December 2021 Sightings

Karlo and Alison Mirth

Jones Beach State Park
Nassau County, NY

Our first New York State butterfly sighting in December. Sunny, breezy and 50 degrees.

  • American Lady 1

American Lady

Joanne Langabee

Fontenelle Forest, Bellevue, NE
Sarpy County, NE

This is the latest that I have seen butterflies in this area. Yesterday I saw an Eastern Comma and today an Orange Sulphur

  • Orange Sulphur 1
  • Eastern Comma 1

Eastern Comma

Orange Sulphur

James Saunders

Rio nature park, Rio, FL
Martin County, FL

  • Mangrove Skipper 1

Ron Smith

Fort De Soto Park
Pinellas County, FL

(10-36) Early morning fog made for a slow morning.

  • Statira Sulphur 1
  • Barred Yellow 9
  • Ceraunus Blue 1
  • Gulf Fritillary 1
  • Phaon Crescent 3
  • Common Buckeye 2
  • White Peacock 9
  • Monarch 5
  • Queen 3
  • Dorantes Longtail 2

Queen

Barred Yellow

Common Buckeye

Linda Romine

William H. Harsha Lake
Clermont County, OH

Also saw an Orange Sulphur south of Bethel on SR 133.

  • Clouded Sulphur 1
  • Orange Sulphur 1

John and Nancy Crosby

Sea Way NE, Shellman Bluff, GA
McIntosh County, GA

78 degrees and sunny. Our warmest day in a couple of weeks.

  • Cloudless Sulphur 3
  • Barred Yellow 1
  • Little Yellow 1
  • Ceraunus Blue 1
  • Gulf Fritillary 5
  • Long-tailed Skipper 7
  • Least Skipper 1
  • Ocola Skipper 1

Barred Yellow

Cloudless Sulphur

Least Skipper

Long-tailed Skipper

Ceraunus Blue

Gulf Fritillary

Bill Hull

Lytle Ranch Preserve
Washington County, UT

  • Great Purple Hairstreak 1

Great Purple Hairstreak

Great Purple Hairstreak

Great Purple Hairstreak

Great Purple Hairstreak

Karl and Dorothy Legler

Frontera Audubon in Weslaco
Hidalgo County, TX

High was 86 degrees. Mostly sunny. Mosquitoes – but spray is available in the Nature Center. We did not venture into the Thicket. 10 species. Very pleasant.

  • Giant Swallowtail 1
  • Large Orange Sulphur 1
  • Cassius Blue 1
  • White Peacock 4
  • Queen 1
  • Sickle-winged Skipper 1
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 2
  • Laviana White-Skipper 1
  • Fiery Skipper 2
  • Southern Broken-Dash 1

Sickle-winged Skipper

Cassius Blue

White Peacock

Kathy Beza Richardson

Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge
Currituck County, NC

55 - 60 F, sunny, breezy

  • American Lady 1
  • Common Buckeye 2
  • Clouded Skipper 1

Clouded Skipper

Clouded Skipper

Common Buckeye

American Lady

Common Buckeye

Michael Diederich

Croton Pt. Park, Croton-On-Hudson
Westchester County, NY

Observed in the land fill area - 1:00 PM.

  • Orange Sulphur 1

Karl and Dorothy Legler

Estero Llano Grande State Park
Hidalgo County, TX

Only partly sunny. High of 87 degrees. 16 species. The Mexican Bluewing was a bit shy.
It and the White-patched Skipper are primarily found in the Rio Grande Valley (and South).

  • Giant Swallowtail 1
  • Large Orange Sulphur 1
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 1
  • Fatal Metalmark 1
  • White Peacock 5
  • Mexican Bluewing 1
  • Queen 12
  • Brown Longtail 5
  • White-patched Skipper 2
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 5
  • Laviana White-Skipper 2
  • Clouded Skipper 6
  • Fiery Skipper 4
  • Whirlabout 2
  • Southern Broken-Dash 1
  • Eufala Skipper 5

Laviana White-Skipper

White-patched Skipper

Mexican Bluewing

Roy Cohutta

Chickasawhatchee WMA
Dougherty County, GA

Observed one Queen mated pair that flew into the swamp area.

Queen and Monarch numbers are conservative best estimates. I expect some Queen butterflies and a few Monarchs will overwinter here.

1415-1515, 74-76F, Wind 10-19MPH, Cloud Cover 86-96%, Field with mustard next to swamp, 31.470204259095787, -84.37649789585056.

  • Cabbage White 4
  • Cloudless Sulphur 5
  • Little Yellow 2
  • Sleepy Orange 4
  • Gulf Fritillary 5
  • Zebra Heliconian 4
  • American Lady 4
  • Common Buckeye 6
  • Monarch 20
  • Queen 60
  • Long-tailed Skipper 15
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 4
  • Clouded Skipper 3
  • Ocola Skipper 1

Zebra Heliconian

Queen

Monarch, Queen

Little Yellow

Clouded Skipper

Long-tailed Skipper

Cloudless Sulphur

Monarch

Gulf Fritillary

Michael Sandell

Hugh Ramsey Park, Harlingen
Cameron County, TX

  • Isabella's Heliconian 1

Isabella's Heliconian

Isabella's Heliconian

Isabella's Heliconian

Bo Zaremba

Fairchild Botanical, Coral Gables
Miami-Dade County, FL

  • Giant Swallowtail 1
  • Dina Yellow 1
  • Atala 1
  • Zebra Heliconian 3
  • Monarch 2

