin, Travis Co., TX 4/29/2011. |
| Texas Powdered Skipper (Systasea pulverulenta) Barton Creek greenbelt, Austin, Travis Co., TX 4/29/2011. |
| Northern Sicklewing (Eantis tamenund). By far the most common spread-winged skipper we encountered. Formerly known as Sickle-winged Skipper (Achylodes thraso). Natural sunlight. |
| Northern Sicklewing (Eantis tamenund) With the camera's flash. |
| Northern Sicklewing (Eantis tamenund), female |
| Brown-banded Skipper (Timochares ruptifasciatus) Just slightly worn... |
| Brown-banded Skipper (Timochares ruptifasciatus) |
| White-patched Skipper (Chiomara asychis) Looks a little moth-like with its hindwings hidden. |
| White-patched Skipper (Chiomara asychis) A more common pose. Note that the forewings point down, as do those of Sickle-winged Skipper and Glazed Pellicia. |
| White-patched Skipper (Chiomara asychis) 'Nectaring' on dung. |
| Horace's Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) |
| Horace's Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) |
| Horace's Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) |
| Horace's Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) |
| Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) |
| Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis tristis) Similar to Funereal, easiest to ID by the presence of a couple of white dots on the trailing edge of the hindwing below (which I noted on this individual). |
| White/Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus albescens/communis) Compare with Common Checkered-Skipper from North Carolina. |
| White/Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus albescens/communis) |
| White/Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus albescens/communis) |
| Tropical Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus oileus) |
| Tropical Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus oileus) |
| Turk's-cap White-Skipper (Heliopetes macaira) |
| Turk's-cap White-Skipper (Heliopetes macaira) |
| Turk's-cap White-Skipper (Heliopetes macaira) |
| Laviana White-Skipper (Heliopetes laviana) |
| Laviana White-Skipper (Heliopetes laviana) (mated pair) |
| Laviana White-Skipper (Heliopetes laviana) |
Papilionidae | Pieridae | Lycaenidae | Riodinidae | Nymphalidae 1 | Nymphalidae 2 | Hesperiidae 1 | Hesperiidae 2
Comments? Questions? E-mail me at cwcook@duke.edu