Butterfly Tour of Arizona and South Texas (Part One: Arizona)

Just completed my annual pilgrimage to Arizona and South Texas, largely to see butterflies one cannot find anywhere else in the country, but also to visit family and friends. I wanted to create a gallery to display all of these different butterfly species, especially for those who do not follow us on facebook. I will interject some comments here and there, but this will be mostly a collection of pretty pictures!

The first stop was Wichita State University. My youngest daughter is a junior at WSU and was showing me the location for the Indigenous Peoples Garden she is developing on campus. Kansas is extremely dry right now, but in the middle of campus was a small bed of yellow flowers that was butterfly central. From left, Marine Blue, Pearl Crescent, and April.

Next stop was Portal, Arizona in the Chiricahua Mountains. Butterfly activity was surprisingly light. What I initially thought was a Pearl Crescent I later corrected to Mylitta Crescent, a lifer for me. Also pictured is Southern Dogface which shows the “dogface” quite nicely.

From the small, southern Arizona town of Patagonia, where they have really embraced the eco-tourism concept. The city park in the middle of town has a wonderful butterfly garden, as does the post office. Top row L to R: American Lady, American Snout, Cabbage White, Common/White Checkered Skipper. Row 2: Echo Azure, Eufala Skipper, Fatal Metalmark (one of many I would see on the trip), Gray Hairstreak. Row 3: Great Purple Hairstreak, Leda Ministreak (the only location I would see this species), Mexican Yellow, West Coast Lady. Row 4: Tropical Buckeye, Texan Crescent, Tailed Orange, Painted Lady (completing the “Lady” trifecta!).

New species from Boyce Thompson Arboretum, located an hour east of Phoenix. Row 1: Common Buckeye, ‘Desert’ Black Swallowtail, Desert Checkered Skipper, Empress Leilia. Row 2: Mormon Metalmark, Pipevine Swallowtail, Queen, Sleepy Orange. Row 3: Variegated Fritillary, Violet-Clouded Skipper (Marceline Vanderwater, who joined me on the trip was able to get a good shot of this one, but the bug would not cooperate for me!), and Western Pygmy Blue.

The final location in Arizona was Madera Canyon, located in the Santa Rita Mountains between Tucson and Nogales. Row 1: Arizona Sister (typically found in oak woodland), Dainty Sulphur, Bordered Patch, Nabakov’s Satyr. Row 2: Reakirt’s Blue and Tropical Leafwing.