Giant Swallowtail

Atala

Dina Yellow

Daniel Jones

Jones Yard at Progreso Lakes
Hidalgo County, TX

A few butterflies from 12/10 and 12/11

  • Pipevine Swallowtail 1
  • Giant Swallowtail 1
  • Checkered White 1
  • Giant White 1
  • Southern Dogface 1
  • Cloudless Sulphur 5
  • Large Orange Sulphur 5
  • Boisduval's Yellow 1
  • Little Yellow 2
  • Mimosa Yellow 1
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 1
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak 1
  • Reakirt's Blue 1
  • Gulf Fritillary 6
  • Mexican Silverspot 1
  • Pale-banded Crescent 1
  • Phaon Crescent 1
  • Red Admiral 4
  • White Peacock 4
  • Tawny Emperor 1
  • Carolina Satyr 10
  • Monarch 1
  • Queen 8
  • Soldier 4
  • Long-tailed Skipper 1
  • Dorantes Longtail 5
  • Brown Longtail 5
  • Sickle-winged Skipper 3
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 8
  • Laviana White-Skipper 3
  • Clouded Skipper 25
  • Osca Skipper 1
  • Double-dotted Skipper 1
  • Southern Skipperling 1
  • Whirlabout 1
  • Southern Broken-Dash 1
  • Common Mellana 1
  • Eufala Skipper 1

Osca Skipper

Osca Skipper

Osca Skipper

Mexican Silverspot

Mexican Silverspot

Giant White

Boisduval's Yellow

Pale-banded Crescent

Double-dotted Skipper

Bo Zaremba

Big Pine Key
Monroe County, FL

  • Eastern Pygmy-Blue 11
  • Ceraunus Blue 45
  • Monarch 1
  • Hammock Skipper 2
  • Fiery Skipper 2

Cassius Blue

Hammock Skipper

Bo Zaremba

Homestead
Miami-Dade County, FL

There is a robust local population of Tropical Buckeye that some very helpful local butterflyers directed me to. I would not have found them if not for this fortuitous meeting. Thank you. I saw twenty but the habitat went on further and they were plentiful.

  • Black Swallowtail 1
  • Florida White 6
  • Barred Yellow 20+
  • Ceraunus Blue 9
  • Gulf Fritillary 36
  • Zebra Heliconian 1
  • Tropical Buckeye 20+
  • White Peacock 22
  • Viceroy 2
  • Monarch 2
  • Dorantes Longtail 11
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 2

Tropical Buckeye

Tropical Buckeye

Michael Sandell

Edinburg Scenic Wetlands
Hidalgo County, TX

  • Isabella's Heliconian 1

Isabella's Heliconian

Isabella's Heliconian

Isabella's Heliconian

Isabella's Heliconian

John and Nancy Crosby

Sea Way NE, Shellman Bluff, GA
McIntosh County, GA

We haven’t had a freeze in South GA yet so we still have nectar sources. Temperature 78, sunny. The Sleepy Orange was unmistakable, very orange but too fast for my camera!

  • Cloudless Sulphur 3
  • Little Yellow 3
  • Sleepy Orange 1
  • Gulf Fritillary 5
  • Zebra Heliconian 1
  • Common Buckeye 2
  • Long-tailed Skipper 9

Long-tailed Skipper

Cloudless Sulphur

Gulf Fritillary

Little Yellow

Zebra Heliconian

Mark and Holly Salvato

National Butterfly Center, Mission
Hidalgo County, TX

  • Giant Swallowtail 1
  • Great Southern White
  • Orange Sulphur
  • Cloudless Sulphur
  • Large Orange Sulphur
  • Lyside Sulphur 1
  • Mexican Yellow 1
  • Little Yellow
  • Sleepy Orange
  • Dainty Sulphur
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak
  • Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak
  • Pearly-gray Hairstreak 2
  • Western Pygmy-Blue
  • Cassius Blue
  • Ceraunus Blue
  • Reakirt's Blue
  • Red-bordered Metalmark 1
  • Curve-winged Metalmark 1
  • American Snout
  • Gulf Fritillary
  • Mexican Silverspot 2
  • Zebra Heliconian
  • Variegated Fritillary
  • Mexican Fritillary
  • Bordered Patch 1
  • Texan Crescent
  • Vesta Crescent 1
  • Phaon Crescent
  • Question Mark 1
  • American Lady
  • Red Admiral
  • Common Buckeye
  • White Peacock
  • Common Mestra 1
  • Tropical Leafwing
  • Hackberry Emperor
  • Tawny Emperor
  • Pavon Emperor 2
  • Carolina Satyr
  • Monarch
  • Queen
  • White-striped Longtail 2
  • Long-tailed Skipper
  • Dorantes Longtail
  • Brown Longtail
  • White Checkered-Skipper
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper
  • Laviana White-Skipper
  • Clouded Skipper
  • Southern Skipperling
  • Fiery Skipper
  • Whirlabout
  • Southern Broken-Dash
  • Sachem
  • Common Mellana
  • Eufala Skipper
  • Ocola Skipper
  • Purple-washed Skipper

Pavon Emperor

Pavon Emperor

Pearly-gray Hairstreak

Common Mellana

Mexican Fritillary

Mexican Silverspot

Mexican Silverspot

Common Mestra

Curve-winged Metalmark

Karl and Dorothy Legler

Butterfly Garden in front of Valley Nature Center in Weslaco.
Hidalgo County, TX

The Nature Center was closed but in the late afternoon we looked in the butterfly garden in the front. 81 degrees and partly sunny. 8 species.

  • Large Orange Sulphur 1
  • Cassius Blue 3
  • Gulf Fritillary 1
  • Elada Checkerspot 1
  • Queen 2
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 1
  • Whirlabout 1
  • Ocola Skipper 1

Elada Crescent

Elada Crescent

Denis C. Quinn

Havre de Grace, MD, 1000 block of Chesapeake Drive
Harford County, MD

Just off the bay, in the rear of an apartment complex.

  • Common Buckeye 1

Mark and Holly Salvato

National Butterfly Center, Mission
Hidalgo County, TX

  • Pipevine Swallowtail
  • Black Swallowtail 1
  • Checkered White
  • Great Southern White 1
  • Orange Sulphur
  • Southern Dogface 1
  • Cloudless Sulphur
  • Large Orange Sulphur
  • Lyside Sulphur 1
  • Little Yellow
  • Sleepy Orange
  • Silver-banded Hairstreak 1
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak
  • Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak
  • Western Pygmy-Blue
  • Cassius Blue
  • Ceraunus Blue
  • Reakirt's Blue
  • Curve-winged Metalmark 1
  • Gulf Fritillary
  • Mexican Silverspot 2
  • Zebra Heliconian
  • Variegated Fritillary
  • Mexican Fritillary
  • Bordered Patch 1
  • Texan Crescent
  • Phaon Crescent
  • Question Mark
  • Red Admiral
  • Common Buckeye
  • White Peacock
  • Banded Peacock 1
  • Mexican Bluewing
  • Tropical Leafwing
  • Tawny Emperor
  • Pavon Emperor 2
  • Carolina Satyr
  • Monarch
  • Queen
  • White-striped Longtail 2
  • Long-tailed Skipper
  • Dorantes Longtail
  • Brown Longtail
  • Sickle-winged Skipper 1
  • Funereal Duskywing 1
  • White Checkered-Skipper 1
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 1
  • Laviana White-Skipper 1
  • Clouded Skipper
  • Southern Skipperling
  • Fiery Skipper
  • Whirlabout
  • Southern Broken-Dash
  • Sachem
  • Eufala Skipper
  • Ocola Skipper
  • Purple-washed Skipper

Reakirt's Blue

Question Mark

Orange Sulphur

Black Swallowtail

Purple-washed Skipper

Mexican Silverspot

Pavon Emperor

Curve-winged Metalmark

Banded Peacock

Karl and Dorothy Legler

National Butterfly Center
Hidalgo County, TX

85 degrees and partly sunny. Somewhat windy. 33 species. The Mexican Silverspot was laying 3 adjacent eggs.

  • Checkered White 2
  • Orange Sulphur 3
  • Cloudless Sulphur 1
  • Large Orange Sulphur 3
  • Little Yellow 15
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 2
  • Cassius Blue 2
  • Ceraunus Blue 2
  • American Snout 1
  • Mexican Silverspot 2
  • Zebra Heliconian 1
  • Phaon Crescent 5
  • Question Mark 1
  • Red Admiral 3
  • Common Buckeye 1
  • Tawny Emperor 1
  • Carolina Satyr 1
  • Monarch 2
  • Queen 22
  • Soldier 1
  • Dorantes Longtail 3
  • Brown Longtail 5
  • White Checkered-Skipper 4
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 3
  • Laviana White-Skipper 1
  • Clouded Skipper 12
  • Southern Skipperling 2
  • Fiery Skipper 3
  • Whirlabout 3
  • Southern Broken-Dash 1
  • Sachem 1
  • Eufala Skipper 1
  • Ocola Skipper 4

Mexican Silverspot

Mexican Silverspot

Soldier

Southern Broken-Dash

Southern Broken-Dash

Ocola Skipper

Common Buckeye

Roy Cohutta

Chickasawhatchee WMA
Dougherty County, GA

Best butterfly was the Southern Dogface (uncommon here), but only got a distant shot before it flew off into the swamp.

Observed at least 3 Queen mated pairs.
The other Gulf Fritillary (that I could not photograph) looked very fresh, unlike the the one I photographed.

Queen and Monarch counts are conservative estimates.

1330-1530, 63-68F, Wind NE 6-8MPH, Cloud Cover 2%, Mustard field next to swamp.

  • Cabbage White 10
  • Southern Dogface 1
  • Cloudless Sulphur 8
  • Little Yellow 10
  • Sleepy Orange 5
  • Gulf Fritillary 2
  • Zebra Heliconian 5
  • American Lady 3
  • Common Buckeye 10
  • Monarch 30
  • Queen 100
  • Long-tailed Skipper 20
  • Common Checkered-Skipper 4
  • Clouded Skipper 2
  • Ocola Skipper 3

