Have you seen me? Snout butterflies

If you have driven, biked or walked anywhere in Central Texas recently, you most likely have noticed butterflies fluttering about.  These are not monarchs or swallowtails that we are used to seeing, but snout butterflies.  Unlike the Monarch butterflies that fly through Texas on the way to overwintering locations, these butterflies are moving to new areas in search of new food sources after depleting the food in the area they emerged.  The butterflies are also in search of mates. Snout butterfly caterpillars feed on hackberry trees, while adults seek out nectar from a variety of sources.

The rainfall we received in August helped the snout butterfly population by providing another flush of vegetation on hackberries for the caterpillars.

The butterflies are brown and orange with white spots (on the tops of the wings).  The underside of the wings is brown to grey and mottled.  The two tusk-like projections from the head are where they get their name. Th adults will mimic leaves when they perch on plants, by folding up the wings and holding their snouts and antennae facing downward.

These butterflies are not anything to worry about and will only be around for a few more weeks.  Get outside and enjoy their beauty while you can!

Snout nosed butterflies

If you are in the Austin area today (December 4, 2013) look up in the sky to see if you can see the thousands of butterflies.  These are snout nosed butterflies and we have a bunch of them flying around outside our office.

I noticed them on 71 just east of I-35 as I was returning from some fire ant field work.  They were everywhere in the sky all the way back to the office.  It was amazing and beautiful to see!

Milkweed and Monarchs- will you help?

Texas is fortunate in that the eastern (east of the Rockies) population of Monarchs passes through Texas on the way to and from their overwintering sites in Mexico.  It is always a glorious site to see the Monarchs in the spring and late summer/ fall.  The butterflies overwinter in areas of mountain tops in Central Mexico.  Many people think that the decline (at least for the Monarchs that come and go through Texas) is because of the decline of the overwintering locations in Mexico.  While habitat loss in Mexico is certainly a factor, there is another factor that I hope, with help from citizens can be reduced.

The second factor of Monarch decline is loss of milkweed plant populations within the United States.  Milkweed is often considered a weed (a weed is a plant that is out of place), especially when it's found in areas where other, more desirable plants are growing.  As a weed, the milkweed is destroyed, decreasing the amount of food available for migrating Monarch populations.  You can hear more about this from Science Friday here.

So how can you help?  By planting milkweed!  If we can get citizens to plant milkweed in their yards, in community gardens, in school gardens or even cooperate with county and city programs to encourage milkweed in parks and other common areas, then maybe the Monarchs will have islands of milkweed to support their life cycle.  While I'm not sure if it will work, I think it's worth a shot.

You can find milkweed at local nurseries or you can buy seeds online.  Monarch Watch actually has a seed kit that can be purchased for $10 on their website that contains three species of milkweed- Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa); Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca); Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata).  All three species are native to Texas so you don't have to worry about bringing in something weird.  The Native Plant Society of Texas has information on milkweed here.   The Xerces Society has information on milkweed and their Project Milkweed here and you can link to sellers of milkweed seeds for specific regions of the country (including Texas).

So, have you bought your plants or seeds yet?  What are you waiting for?  Get out there and get planting. 

Pssssstt....spread the word to everyone you know.  We need all the help we can get!

The Monarchs have returned!

Have you seen them? They're baaa-aack! It always warms my heart a bit when I go outside to look at my milkweed and find monarch caterpillars or their chrysalis dangling on the branches.

Monarch caterpillars are pretty distinct. Obviously, they are a caterpillar, so they have a worm-like body that is yellow, white and black striped. The caterpillars have two long, black projections that look similar to antennae towards the head region and then two black shorter projections near the end of the abdomen.

The pupa, or chrysalis, is usually formed on the milkweed plant and starts off bright green with metallic gold at the top. The chrysalis will change colors as time goes on and the caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. It eventually becomes transparent and you can kind-of see the butterfly inside.

After the adult (the butterfly) emerges from the chrysalis, it spreads it's wings and stays in place for several hours to allow it's exoskeleton to dry and harden before it can fly away.