I was catching the latest spring wildflowers in the Spring of 2017 when I encountered the butterfly pictured above.
This butterfly is the Juniper Hairstreak also known in scientific circles as Callophrys gryneus. It belongs to the blues, hairstreaks, and harvester butterfly family, Lycaenidae.
In the second image, two Juniper Hairstreaks are visible. There were at least six individuals on this particular Green Milkweed (Asclepias viridis). In all of the pictures I made of these beautiful creatures, none of them show what the tops of their wings look like. You can go to the Butterflies of America website to see what their wingtops look like.
The last image shows 3 butterflies busily nectaring from the milkweed flowers. The shape of the flowers resembled antelope horns to somebody long ago and they hung Green Antelopehorns on this plant as a common name.
These pictures were taken in an area of West Texas known as the Cedar Breaks which is a transition zone between the High Plains and the Permian Basin. There are lots of Junipers and Cedars in this area for these little beauties.
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