Rewilding My Lot

Gregg’s Mistflower (Conoclinium greggii) grows equally well in Seguin and Houston, and I was already familiar with it when I planted it here. The flowering season is very long, and it is a major butterfly attractor.

On this particular lunch-time visit to my pollinator garden, there were at least three butterflies that I could see on the Gregg’s Mistflower. I believe the two orange ones are Fiery Skippers (Hylephila phyleus), and the black & white one is a Checkered-Skipper (Genus Burnsius) of some sort.

Here’s a better picture of the Checkered-Skipper. Notice that it holds both its pairs of wings in the same plane, like most butterflies. The Fiery Skippers, however, use the “jet plane” position, where the hindwings and forewings are held at different angles. That’s a thing that some skippers do, which is something I only learned recently.

I have a new appreciation for the Fiery Skipper, now that I have learned that its larvae will eat Bermudagrass. Gardeners who are fanatic about the integrity of their pure turf lawns will not like that, but I don’t mind at all!