Cabbage White

Monarch

Gulf Fritillary

Little Yellow

Cloudless Sulphur

Southern Dogface

Queen

Sleepy Orange

Zebra Heliconian

Mark and Holly Salvato

National Butterfly Center, Mission
Hidalgo County, TX

  • Pipevine Swallowtail
  • Checkered White
  • Orange Sulphur
  • Southern Dogface
  • Cloudless Sulphur
  • Large Orange Sulphur
  • Lyside Sulphur
  • Little Yellow
  • Sleepy Orange
  • Gray Hairstreak 1
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak
  • Clytie Ministreak 3
  • Western Pygmy-Blue
  • Cassius Blue
  • Ceraunus Blue
  • Reakirt's Blue
  • Fatal Metalmark 1
  • Red-bordered Metalmark 1
  • American Snout
  • Gulf Fritillary
  • Mexican Silverspot 2
  • Zebra Heliconian
  • Mexican Fritillary
  • Definite Patch 1
  • Texan Crescent
  • Phaon Crescent
  • Question Mark
  • American Lady
  • Red Admiral
  • Common Buckeye
  • White Peacock
  • Mexican Bluewing
  • Tropical Leafwing
  • Pale-spotted Leafwing 1
  • Tawny Emperor
  • Pavon Emperor 2
  • Carolina Satyr
  • Monarch
  • Queen
  • White-striped Longtail
  • Long-tailed Skipper
  • Dorantes Longtail
  • Brown Longtail
  • Funereal Duskywing
  • White Checkered-Skipper
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper
  • Laviana White-Skipper
  • Common Sootywing 1
  • Clouded Skipper
  • Southern Skipperling
  • Fiery Skipper
  • Whirlabout
  • Southern Broken-Dash
  • Sachem
  • Common Mellana
  • Eufala Skipper
  • Ocola Skipper
  • Purple-washed Skipper

Pavon Emperor

Pale-spotted Leafwing

Common Sootywing

Funereal Duskywing

Pavon Emperor

Pale-spotted Leafwing

Mexican Bluewing

Pale-spotted Leafwing

Clytie Ministreak

Mark and Holly Salvato

National Butterfly Center, Mission
Hidalgo County, TX

  • Pipevine Swallowtail
  • Giant Swallowtail 1
  • Checkered White
  • Orange Sulphur
  • Southern Dogface
  • Cloudless Sulphur
  • Large Orange Sulphur
  • Lyside Sulphur
  • Little Yellow
  • Sleepy Orange
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak
  • Pearly-gray Hairstreak 1
  • Cassius Blue
  • Ceraunus Blue
  • Reakirt's Blue
  • Fatal Metalmark 1
  • Curve-winged Metalmark 2
  • Gulf Fritillary
  • Mexican Silverspot 3
  • Zebra Heliconian
  • Mexican Fritillary
  • Bordered Patch 1
  • Texan Crescent
  • Phaon Crescent
  • Question Mark 2
  • American Lady
  • Red Admiral
  • Common Buckeye
  • White Peacock
  • Malachite 2
  • Band-celled Sister 2
  • Mexican Bluewing
  • Tropical Leafwing
  • Tawny Emperor
  • Pavon Emperor 2
  • Carolina Satyr
  • Monarch
  • Queen
  • Soldier 1
  • Long-tailed Skipper
  • Dorantes Longtail
  • Brown Longtail
  • Funereal Duskywing 1
  • White Checkered-Skipper
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper
  • Laviana White-Skipper
  • Clouded Skipper
  • Southern Skipperling
  • Fiery Skipper
  • Whirlabout
  • Southern Broken-Dash
  • Sachem
  • Common Mellana
  • Ocola Skipper
  • Purple-washed Skipper

Band-celled Sister

Pearly-gray Hairstreak

Malachite

Fatal Metalmark

Pavon Emperor

Pearly-gray Hairstreak

Band-celled Sister

Mark and Holly Salvato

National Butterfly Center, Mission
Hidalgo County, TX

  • Pipevine Swallowtail
  • Checkered White
  • Giant White 1
  • Orange Sulphur
  • Southern Dogface
  • Cloudless Sulphur
  • Large Orange Sulphur
  • Lyside Sulphur
  • Mexican Yellow 1
  • Little Yellow
  • Gray Hairstreak 1
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak
  • Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak
  • Cassius Blue
  • Ceraunus Blue
  • Reakirt's Blue
  • American Snout
  • Gulf Fritillary
  • Mexican Silverspot 3
  • Zebra Heliconian
  • Bordered Patch 1
  • Texan Crescent
  • Phaon Crescent
  • American Lady
  • Red Admiral
  • Common Buckeye
  • White Peacock
  • Malachite 1
  • Mexican Bluewing
  • Tropical Leafwing
  • Hackberry Emperor 1
  • Tawny Emperor
  • Pavon Emperor 2
  • Carolina Satyr
  • Monarch
  • Queen
  • Soldier 2
  • White-striped Longtail 1
  • Long-tailed Skipper
  • Dorantes Longtail
  • Brown Longtail
  • Potrillo Skipper 1
  • Mazans Scallopwing 1
  • Funereal Duskywing 1
  • White Checkered-Skipper
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper
  • Laviana White-Skipper
  • Clouded Skipper
  • Southern Skipperling
  • Fiery Skipper
  • Whirlabout
  • Southern Broken-Dash
  • Sachem
  • Common Mellana
  • Eufala Skipper
  • Ocola Skipper
  • Purple-washed Skipper

Pavon Emperor

Potrillo Skipper

Potrillo Skipper

Pavon Emperor

Mexican Yellow

Mazans Scallopwing

Giant White

Seth Ausubel

Santa Cruz River at Santa Gertrudis Lane, Tumacacori
Santa Cruz County, AZ

A few butterflies seen while birding. A small patch of weeds including some smartweed still in bloom has been very productive in the past few weeks. Temp. in upper 50s F.

