Common Butterflies Seen in Yards and Gardens in the Greater Houston Texas Area
Just starting to observe butterflies? The butterflies listed below are ones that are likely to be seen in gardens throughout the greater Houston area.
In the table below, the numbers in "Flight Period" and "Caterpillar Season" correspond to the month (4 = April, 5 = May, etc.), with < meaning earlier in the month, m the middle of the month, and > late in the month.
Expected Frequency of Sighting |
Name |
Flight Period |
Caterpillar Season |
Native Caterpillar Food Plants |
|
| 1 | Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) |
4 - 11 |
4 - 10 |
||
| 2 | Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)
|
3 - 11 |
3 - 10 |
||
| 2 |
|
4 - 11 |
4 - 10 |
||
| 1 | Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) |
2 - 11 | 3 - 10 |
||
| 1 | Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) | in addition to many other plants |
|||
| 3 | American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) |
4-11 |
3-10 |
||
| 1 | Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) |
3-11 |
3-10 |
||
| occasional, not every year | Julia Heliconian (Dryas iulia) | ||||
| occasional, not every year | Zebra Heliconian (Heliconius charithonia) | ||||
| 2 | Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) | 3-11 |
3-10 |
||
| 2 | Common Buckeye |
3-10 |
3-10 |
2 |
Goat Leafwing (Anaea andria) |
3-11 |
3-10 |
3 |
Tawny Emperor (Asterocampa clyton) |
3-11 |
3-10 |
2 |
Monarch (Danaus plexippus) |
3-10 |
3-10 |
Queen (Danaus gilippus) |