Missouri Butterly
Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 1:05 PM
Poor quality photo from phone camera. Out of Houston, MO. What kind is it or is it not a butterfly but a moth? Thank you
Bobby from MO
Houston, MO
Hi Bobby,
Even though your photo is quite blurry, we are nonetheless excited to post it because it represents a new species for our website. This is a Goatweed Leafwing Butterfly, Anaea andria. Leafwings are mainly a tropical group of butterflies in the subfamily Charaxinae. According to Jeffrey Glassberg in the book Butterflies Through Binoculars The West, the Goatweed Leafwing: “often flies as if swooping up and down on ocean waves. Overwintering individuals have more pointed FWs [forewings] than summer individuals.” We tried to make this post yesterday morning, but we lost our Time Warner internet connection mysteriously.