  • Cabbage White 1
  • Dainty Sulphur 1
  • Fatal Metalmark 2
  • Mexican Fritillary 1
  • Texan Crescent 3

Mexican Fritillary

Roy Cohutta

Chickasawhatchee WMA
Dougherty County, GA

I was hoping to find another late Southern Dogface. I photographed one here a few days ago. (14 Dec 2021, https://sightings.naba.org/sightings/20750 ).

A stink bug photo-bombed the Long-tailed Skipper.

I photographed a Cabbage White mated-pair. The top individual seemed more interested in taking nectar.

I observed 5 Queen mated-pairs on this date. (A pair was photographed here on 14 Dec.)

Numbers for Queen and Monarch butterflies are a conservative estimate. The vegetation appeared to be dripping with them.

1400-1600, 73-76F, Wind SE 4-8MPH, Cloud Cover 96%, It was cloudy but warm. Habitat was a mustard field next to a swamp.

  • Cabbage White 15
  • Cloudless Sulphur 8
  • Little Yellow 5
  • Sleepy Orange 3
  • Zebra Heliconian 10
  • American Lady 1
  • Common Buckeye 5
  • Monarch 50
  • Queen 150
  • Long-tailed Skipper 15
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 4

Zebra Heliconian

Zebra Heliconian

Cabbage White

Cabbage White

Queen

Monarch

Long-tailed Skipper

Long-tailed Skipper

Warren A. Jacobs

Elsinboro Twp Fort Point Rd
Salem County, NJ

Photo by Mattie Jacobs. Found on driveway, crawled onto her hand

  • Monarch 1

Monarch

Daniel Jones

National Butterfly Center
Hidalgo County, TX

12:45pm to 3:45pm

  • Checkered White 1
  • Orange Sulphur 1
  • Cloudless Sulphur 1
  • Orange-barred Sulphur 1
  • Large Orange Sulphur 2
  • Lyside Sulphur 1
  • Little Yellow 5
  • Sleepy Orange 1
  • Gray Hairstreak 3
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 5
  • Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak 1
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak 4
  • Clytie Ministreak 1
  • Cassius Blue 3
  • Reakirt's Blue 2
  • Fatal Metalmark 1
  • American Snout 1
  • Gulf Fritillary 2
  • Mexican Silverspot 1
  • Julia Heliconian 1
  • Isabella's Heliconian 1
  • Zebra Heliconian 6
  • Bordered Patch 1
  • Texan Crescent 5
  • Pale-banded Crescent 1
  • Vesta Crescent 1
  • Phaon Crescent 5
  • American Lady 1
  • Painted Lady 1
  • Red Admiral 5
  • White Peacock 3
  • Mexican Bluewing 3
  • Pavon Emperor 1
  • Carolina Satyr 3
  • Monarch 2
  • Queen 50
  • Soldier 1
  • Long-tailed Skipper 1
  • Dorantes Longtail 6
  • Brown Longtail 6
  • Two-barred Flasher 1
  • Potrillo Skipper 1
  • Mazans Scallopwing 1
  • White Checkered-Skipper 5
  • Laviana White-Skipper 8
  • Clouded Skipper 20
  • Double-dotted Skipper 1
  • Southern Skipperling 3
  • Fiery Skipper 6
  • Whirlabout 8
  • Sachem 1
  • Common Mellana 1
  • Eufala Skipper 8
  • Ocola Skipper 2
  • Purple-washed Skipper 6

Purple-washed Skipper

Mazans Scallopwing

Two-barred Flasher

Potrillo Skipper

Pavon Emperor

Mexican Silverspot

Isabella's Heliconian

Dennis Vollmar

National Butterfly Center
Hidalgo County, TX

9am to 4:30 pm. Sunny low 70s, no wind. Happened upon Dan Jones who guided me around and did most of the IDing. Counts are my best estimate.

  • Checkered White 1
  • Clouded Sulphur 2
  • Orange Sulphur 3
  • Cloudless Sulphur 3
  • Large Orange Sulphur 2
  • Lyside Sulphur 1
  • Little Yellow common
  • Sleepy Orange 1
  • Dainty Sulphur 1
  • Gray Hairstreak 2
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 8
  • Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak 1
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak 5
  • Clytie Ministreak 1
  • Gray Ministreak 2
  • Cassius Blue common
  • Ceraunus Blue 4
  • Reakirt's Blue 5
  • Fatal Metalmark 3
  • American Snout 1
  • Gulf Fritillary 2
  • Mexican Silverspot 3
  • Julia Heliconian 1
  • Isabella's Heliconian 1
  • Zebra Heliconian 5
  • Bordered Patch 1
  • Texan Crescent 7
  • Pale-banded Crescent 1
  • Vesta Crescent 1
  • Phaon Crescent 5
  • Painted Lady 1
  • Red Admiral common
  • Mexican Bluewing 2
  • Pavon Emperor 3
  • Carolina Satyr 4
  • Monarch common
  • Queen common
  • Soldier common
  • Dorantes Longtail common
  • Brown Longtail common
  • Two-barred Flasher 1
  • Potrillo Skipper 1
  • Mazans Scallopwing 1
  • Common Checkered-Skipper common
  • White Checkered-Skipper common
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper common
  • Laviana White-Skipper common
  • Clouded Skipper abundant
  • Double-dotted Skipper 1
  • Southern Skipperling common
  • Whirlabout common
  • Sachem common
  • Common Mellana 2
  • Eufala Skipper 2
  • Ocola Skipper common
  • Purple-washed Skipper 3

