Texas (Our Part of the world) #3

My World Tuesday Part#3
Texas, Based in Ft. Worth, Texas

Today's Topic:
End of the Season for Insects
Butterflies, Skippers, Dragonflies, Damselflies

(Click on the photos for full page views)

It's just about the end of the season for insects here in Ft. Worth, Texas, USA. We will be having a hard freeze soon. Outside of town there have already been a couple of light frosts. The good news is that we can hook up the camper and go down to the Rio Grand Valley in extreme southern Texas during the winter. It almost never freezes down there and there are always a few hardy butterflies flying on warm days. It's also good birding in the Valley in the winter.

For your viewing pleasure
Here are some Fall insects from both here and the Valley.
I hope you enjoy them.
Photographs by Troy and Martha

Guava Skipper


American Rubyspot

Blue-ringed Dancer


Crimson Patch


Eastern Amberwing

Eastern Ringtail


Gulf Fritillary


Long-tailed Skipper

Lyside Sulphur


Phaon Crescent


Neon Skimmer

Sleepy Orange


Red-bordered Pixie


White-striped Longtail




We hope you have enjoyed a few of the insects from our small part of the world, and we look forward to your return. We sincerely hope you will bookmark us and return often.

What is your favorite Insect photo?
Leave a comment. Thanks.

Photography by
Troy and Martha

Please visit "That's my World" for other great places of the Earth.





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Elfins and Egrets

w/ some Pink Evening Primroses

Henry's Elfin

One of my favorite butterflies. Not bright and showy, but dark and fast flying. Why do I like them? Because they are one of the earliest hatching butterflies in the Ft. Worth area. We always start looking for them when the redbud trees start to bloom.

Egrets
A very cool and calm bird.


Snowy Egret
Notice the yellow shoes


Great Egret
Notice all of the snails on the grass stems.


And finally some flowers


Evening Primroses (Pink)
Growing wild in my front yard. Photo taken at sunset.

Be sure to click on the photos for full page views (only ~75KB).

Troy and Martha

ABC Wednesday Round 3 is here.

Caterpillars

Monarch Butterfly Reproduction

Monarch Caterpillars

The mating period for the overwinter population occurs in the spring, just prior to migration from the overwintering sites. The courtship is fairly simple and less dependent on chemical pheromones in comparison with other species in its genus. Courtship is composed of two distinct stages, the aerial phase and the ground phase. During the aerial phase, the male pursues, nudges, and eventually takes down the female. Copulation occurs during the ground phase and involves the transfer of a spermatophore from the male to the female. Along with sperm, the spermatophore is thought to provide the female with energy resources that aid her in carrying out reproduction and remigration. The overwinter population returns only as far north as they need to go to find the early milkweed growth; in the case of the eastern butterflies that is commonly southern Texas. The life cycle of a monarch includes a change of form called complete metamorphosis. The monarch goes through four radically different stages:

1. The eggs are laid by the females during spring and summer breeding months.

2. The eggs hatch (after 4 days), revealing worm-like larvae, the caterpillars. The caterpillars consume their egg cases, then feed on milkweed, and sequester substances called cardenolides, a type of cardiac glycoside. During the caterpillar stage, monarchs store energy in the form of fat and nutrients to carry them through the non-feeding pupa stage. The caterpiller stage lasts around 2 weeks.

3. In the pupa or chrysalis stage, the caterpillar spins a silk pad on a twig, leaf, etc., and hangs from this pad by its last pair of prolegs. It hangs upside down in the shape of a 'J', and then molts, leaving itself encased in an articulated green exoskeleton. At this point, hormonal changes occur, leading to the development of a butterfly (metamorphosis). The chrysalis darkens (actually becomes transparent) a day before it emerges, and its orange and black wings can be seen.

4. The mature butterfly emerges after about two pupal weeks and hangs from the split chrysalis for several hours until its wings are dry (often in the morning). Meanwhile fluids are pumped into the crinkled wings until they become full and stiff. Some of this orangey fluid (called meconium) drips from the wings. Finally (usually in the afternoon) the monarch spreads its wings, quivers them to be sure they are stiff, and then flies away, to feed on a variety of flowers, including milkweed flowers, red clover, and goldenrod.

Monarchs can live a life of two to eight weeks in a garden having their host Asclepias plants and sufficient flowers for nectar. This is especially true if the flower garden happens to be surrounded by native forest that seems to be lacking in flowers.

ABC Wednesday Round 3 is here.

Troy and Martha

Aberrant Oak Hairstreak

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If you look closely while on your walks, you will encounter some individual critters that just don't match the norm.

This is an aberrant "Northern" Oak Hairstreak (Satyrium favonius ontario). Their range is from the New England states down to Central Texas. The 'southern' variety is confined mainly to Florida.

They are found along woodland edges. Some of the field guides list them as scarce, but the 5000 acre Ft. Worth Nature Refuge always has a good number of Oak Hairstreaks. This aberrant individual has the extra wide white bands and we occasionaly see some of these beauties (maybe 1 out of a hundred).

Oak Hairstreak (Satyrium favonius ontario)
On Milkweed

Troy and Martha

Click here for last Wednesday's post of lots of Texas' rare butterflies,
and a few common Texas beauties thrown in.

Posted for the viewing enjoyment for
those visiting from Camera Critters.

Butterflies

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For your enjoyment - color and pattern.

Some beautiful, some colorful.
Some plain, some rare.
(Click photo to enjoy)

Blue-eyed Sailor


Blue Metalmark


Blue Metalmark (underside)


Cloudless Sulphur


Crimson Patch


Dogface


Dorantes Longtail


Guava Skipper


Laceys Scrub-hairstreak


Large Orange


Little Wood Satyr
Violas form

Long-tailed Skipper


Lyside Sulphur


Mexican Fritillary


Orange Sulphur


Painted Lady (underside)


Painted Lady


Phaeon Crescent


Phaeon Crescent (underside)


Red-banded Hairstreak


Red-bordered Pixie


Silver-spotted Skipper


Sleepy Orange
looking like a leaf

Southwestern Texan Crescent


White-patched Skipper


White-striped Longtail

For those that made it to the bottom of this post and are interested in butterfly identification, I recommend Butterflies of North America by Brock and Kaufman. I keep looking at Half-Price Books for a couple of extra copies, but nobody wants to get rid of theirs. My old one is getting really worn.

Comment and let us know your favorite butterfly, color, or pattern.

Photos by Troy and Martha

The letter B today can be seen over at Denise's
.