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We love watching butterflies, and East Texas is a great place for that pastime!
We also enjoy butterfly gardening, and designing our landscape to provide food and shelter for a variety of butterflies. Our landscape includes several types of Lantana, Zinnias, Butterfly Bushes, Pentas, Milkweed, Salvia, and other butterfly-friendly plants, annuals and perennials.
Other landing and feeding spots include (depending on the season) dozens of Azaleas, Pansies, Impatiens, Knockout Roses, Creeping Phlox, Daffodils, Hydrangeas, Portulaca and Gladiolas.
Texas has recorded 432 species of butterflies, and is considered the most butterfly-diverse state in the USA.
We regularly spot the following butterflies in our gardens near Tyler:
Black Swallowtail |
Red Spotted Purple |
Giant Swallowtail |
Pearl Crescent |
Tiger Swallowtail |
Gulf Fritillary |
Buckeye |
Variegated Fritillary |
Painted Lady |
Horace's Duskywing |
Monarch |
Funereal Duskywing |
Mourning Cloak |
Gray Hairstreak |
Silver Spotted Skipper |
Sulfurs and Whites |
Fiery Skipper |
Question Mark |
Red Admiral |
and more! |
Shown here are a few quick favorites of some recent butterfly sightings. All photographs were taken by the author. You can click any image to enlarge. We'll get more posted from our archives shortly ... so visit again soon.
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
Size: 3.5"-5.5"
click to enlarge |
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Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly missing one tail
click to enlarge |
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Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly
Size: 3.5"-4.5"
(one line of spots on trailing edge of wings vs two lines on Black Swallowtail) |
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Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Size: 2.5"-4.0"
click to enlarge |
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Black Swallowtail Caterpillar in Texas
Favorite host plants: dill, fennel, parsley
click to enlarge |
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A pair of Giant Swallowtail Butterflies near Tyler Texas
Size: 4.0"-6.0"
click to enlarge |
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Monarch Butterfly on Lantana near Tyler Texas
Size: 3.5"-4.0"
Favorite host plant: milkweed
click to enlarge |
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Monarch Butterfly on Lantana near Tyler Texas
click to enlarge |
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Gulf Fritillary Butterfly (wings open) on Zinnia
Size: 2.5"-3.0"
Categorized as a "longwing", its wings are elongated. Prefers Passion Flowers
click to enlarge |
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Gulf Fritillary Butterfly (wings closed) on Zinnia
Size: 2.5"-3.0"
click to enlarge |
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Variegated Fritillary Caterpillar
These lovely caterpillars like to chew on pansies, and violas
click to enlarge |
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Variegated Fritillary Butterfly
Size: 1.8"-2.5"
click to enlarge |
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Pearl Crescent Butterfly
Size: 1.0"-1.5"
click to enlarge |
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Painted Lady
Size: 2.0"-2.8"
click to enlarge |
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Mourning Cloak Butterfly in East Texas
Size: 3.0"-3.5"
Prefers tree sap and rotting fruit over flowers
click to enlarge |
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Red Admiral Butterfly (wings open)
Size: 1.8"-2.5"
Friendly to humans, but will challenge other butterflies, birds and mammals.
click to enlarge |
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Red Admiral Butterfly (wings closed)
click to enlarge |
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Buckeye Butterfly on Butterfly Bush
Size: 2.0"-2.8"
click to enlarge |
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Question Mark butterfly - wings open.
This butterfly ranges throughout eastern North America, often found in moist woodlands, swamps and residential landscapes. Winter adults can hibernate in Texas, and emerge on warm, sunny days. They resemble dry, dead leaves
with their wings closed.
click to enlarge |
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Question Mark butterfly - closed wings
Size: 2.2"-3.0"
click to enlarge |
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The markings on the Question Mark butterfly that give it the name
click to enlarge |
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The perfect camouflage of the Question Mark butterfly
click to enlarge |
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Horace's Duskywing
Size: 1.3"-1.7"
click to enlarge |
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Gray Hairstreak
Hairstreaks are typically brown or gray, and have antennae-like projections on their rear wings
Size: 1.0"-1.2"
click to enlarge |
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Skipper family butterfly on Zinnia
Small to medium size butterflies, characterized by fast and erratic flight patterns
click to enlarge |
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Skipper family butterfly on Zinnia
click to enlarge |
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Skipper family butterfly on Zinnia
click to enlarge |
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Silver Spotted Skipper on Zinnias in East Texas near Tyler
Size: 1.8"-2.5"
click to enlarge |
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Little Pink Moth
on Hot Lips |
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Hummingbird Moth |
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Zebra Heliconian
Size: 3.0"-3.5"
click to enlarge |
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Orange Sulphur
Size: 1.5"-2.5"
click to enlarge |
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Luna Moth
Size: 4.0"-4.5"
click to enlarge |
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If you love butterflies, you might enjoy our photo gallery of East Texas Flowers showcasing Azaleas, Daffodils, Zinnias, Portulaca, Lantana, and Pokeweed to name a few.
Our gallery of East Texas Birds is perfect for backyard nature lovers to explore, featuring bluebirds, woodpeckers, buntings, goldfinches, roadrunners, hawks, and much more.
Are you a hummingbird lover like us? Check out the photos and hummingbird videos in our Texas Hummingbird Gallery. |
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