Cloudless Sulphur

Laviana White-Skipper

Isabella's Heliconian

Isabella's Heliconian

Lyside Sulphur

Mazans Scallopwing

Mexican Bluewing

Mexican Silverspot

Painted Lady

Pale-banded Crescent

Purple-washed Skipper

Two-barred Flasher

Texan Crescent

White Checkered-Skipper

Vesta Crescent

American Snout

Reakirt's Blue

Pavon Emperor

Pavon Emperor

Pavon Emperor

Potrillo Skipper

Reakirt's Blue

Mexican Silverspot

Isabella's Heliconian

Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak

Brown Longtail

Common Mellana

Fatal Metalmark

Dusky-blue Groundstreak

Gray Hairstreak

Clytie Ministreak

Dorantes Longtail

Bordered Patch

Karl and Dorothy Legler

Resaca de la Palma State Park
Cameron County, TX

77 degrees and sunny. Breezy. Highway 1732 is under construction but park is open and accessible. 12 species.

  • Large Orange Sulphur 1
  • Little Yellow 1
  • Ceraunus Blue 1
  • Gulf Fritillary 1
  • White Peacock 1
  • Mexican Bluewing 2
  • Queen 6
  • Soldier 1
  • White Checkered-Skipper 2
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 10
  • Laviana White-Skipper 1
  • Clouded Skipper 1

Mexican Bluewing

Clouded Skipper

Soldier

John and Nancy Crosby

Sea Way NE, Shellman Bluff, GA
McIntosh County, GA

Christmas Day & we still have not had a freeze! 74 degrees, sunny. We also went to Townsend WMA but and saw only 1 Little Yellow while Common Buckeyes were common!

  • Cloudless Sulphur 4
  • Barred Yellow 3
  • Little Yellow 8
  • Gulf Fritillary 2
  • Common Buckeye 1
  • Long-tailed Skipper 1
  • Fiery Skipper 1

Gulf Fritillary

Fiery Skipper

Little Yellow

Barred Yellow

Common Buckeye

Cloudless Sulphur

Long-tailed Skipper

Zebra Heliconian

Roy Cohutta

Chickasawhatchee WMA
Dougherty County, GA

The numbers and species on this list look unusual for late December for SW Georgia (at least to me).

Again, the vegetation (mostly mustard), appeared to be dripping with Queen and Monarch butterflies. Numbers are conservative estimates. I saw one (1) Queen mated-pair.

1300-1400, 70-73F, Wind SW 13-21MPH, Wind made photography challenging, Cloud Cover 25-35%. Habitat was a large mustard field next to a swamp in the upper coastal plains (Dougherty Plain) of southwest Georgia. 31.470647083018523, -84.37639592801261

  • Cabbage White 2
  • Cloudless Sulphur 4
  • Little Yellow 6
  • Sleepy Orange 2
  • Gulf Fritillary 1
  • Zebra Heliconian 6
  • American Lady 2
  • Common Buckeye 8
  • Monarch 40
  • Queen 160
  • Long-tailed Skipper 4

Common Buckeye

Little Yellow

Monarch

Monarch

Monarch

Common Buckeye

Monarch

Zebra Heliconian

Zebra Heliconian

Queen

American Lady

Edward Perry IV

Mason Terrace, Melbourne
Brevard County, FL

Yard butterflies on a warm day.

  • Polydamas Swallowtail 1
  • Cloudless Sulphur 1
  • Orange-barred Sulphur 1
  • Fulvous Hairstreak 1
  • Cassius Blue 3
  • Ceraunus Blue 1
  • Gulf Fritillary 1
  • Zebra Heliconian 1
  • Monarch 3
  • Long-tailed Skipper 2
  • Three-spotted Skipper 2
  • Fiery Skipper 1
  • Ocola Skipper 1

Zebra Heliconian

Fiery Skipper

Monk Skipper

Monarch

Ocola Skipper

Three-spotted Skipper

Linda Romine

William H. Harsha Lake
Clermont County, OH

Latest date for me to see butterflies, both were in the emergency spillway on Slade Rd.

  • Clouded Sulphur 1
  • Orange Sulphur 1

Daniel Jones

National Butterfly Center
Hidalgo County, TX

One Quadrus lubrigus (Lugubrious Skipper or Tanned Blue-Skipper) found by Dennis Vollmar which maybe a first United States record. A Pale Sicklewing (Achlyodes pallida) was found by Mike Rickard.

  • Orange Sulphur 3
  • Large Orange Sulphur 1
  • Lyside Sulphur 6
  • Little Yellow 2
  • Silver-banded Hairstreak 2
  • Gray Hairstreak 1
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 6
  • Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak 2
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak 2
  • Western Pygmy-Blue 2
  • Reakirt's Blue 2
  • Fatal Metalmark 1
  • Curve-winged Metalmark 1
  • Gulf Fritillary 2
  • Zebra Heliconian 8
  • Texan Crescent 5
  • Phaon Crescent 1
  • Question Mark 1
  • Red Admiral 6
  • White Peacock 4
  • Mexican Bluewing 6
  • Carolina Satyr 3
  • Monarch 3
  • Queen 30
  • Soldier 5
  • White-striped Longtail 1
  • Long-tailed Skipper 1
  • Dorantes Longtail 3
  • Brown Longtail 3
  • White-patched Skipper 1
  • Funereal Duskywing 1
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 3
  • Laviana White-Skipper 4
  • Julia's Skipper 1
  • Clouded Skipper 6
  • Orange Skipperling 1
  • Fiery Skipper 6
  • Whirlabout 4
  • Sachem 1
  • Common Mellana 2
  • Eufala Skipper 2
  • Ocola Skipper 3
  • Purple-washed Skipper 6

Lugubrious Blue-Skipper

Lugubrious Blue-Skipper

Lugubrious Blue-Skipper

Pale Sicklewing

Purple-washed Skipper

White-patched Skipper

Curve-winged Metalmark

Pale Sicklewing

Dennis Vollmar

National Butterfly Center
Hidalgo County, TX

8:30 - 5:00 Mostly Sunny. Windy in the am but once the wind died down it became an epic day. 70 - upper 80s.

