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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Pictured here are several Purple Coneflowers that are feeding at least two species of skipper butterfly (Hesperia spp.) and one flower scarab beetle. These flowers have recently opened and are producing lots of nectar while the nearby countryside has few active nectar sources.

In this image you can see by the white spots on the undersides of the hindwings that there are two different kinds of skipper butterflies present. Notice that they are oblivious to the beetle and vice versa.
You can also see the proboscis of each butterfly which allow them to harvest nectar from deep within the flowers. The beetle doesn’t have these specialized mouthparts and cannot get to the skipper’s nectar. This allows both species to use the Coneflower as a food source by consuming different parts of it.

Both species of skippers hold their wings upright and tightly together which makes it difficult or impossible to see the characters needed to determine which species is which. I can only say with confidence these butterflies belong to the genus Hesperia in the Skipper family: Hesperiidae. If you look closely at this image, you can count 3 butterflies and one beetle.

The scarab beetle belongs to the Scarabaeidae family and its flower beetle subfamily Cetoniidae. I have scoured the internet unsuccesfully to find this creature’s species name. Images of Cyclocephala spp. are similar to this specimen but I found nothing that matched the markings of this creature. Such is the problem with using just photographs to identify some critter you have never seen before. Insects, in particular, usually require the specimen in hand and a good wide-field microscope to use the descriptive keys developed by entomologists to pin down just what species you have. Sometimes, you find some critter that hasn’t been described yet. Beetles are a broad and diverse group and not all of them are known to science. Thus, I cannot offer more than my best guess of the species names of the insects pictured here.

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In the image below, a Pearl Crescent butterfly (Phyciodes tharos in the Nymphalidae family) is feeding on the nectar produced by the Yellow Spiny Daisy (Machaeranthera pinnatifida, family: Asteraceae). The Yellow Spiny Daisy is one of the first wildflowers I see in the spring and it helps feed the butterflies and bees that appear as the cold of winter recedes.

In the next image, another Pearl Crescent is busily harvesting nectar from an example of White Prairie Aster (Symphyotrichum falcatum, family: Asteraceae). This prolific little wild flower is found in dry, calcareous soils in large colonies during the west Texas spring. They feed numerous kinds of insects and butterflies.

In this image, you can see a yellowish butterfly feeding on a yellow spiny daisy. This butterfly may be an Orange Sulfur (Colias eurytheme, family: Pieridae) but I can’t say for sure because I never saw more than what you see here. This is one of the difficulties of using only pictures to identify species with complex physical characters, the chances for misidentification are large.

Below is a picture of a new species to me. Sandbells, as you might expect, like sandy soils. The place where I found this specimen had a rich mixture of sand and limestone. Nama hispidum, in the family Hydrophyllaceae, is a low lying plant with hairy leaves and five lobed tubular flowers. They make me think of Dakota Mock Vervain but their unlobed leaves and the painted centers of their larger bell-shaped flowers make them easily distinguished.

In this image, you can see Dakota Mock Vervain (Glandularia bipinnatifida, family Verbenaceae). Notice how it is a more upright plant and its leaves are deeply lobed. Also its flowers are uniform in color at the center. These wildflower can be seen from February through December. They are a valuable nectar source for many insects and butterflies.

Scarlet Globemallow or Caliche Globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea, family: Malvaceae) is a springtime burst of orange colored blossoms. These dry tolerant flowers add a burst of color to an otherwise brown and drab grassland as the countryside wakes from its winter sleep. They are one of the species that I saw for the first time a couple of years ago and I enjoy them when they return each spring.

The prickly poppies are up in large numbers this year. This image is of a Bluestem Pricklypoppy (Argemone polyanthemos, family: Papaveraceae). This species produces tall plants with lots of prickly leaves and 4-5 inch diameter alabaster white flowers with a huge, central cluster of yellow anthers surrounding dark ended pistils. These are remarkable flowers when fresh, but thrips and other suctorial insects soon mar their flower petals with feeding spots.

All of these images were taken on the same photo-safari and are a subset of the 15 species I photographed that day. I love to see how life pursues its ends despite the dry conditions. It makes me wonder what this country looked like in the days before the plow. I am thankful that we have a variety of beautiful wild flowers still extant in this part of the world.

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One of my favorite wild flowers is the Basket Flower, Centaurea americana. It grows in many places across Texas. I love the delicate petals of this flower and their shades of lavender. Basket flowers are members of the Asteraceae family and their flowers are really compound flowers where each petal is associated with a single tiny flower within the composite flower head. They get their name from the phyllaries or bracts that surround the base of the flower head to form a cup of interwoven spines that resemble a basket. They bloom from May till August each year.

The butterfly nectaring on the Basket Flower is an Orange Skipperling, Copaeodes aurantiaca in the family Hesperiidae, the skipper butterflies. Skippers like moist areas along the margins of rivers and streams. This stand of Basket Flowers was beside a bridge over a small stream in West Texas at the edge of the caprock.

In the last image, you can see the proboscis of the skipperling probing the flowerlets for nectar. I am literally amazed at how these tiny creatures unfurl these structures and guide them into the multitude of tiny flowers on a plant like the Basket Flower. This kind of behavior goes on all around us largely unnoticed or appreciated by our species. These images remind me what a complex world we live in and give me a sense of wonder about something as simple as a butterfly and a flower.

