(Brush-footed Butterflies)

My butterfly photographs represent chance encounters. If you're looking for a systematic photographic survey, I recommend the Butterflies of New Mexico web site maintained by Joe Schelling. Joe has helped me with multiple IDs. For an exhaustive review of the state's butterflies, check out the butterfly pages maintained by the Pajarito Environmental Education Center.

The images are organized alphabetically by taxonomic level. Unlike moths, virtually all butterflies all fall into a single superfamily, the Papilionoidea, so my taxonomic breakdown begins with a separate page for each family. The other pages cover the Hesperiidae (skippers), Lycaenidae (gossamer-winged butterflies), Papilionidae (swallowtails), Pieridae (whites and sulphurs), and Riodinidae (metalmarks). The images below are organized by genus and species. When you encounter a slide show, hover your cursor over the images to control them. If you see an error, please contact me via the Contact tab at the top of the page.

Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia)

A butterfly this gorgeous deserves a few extra photos. The first three photos (above) are all of the same butterfly. To my surprise, it didn't fly off as I approached the bush where it was resting . I was even able to break off the twig it was on, and hold the twig with one hand as I took pictures with the other. The fingertips in two of the photos will give you a sense of the butterfly's size.

Afterwards, I put the twig back on the bush. I took the pictures on a cool day, right after the sun came out, and the butterfly may have been in too much of a cool-weather torpor to fly away.

I'll provide a few more comments below the next set of photos.

Arizona sisters supposedly prefer settings with with oaks and water. Both of those habitat values can be found at the lower end of Embudito Canyon (where I took my August 2021 photo). My earlier (September 2020) photos were taken in Juan Tabo Canyon, where there's plenty of oak but no water source that I know of.

If you look at one of my August 2021 photos of an Arizona Sister sipping at the edge of a pothole (the one where the wings are open), there's a lot going on. Two dead moths are floating in the water. Less obviously, two tiny bees are hovering impatiently, focused on the butterfly (at one o'clock and six o'clock, relative to it). No idea what the bees are up to.

Bischoff's Fritillary (Argynnis bischoffii )

I'm often confused by the fritillaries, so please take my IDs to the species level with a grain of salt. Also, consistent with the relevant PEEC web page, I list them under Argynnis rather than Speyeria. As for Bischoff's fritillary: in years past (and still for some people), these were Mormon fritillaries, Argynnis mormonia. 

Great Spangled Fritillary (Argynnis cybele)

Southwestern Fritillary (Argynnis nausicaa)

Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa celtis)

We encountered this individual near the stand of well-established hackberry trees in lower Embudito Canyon. The larvae eat hackberry leaves and one food source for the adults (which usually don't visit flowers) is hackberry sap.

Mead's Wood Nymph (Cercyonis meadii)

Small Wood Nymph (Cercyonis oetus)

Both images of a small wood nymph derive from the same original. In one version, you see an almost black butterfly, which is how it looked to me. In the other version, I manipulated the image so you can see some details. Apparently small wood nymphs (including the one shown here) sometimes lack a second spot on the underside of each forewing.

Common Wood Nymph (Cercyonis pegala)

The thing to look for with this butterfly is the two large eyespots on the underside of each forewing. However, the hindwings may mask one of the spots. The undersides of the hindwings usually have additional eyespots, but sometimes not.

Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia)

Canyonland Satyr (Cyllopsis pertepida)

Queen Butterfly (Danaus gilippus)

One way to distinguish a queen from a monarch is to notice how the undersides of the queen's forewings and hindwings are the same shade of orange.

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

Notice how the undersides of a monarch's hindwings are pale, while the undersides of a queen's wings (above) are a consistent orange.

Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia)

When I encountered a variegated fritillary lying on the stream bottom in San Lorenzo Canyon, in November 2019, I thought it was dead. After my first couple of photographs I tried to turn it over, and it fluttered off. Not very far—it must have been near the end. Still, one tough critter to have lasted so late into the fall.

Gray Buckeye (Junonia grisea)

When the wings are open, this small butterfly is striking. When the wings are closed, you'll see tan undersides that are almost plain, with or without two orange bars showing on the forewing. In New Mexico these butterflies were formerly classified as the Common Buckeye, Junonia coenia. To read more about buckeyes and their current classification, check out this blog.

American Snout (Libytheana carinenta)

This is my candidate for New Mexico's Ugliest Butterfly. The one I photographed in the Bosque in September 2021 had surprisingly ragged wings, but had no problem flying.

Weidemeyer's Admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii)

As I learned the first time I saw them, these gorgeous butterflies aren't above sipping from fresh scat. If you look closely at the image from Sulphur Canyon, you can see a fly and a second insect just below the scat. The handheld butterfly from Mount Taylor was lying dead on the CDT when we came by. The August 2021 example looked beat up but was going strong.

Spiny Elm Caterpillar, Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

These intimidating-looking caterpillars morph into the Mourning Cloak butterfly. The undersides of the wings are dark and dull, with ragged-looking edges; when the wings are closed it's difficult to see the butterfly among dead leaves. The upper sides of the wings are a deep maroon with blue spots. The adults hibernate during the winter and are among the first butterflies you'll see in Albuquerque each spring.

Milbert's Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis or Aglais milberti)

Painted Crescent (Phyciodes picta)

Field Crescent (Phyciodes pulchella)

Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos)

A very common butterfly in the Albuquerque area.

Hoary Comma (Polygonia gracilis)

Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis)

So called because two small white spots on the underwing vaguely resemble a question mark. None of my photos thus far shows that feature.

West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella)

Compared to the Painted Ladies you see below, the black-and-white wing tip area on a West Coast Lady is is less elaborate. The wing tip also sticks out in the back.

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

In the June 2021 photo where the wings are fully open, the red admiral was hanging upside down and I rotated the image.

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)

The Painted Lady has four (sometimes five) small but obvious eye spots on the underside of each hind wing. Each warm season, Painted Lady butterflies migrate northward from northern Mexico. They're a common sight in and near Albuquerque, and always fun to photograph.