I found a US first record Lugubious Blue-Skipper and Mike Rickard found a Pale Sicklewing.

  • Checkered White x
  • Giant White x
  • Orange Sulphur x
  • Cloudless Sulphur x
  • Orange-barred Sulphur x
  • Large Orange Sulphur x
  • Lyside Sulphur x
  • Little Yellow x
  • Gray Hairstreak x
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak x
  • Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak x
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak x
  • Western Pygmy-Blue x
  • Ceraunus Blue x
  • Reakirt's Blue x
  • Red-bordered Metalmark x
  • Curve-winged Metalmark x
  • American Snout x
  • Gulf Fritillary x
  • Mexican Silverspot x
  • Isabella's Heliconian x
  • Zebra Heliconian x
  • Texan Crescent x
  • Pale-banded Crescent x
  • Phaon Crescent x
  • Question Mark x
  • Painted Lady x
  • Red Admiral x
  • White Peacock x
  • Band-celled Sister x
  • Spot-celled Sister x
  • Mexican Bluewing x
  • Tawny Emperor x
  • Pavon Emperor x
  • Carolina Satyr x
  • Monarch x
  • Queen x
  • White-striped Longtail x
  • Long-tailed Skipper x
  • Dorantes Longtail x
  • Brown Longtail x
  • White Checkered-Skipper x
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper x
  • Laviana White-Skipper x
  • Clouded Skipper x
  • Southern Skipperling x
  • Fiery Skipper x
  • Whirlabout x
  • Common Mellana x
  • Eufala Skipper x
  • Ocola Skipper x
  • Purple-washed Skipper x

Band-celled Sister

Band-celled Sister

Brown Longtail

Curve-winged Metalmark

Eufala Skipper

Dusky-blue Groundstreak

Gray Hairstreak

Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak

Lyside Sulphur

Mexican Silverspot

Pale-banded Crescent

Tawny Emperor

Texan Crescent

Whirlabout

Western Pygmy-Blue

Texan Crescent

Spot-celled Sister

Southern Skipperling

Question Mark

Common Mellana

Red-bordered Metalmark

Red Admiral

Reakirt's Blue

Purple-washed Skipper

Pale Sicklewing

Pavon Emperor

Phaon Crescent

Pavon Emperor

Pale Sicklewing

Orange Sulphur

Painted Lady

Mexican Bluewing

Long-tailed Skipper

Mexican Bluewing

Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak

Isabella's Heliconian

Laviana White-Skipper

Common Mellana

Common/White Checkered-Skipper

Clouded Skipper

Lugubrious Blue-Skipper

Roy Cohutta

Chickasawhatchee WMA
Dougherty County, GA

Best butterfly was a Southern Dogface (new late date for Georgia?) which I chased, but could get only a long-distance photo of it.

Observed 5 Queen mated-pairs. I saw them all shortly after I arrived.

Queen and Monarch counts are conservative estimates.

1330-1515, 75-77F, Wind SE 13-24MPH, Cloud Cover 61-67%, Field with mustard next to swamp.
31.47035511262636, -84.37643697626415

  • Cabbage White 2
  • Southern Dogface 1
  • Cloudless Sulphur 2
  • Little Yellow 13
  • Sleepy Orange 7
  • Gulf Fritillary 1
  • Zebra Heliconian 10
  • American Lady 1
  • Common Buckeye 20
  • Monarch 40
  • Queen 150
  • Long-tailed Skipper 2
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 2

Zebra Heliconian

Queen

Gulf Fritillary

Common Buckeye

Southern Dogface

Common Buckeye

Monarch

Long-tailed Skipper

Cloudless Sulphur

Karl and Dorothy Legler

National Butterfly Center in Mission
Hidalgo County, TX

86 degrees. Latter part of the afternoon. Partly sunny to cloudy. 43 species seen. The Goodson’s Greenstreak with gray eye (when seen close up) and no tail is a very rare stray from Mexico. Exceptional warm weather in recent weeks, and days of strong Southerly winds, invited it here.