For more information on these two species, you can visit the Butterflies and Moths website and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Pictured here is a male Goatweed Leafwing butterfly. I was walking in the woods on a cool March morning and was able to photograph this beauty while he was soaking up some rays.

Here you can see the underside of this little guy’s wings. When folded, they look like dead leaves. This coloring keeps them from being taken by predators.

A different angle on the inner and outer wings reveals dull camouflage beneath and bold rusty red above. This arrangement makes these guys stand out when they are flying and disappear when they stop on a branch or pile of leaves.

Compare the leaf color seen here to the previous two images. Resembling dead leaves is definitely and advantage in this environment.

Anaea andria in the brushfoot butterfly family (Nymphalidae) likes deciduous forests near water. The Goatweed Leafwing feeds on tree or plant sap, rotting fruit, animal dung, and bird droppings. Not your typical fare for butterflies.

You can read more about these woodland butterflies at the Butterflies and Moths of North America website.

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Pictured here is an example of the Common Buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia in the family Nymphalidae. They are named for the large eyespot markings on their upper wings. Unfortunately, this butterfly would not open its wings long enough for me to take a photograph.

It was intent on flitting around my lawn while I was photographing a Texas Horned lizard nearby. I have never seen this kind of butterfly before. Since I moved to West Texas, I’ve been able to see many things I have not seen before which delights me.

In the last photo you can see the fully extended probscis. There were no flowers blooming in the bermuda grass, so I guess this fellow was looking for drink of water or some needed minerals.

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Pictured here is an example of a White-lined Sphinx Moth taken in late April 2017. The gate is weathered western red cedar bolted to a galvanized steel frame. This moth was hiding beneath the crossbar on the backside of the gate, right where I grab the gate to close it. Couldn’t miss it, right? It was a cold day and I had time to go get my camera because this guy wasn’t going anywhere. He was trying very hard to be invisible. It almost worked.

The identifying characters beyond the large size of this moth are:
six white longitudinal stripes on the thorax, a tan colored band on the forewing that extends from wingbase to wingtip, and a black hindwing with a reddish-pink band in its middle (not pictured).

This is a large, beautiful moth and I was lucky enough to find one waiting for nightfall in a spot I could easily photograph. I don’t go out with a camera at night when these guys are active, so it is fun to catch one “hiding in plain sight”.

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I was out photographing wildflowers and found this example of Cupido comyntas nectaring on Green Milkweed. Note that some older references will list this species as Everes comyntas. Everes is now a subgenus of Cupido. The Eastern and Western Tailed-blue butterflies are the two species of this genus you can find in North America.

This individual has had a lot of wear and tear on its wings. Its colors have dulled and the white fringe on the margins of its wings have mostly worn away. This butterfly belongs to the Lycaenidae family which contains the blues, hairstreaks and harvester butterflies.

The orange spots at the outer margin of the hindwings close to the little tail-like projection are characteristic for this species. The lack of iridescent blue scales on the fore and hindwings make this individual a female.

In the above image you can see the underside of the wings which have some faint grey spots. The wear and tear on this specimen has removed the black spots that should decorate the underside of the wings.

For more information, you might like to visit  Butterflies and Moths.org

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Pictured here is an example of the Phaon Crescent butterfly (Phyciodes phaon) feeding on one of its favorite plants Texas Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora). These pictures were taken in Fort Worth, Texas in 2011. Phaon Crescents belong to the True Brushfoot butterfly family Nymphalidae. These butterflies like open habitat with low vegetation in forested country. Along the rear edge of the hindwing you can see the v-shaped white markings that are the crescents for which this species is named. I find the markings on their antennae interesting too.

The above image shows the cream colored underside of the hindwing which confirms this butterfly as a Phaon Crescent. Notice the cream-colored band that is also an identification character shows through to the underside of the fore-wing. The two black eyespots on the hindwing surrounded by rings make this butterfly a male. Female Phaon Crescents have smaller eyespots and lack the ring around them. These butterflies range from Guatemala, Cuba, and Mexico into the southern US Gulf States, as far west as California, and north as far as Missouri and South Carolina.

For more information on this species you might like to visit the Butterflies and Moths of North America website or the Butterflies of America website.

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Pictured here is a female Black Swallowtail butterfly feeding on a young dandelion bloom. Note the band of iridescent blue along the hind-margin of her wings bordered by yellow spots. You also can see the two rearward projections from the hindwing for which they are named.

In this image, you can see the large orange spot on the hindwing with a black spot in the center. This character along with its surrounding colors help identify this individual as a female Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes. Members of the Swallowtail family (Papilionidae) can be found throughout the world and are over 500 species in number.

Here you see the same female feeding on Henbit. Many members of Papilionidae use mimicry to protect themselves from predation. By looking like another species that predators learn is distasteful or will make them vomit, the mimic gains protection from being eaten. The Black Swallowtails coloration mimics the Pipevine Swallowtail which stores noxious chemicals from the plants their larvae eat which deters predation on themselves and their mimics.

In the final image, you can see that despite the size of her perch and a small gust of wind, she is able to maintain her balance on the flower and continue to feed by flapping her wings.

For more information on these and other butterflies, you might like to visit the Butterflies and Moths of North America website, or The University of Florida Department of Entomology and Nematology website, or Will Cook’s website on the living things found in North Carolina. You can also visit another of my posts for another pretty example of this species.

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