Garden butterflies

[Meadowlark]

With the summer season beginning to fade I'm expecting to see some "new" varieties come through. Today, several of these Dorantes Longtail (Urbanus dorantes) were present on the lantana bushes. Southeast Texas is about the northernmost this one ranges as it is prominent in Argentina, Central America, Mexico etc. You can see in the photo below why it is called "longtail".




Meanwhile my milkweed garden is coming along nicely. The goal is to attract possibly some Monarchs as they migrate south through Texas to Mexico for the winter. In the foreground the Swamp milkweed is shown and next over from it the Orange Butterfly milkweed, with the Calico Aster in the background double protected from rabbits which love to graze on it. These plants were started back in July and have weathered the hottest part of the year. Soon I will plant seeds of several more milkweed varieties to get established for next spring.

 

[Meadowlark]

Another new variety today, the silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus), is easily recognized by the distinctive silver spot on its hindwings. it has a erratic and rapid flight pattern making it difficult to capture in a photo., but succeeded today.

 

[Meadowlark]

The long-tailed skipper (Urbanus proteus) resembles the Dorantes skipper shown earlier but the tail is not as pronounced, and the head is larger. It is found throughout tropical and subtropical South America south to Argentina.

 

[Meadowlark]

The clouded skipper (Lerema accius) is commonly found in the Southern USA and its range extends through Mexico and Central America to Colombia. Lantana seems to be one of its favorite plants.