Rare butterfly makes appearance at National Butterfly Center (with photo)

[TexasTowelie]

MISSION, TEXAS -- A rare butterfly was recently spotted at the National Butterfly Center in Mission.

A neotropical Emerald Aguna was observed and photographed by Luciano Guerra, the education and outreach coordinator for the center. According to a news release, this is the third time the butterfly has been spotted at the center and only the fourth time in the Rio Grande Valley.

“Even more remarkable is the fact that Luciano has found this butterfly (presumably two different individuals) TWICE this month!” the release read. “His experience proves our motto, ‘You never know what you‘ll see at the NBC,’ true again.”

According to the release, nearly half of the 700 different species of North American butterflies can be found in the Valley.

The Emerald Aguna is typically found from Venezuela to Mexico. It was first spotted in the Valley in 2004, then again in 2015.

Read more: https://myrgv.com/featured/2021/10/27/rare-butterfly-makes-appearance-at-national-butterfly-center/

[hlthe2b]

1. So little good news, lately that I almost teared up reading this.

If we can save the butterflies and the bees, we might just have some chance at a future.

Beautiful.

[TexasTowelie]

4. Glad to share and I hope it brightened your morning. nt

[SheltieLover]

2. K&R!

Beautiful!

Ty for the great news!

[TexasTowelie]

3. Not sure if this is really good news or not.

I tend to believe it is more of an effect of climate change.

I recall that during the mid-90s when I went to visit my parents in George West, Texas we started to have green jays come to our bird feeder during the winter. Green jays are normally found in the Rio Grande Valley and we were about 150 miles north. While the birds are beautiful, it was one of the earlier signs that the environment was changing.

[SheltieLover]

5. Sorry to hear!

😔

[rampartc]

8. invasive species

butterflies mean caterpillars, maybe without natural predators. wonder which crops these things eat?

[niyad]

6. Just lovely.

[TexasTowelie]

7. It's a nice photo.

It also makes meandering through of some these less visited sites that I look at worthwhile since these articles usually aren't covered on the major news feeds.