  • Pipevine Swallowtail 1
  • Checkered White 1
  • Orange Sulphur 1
  • Southern Dogface 1
  • Cloudless Sulphur 1
  • Large Orange Sulphur 2
  • Lyside Sulphur 1
  • Little Yellow 6
  • Goodson's Greenstreak 1
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 1
  • Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak 1
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak 4
  • Ceraunus Blue 1
  • Reakirt's Blue 1
  • Gulf Fritillary 1
  • Julia Heliconian 1
  • Zebra Heliconian 3
  • Texan Crescent 3
  • Phaon Crescent 3
  • Question Mark 1
  • American Lady 1
  • Painted Lady 4
  • Red Admiral 2
  • White Peacock 4
  • Silver Emperor 1
  • Monarch 2
  • Queen common
  • Soldier 1
  • White-striped Longtail 2
  • Dorantes Longtail 2
  • Brown Longtail 3
  • Two-barred Flasher 1
  • White Checkered-Skipper 2
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 4
  • Laviana White-Skipper 4
  • Turk's-cap White-Skipper 1
  • Clouded Skipper 10
  • Southern Skipperling 2
  • Fiery Skipper 2
  • Whirlabout 1
  • Southern Broken-Dash 1
  • Sachem 2
  • Purple-washed Skipper 2

Texan Crescent

Two-barred Flasher

Dusky-blue Groundstreak

Goodson's Greenstreak

Goodson's Greenstreak

Purple-washed Skipper

Purple-washed Skipper

White-striped Longtail

Dennis Vollmar

National Butterfly Center
Hidalgo County, TX

8:30 - 5, Started of very overcast, started clearing about 10am. 75-85 degrees. Cloudy early and late, sunny mid day. It was another epic day at the center with some realy good rarities being found.

  • Giant Swallowtail x
  • Checkered White x
  • Giant White x
  • Orange Sulphur x
  • Cloudless Sulphur x
  • Orange-barred Sulphur x
  • Large Orange Sulphur x
  • Statira Sulphur x
  • Lyside Sulphur x
  • Tailed Orange x
  • Little Yellow x
  • Dainty Sulphur x
  • Silver-banded Hairstreak x
  • Goodson's Greenstreak x
  • Gray Hairstreak x
  • Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak x
  • Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak x
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak x
  • Clytie Ministreak x
  • Western Pygmy-Blue x
  • Cassius Blue x
  • Ceraunus Blue x
  • Reakirt's Blue x
  • Red-bordered Metalmark x
  • Curve-winged Metalmark x
  • American Snout x
  • Gulf Fritillary x
  • Mexican Silverspot x
  • Julia Heliconian x
  • Zebra Heliconian x
  • Texan Crescent x
  • Pale-banded Crescent x
  • Phaon Crescent x
  • Question Mark x
  • Painted Lady x
  • Red Admiral x
  • Common Buckeye x
  • White Peacock x
  • Mexican Bluewing x
  • Common Mestra x
  • Tropical Leafwing x
  • Tawny Emperor x
  • Pavon Emperor x
  • Silver Emperor x
  • Carolina Satyr x
  • Monarch x
  • Queen x
  • Soldier x
  • White-striped Longtail x
  • Long-tailed Skipper x
  • Dorantes Longtail x
  • Brown Longtail x
  • Two-barred Flasher x
  • Variegated Skipper x
  • Funereal Duskywing x
  • Common Checkered-Skipper x
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper x
  • Laviana White-Skipper x
  • Clouded Skipper x
  • Southern Skipperling x
  • Fiery Skipper x
  • Whirlabout x
  • Common Mellana x
  • Eufala Skipper x
  • Ocola Skipper x
  • Purple-washed Skipper x

Goodson's Greenstreak

Goodson's Greenstreak

Variegated Skipper

Silver Emperor

Curve-winged Metalmark

Dainty Sulphur

Checkered White

Whirlabout

Pavon Emperor

Red Admiral

Two-barred Flasher

Question Mark

Red-bordered Metalmark

Silver-banded Hairstreak

Question Mark

Mexican Bluewing

Great Southern White

Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak

Gray Hairstreak

Eufala Skipper

Dusky-blue Groundstreak

Painted Lady

Clytie Ministreak

Roy Cohutta

Chickasawhatchee WMA
Dougherty County, GA

Yesterday, at this same location, I located a Southern Dogface and was able to get only a long-distance photo. Today I suspect I re-located the same Southern Dogface and have included a couple of photos.

The weather and the butterfly count was similar to yesterday. Yesterday’s Sighting Report has photos of some of the other butterflies here: https://sightings.naba.org/sightings/20772

1345-1445, 76F, Wind SW 12-21MPH, Cloud Cover 73-79%, The light kept changing quickly and dramatically, Light Rain at the end, Large field next to swamp, Upper coastal plain. 31.47035511262636, -84.37643697626415

  • Cabbage White 2
  • Southern Dogface 1
  • Little Yellow 10
  • Sleepy Orange 5
  • Gulf Fritillary 2
  • Zebra Heliconian 3
  • American Lady 1
  • Common Buckeye 10
  • Monarch 35
  • Queen 150

Southern Dogface

American Lady

Little Yellow

Southern Dogface

Ronda G Spink

Eco Walk Trail
Citrus County, FL

Weather was clear, 75-77°, 5-7mph winds

Surveyed from 12:00-3:30pm

Found three Little Metalmark caterpillars

  • Cloudless Sulphur 2
  • Barred Yellow 3
  • Carolina Satyr 21

Little Metalmark caterpillars

Edward Perry IV

Mason Terrace, Melbourne
Brevard County, FL

This female OBS was laying eggs on Senna bicapsularis on New Year’s Eve. Yard butterflies.

  • Polydamas Swallowtail 1
  • Great Southern White 1
  • Orange-barred Sulphur 1
  • Dainty Sulphur 1
  • Cassius Blue 3
  • Gulf Fritillary 1
  • Monarch 2
  • Horace's Duskywing 1
  • Three-spotted Skipper 1

Orange-barred Sulphur

Orange-barred Sulphur