LRGV Butterflies [and a few moths] 10/28/09 through 11/02/09

[FSM...@aol.com]

Greetings, everyone!

 

I am done working over my photos from my recent trip to South Texas. They can be found at:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fsmodel/sets/72157622825106796/

 

The pictures are organized alphabetically by common name. Double click any thumbnail to bring up a larger image; then click on "all sizes" to fill your screen.

 

Noteworthy:

 

A [new for me in the LRGV]: definite patch [Bentsen], Walker's metalmark [Resaca de la Palma]

 

B [new - or nearly new - for me in the LRGV but not as noteworthy as A]: Boisduval's yellow, obscure skipper, yellow angled-sulphur

 

C [not rare, but spectacular colors and great photo-ops]: Mexican bluewing, blue metalmark, silver-banded hairstreak

 

D [others that make me smile]: brown-banded skipper, Reakirt's blue [dorsal/ventral of both male and female], Texas wasp moth,  metalmarks [nice ventral shots of rounded and red-bordered].

 

ID errors / omissions: I make lots of ID errors, particularly with the easily confused species like clouded / fawn-spotted skipper. I would be grateful for any corrections. I also haven't IDed all the moths [as usual].

 

It helps to travel with sharp-eyed butterfliers. Altogether, our small group booked 106 species - not bad for this drought-impeded year. [We had a crummy year in Massachusetts, too, because of too much [rather than too little] rain in June - want some?] Thanks to Steve Moore, Barbara Volkle, Tom Gagnon and Bruce Callahan for spotting / locating most of the butterflies.

 

Cheers,

Frank