Snout Butterflies

by Wizzie Brown

In late summer and into fall, Central Texas can sometimes have an outbreak of snout butterflies where thousands, if not millions, of these butterflies can be seen in mass migration. While the migration lasts a relatively short period of time, a couple of weeks, it can be a beautiful sight.
Snout butterflies are called such due to elongated mouthparts called palps that extend forward from their head to form a snout. These butterflies have front wings with a squared off tip. Wings are edged in brown with orange towards the base. The underside of the hindwing is a mottled violet-grey. Caterpillars are green with light stripes running longitudinally along the body. They have small heads and appear to be humped because the first couple of abdominal segments are swollen.

Caterpillars primarily feed on tender foliage of hackberry trees. Adults feed on nectar from flowers and can also be attracted to decaying fruit. Males are often seen patrolling near host plants seeking females. When adults are at rest on plants with their wings folded up over the abdomen, they mimic dead leaves.
Snout butterflies have a complete life cycle with the winter being spent in the adult stage. There can be up to four generations per year. No management is typically needed.

For more information or help with identification, contact Wizzie Brown, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Program Specialist at 512.854.9600. Check out my blog at www.urban-ipm.blogspot.com
This work is supported by Crops Protection and Pest Management Competitive Grants Program [grant no. 2017-70006-27188 /project accession no. 1013905] from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture