Types of Butterflies in Texas

Whites and Sulfurs

• White and sulfur butterflies are often spotted flitting above Texan wildflowers in the summer. They are attracted to the nectar of flowering alfalfa hayfields as well as garden plants. The small to mid-size butterflies belong to the Pieridae family. Commonly called cabbage butterflies, great southern whites and giant whites live in Texas. Sulfur butterflies are from the Coliadinae subfamily and are bright yellow or orange. Some types include the southern dogface, mimosa yellow, lyside sulfur and the dainty sulfur.

Swallowtails

• The large, boldly marked and colored swallowtails are some of the most noticeable Texan butterflies, with their elongated lower-wing tip appendages. Members of the Papilionidae family, swallowtails live in forested areas, along woodland edges, in canyons and open meadows. The yellow eastern and western tiger swallowtails are ubiquitous across Texas. Other common swallowtail types include the pipevine, black and spicebush swallowtail. Zebra swallowtails are rarely seen, as the species feeds only on the foliage of paw paw trees.

Skippers

• The Texas butterfly with the widest diversity and number of species is the skipper. Skippers are named for their rapid, erratic flight patterns. Many species look alike and are hard to classify. Entomologists sometimes call them LBBs, for little brown butterflies. Skippers belong to the Hesperiidae family. They are divided into two subgroups. The spread-wing skippers are members of the Pyrigane subfamily, and the grass skippers are from the subfamily Hesperiinae. The Texas powdered skipper is noted for its attractive coloration.

Admirals

• Admiral butterflies and their relative types often have distinctive, high-contrast markings highlighted by hindwing eyespots. Admirals belong to the Limenitidinae subfamily division of the Nymphalidae family. The red-spotted purple and the white admiral are distinctive forms once considered as separate species. Different forms of admirals often hybridize when their ranges overlap. The viceroy is a type of admiral that looks like a small version of the monarch butterfly. Many predators avoid eating the poisonous monarch and the viceroy by association.