Butterflies

With over 160 species of butterfly and innumerable species of moths, Big Bend is a great place for lepidopterists. Whether your interests are research or fun this is a great place to discover butterflies. In fact, there are seven species that are known to occur in the U.S. in one place, Big Bend National Park. Those seven are: the Chisos banded-skipper; the Chisos metalmark; Chisos skipperling; the Chisos giant skipper; the bromeliad scrub-hairstreak; the Mexican dartwhite; and the Lajitas giant skipper. What are the most common butterflies seen in the park? Most of the year around at all elevations you might find the Gulf fritillary, pipevine swallowtail, American snout, red admiral, checkered white, southern dogface, orange skipperling, Texan crescent, and Reakirt’s blue. Each year towards the end of the summer and through the fall, we begin to see a migration of Monarch Butterflies, at this time of year it is common to see certain flowering bushes teeming with twenty or more.
Gulf fritillaries are one of the over 170 species of butterflies viewable in Big Bend NP. NPS