These are butterflies from the NABA Butterfly Park in Mission, TX and several state parks in the Mission area.

This first one was my favorite butterfly of the trip – as large as a Tiger Swallowtail and brilliantly colored.   It’s a Malachite – Siproeta stelenes

Crimson Patch – Chlosyne janais

The caterpillar of a Crimson Patch Butterfly

The caterpillar’s food plant – Smallflower Wrightwort (Carlowrightia parvifolia)

Dusky Blue Groundstreak – Calycopis isobeon

Carolina Satyr – Hermeuptychia sosybius (Thanks to Dave Hanson for the ID)

Gulf Fritillary – Agraulis vanillae

Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak – Strymon bazochii

Top side of the Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak

Large Orange Sulphur – Phoebis agarithe

Laviana White Skipper – Heliopetes laviana

Mimosa Yellow – Eurema nise

Queen – Danaus gilippus

Mating Queens

Reakirt’s Blue – Hemiargus isola

Texan Crescent – Phyciodes texana

Tropical Checkered Skipper – Pyrgus oileus

Common Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus communis)

Whirlabout – Polites vibex

White Peacock – Anartia jatrophae

There were several skippers that I couldn’t identify – some that looked like dark grass skippers, and others that had long tails.

I saw one beautiful little moth – it’s one of the wave moths – Idaea sp.

A Six-spotted Milkweed Bug – Oncopeltus sexmaculatus

American Snout

Empress Leilia

Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak – Strymon istapa

Monarch – Danaus plexippus
I didn’t know any of them spent the winter in Texas.

Little Yellow (Pyrisitia lisa)

Phaon Crescent (Phyciodes phaon)

Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia)

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) – the most familiar butterfly I saw.

This is a Robber Fly (Efferia sp.) – a weird looking creature. It was sitting still in the sand – probably waiting for some prey to come along.