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Special Segments
General Topics
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Special Segments General Topics |
Some Colorful Tropical Strays |
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Every year butterflies and skippers from the countries to the south of the United States wander north and are collected in the extreme southern United States, typically in southern Texas and southern Florida. These species do not live in the United States or breed here, but are simply vagrants from the tropical habitats they normally live in. These species are referred to as "Tropical Strays" in this segment of Nearctica. Some particularly attractive or interesting species of "Tropical Strays" are shown below. |
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The Bahaman Swallowtail (Papilionidae) normally lives in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Jamaica, but on rare occasions wanders north to the Florida Keys or the southern Florida Mainland. The caterpillars feed on plants in the citrus family (Rutaceae).
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The Tropical Mimic White (Pieridae) lives in the tropical regions of Mexico but on rare occasions strays north to the Rio Grande River Valley near Brownsville, Texas. The species is sexually dimorphic. The male is shown to the left and has a bright orange-yellow coloration and a spectacularly expanded hindwing. The female is a lighter yellow and the hindwing is not so exceptional. Despite the common and scientific name, neither sex is white.
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The Long-winged Greenstreak (Lycaenidae) lives and Mexico and has been rarely collected as a vagrant in southeastern Arizona. The male is metallic blue with a black border. The female is a darker blue with a wider black border. In both sexes, however, the underside is a beautiful mossy green color. The combination of the metallic blue upperside and the green lower side is typical of the genus Cyanophrys.
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The Erato Heliconian (Nymphalidae) breeds from Brazil northward through Central America and Mexico. The species is a rare stray to the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas. The species of the genus Heliconius feed on Passiflora plants (Passion Fruit) and are very distasteful to predators. Many of the species of Heliconius, including erato, participate in elaborate mimicry complexes in the American tropics.
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The Rusty-tipped Page (Nymphalidae) normally lives from Peru northward to Mexico. It was once collected as a stray in southern New Mexico.
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Cramer's Eighty-eight (Nymphalidae) is common in South and Central America and strays north to southern Texas and southern Florida. The species of the genus Diaethria are known as Eighty-eights because of the vaguely "88" pattern on the underside of the hindwing. The species of Diaethria are usually fairly uninteresting on top, although sometimes they have metallic blue or green bands. But the undersides are very colorful and the species are great favorites of collectors.
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The White Morpho (Nymphalidae) is the only species of Morpho ever collected in the United States. This species lives from Costa Rica to Mexico and has been taken as an occasional stray in southern Arizona. The most familiar species of Morpho are large and brilliant metallic blue. In contrast the White Morpho is a pearly iridescent white with just a vague hint of blue in the color.
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The Frosted Flasher (Hesperiidae) proves that not all skippers are ugly cousins of the butterflies. This species of skipper is widespread in the American tropics and occasionally strays as far north as southern Texas.
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