American Snout Butterfly

Description:

The American Snout or Common Snout Butterfly (Libytheana carinenta) is a member of the Libytheinae subfamily, in the brush-footed butterfly family Nymphalidae. This species is found in both North and South America. The larval host plants are Celtis spp. (Hackberry Trees) on which the eggs are laid singly. Massive migrations of this species often attract attention in the Texas and Mexican newspapers. Snout butterflies have prominent elongated mouthparts (labial palpi) which, in concert with the antennae, give the appearance of the petiole (stem) of a dead leaf. Snouts often take advantage of their brilliant camouflage by hanging upsidedown under a twig, making them nearly invisible. Wings are patterned black-brown with white and orange markings. The fore wings have a distinctive squared off, hook-like (falcate) tip. Caterpillars appear humpbacked, having a small head, swollen first and second abdominal segments, and a last abdominal segment that is tapered and rounded. They are dark green with yellow stripes along the top and sides of the body, and have two black tubercles on the top of the thorax.

Habitat:

Their habitat seems to be on the ground, at or in water, Hackberry trees and Sugarberry, Esperanza's and to be honest, they are everywhere in my area.

Notes:

At sundown, I found several of these on my Orange Jubilee Esperanza. I expected to find mating, but that wasn't on there minds. These can all be considered different specimens. It was dark and not easy to follow one around. If you look closely, in some pics there are more than one.