In northwestern Louisiana, falcate orangetips are the harbingers of spring.
When you see the orangetipsflying, you know that spring has arrived. The
earliest record of falcate orangetip in Caddo Parish was February 19. Last
week I went to Eddie Jones Park on February 16, and found four of them. This
is a new early record for for the parish and is almost certainly due to the
very warm weather we have had this spring. I was there today (February 27) and
saw 38 orangetips along with four other species. Falcate orangetip is one of
my favorite butterflies. The complete list is below.
While searching for butterflies today, most did not stop flying because there
are few flowers to get nectar from. The only flower blooming that seems to
provide nectar is false garlic. I thought I might be able to find eastern pine
elfin because they also use false garlic, but no luck.
Jeff TrahanShreveport
38 FalcateOrangetip1 Orange Sulphur2 Cloudless Sulphur1
American Snout1 Goatweed Leafwing
