Host and Guest

Every now and then I find some deceased butterflies or parts of butterflies.  This is sad, but it does make them easier to identify and photograph!

This sadly deceased individual is a Hackberry Emperor, Asterocampa celtis.  Its wing span is about 2 inches (5 cm) across, and it belongs to the nymphalid, or brush-footed butterfly, family.  According to authors John and Gloria Tveten*, there may be three broods of caterpillars a year.  The caterpillars are yellow-green with spiny “antlers” on their heads – I have never seen any but I will have to keep a look out.

Their host plants are hackberry species.  The one we have is called Sugar Hackberry or Sugarberry, and right now it has tiny red berries that have just a thin sweet skin over a crunchy seed.

Hackberries are in the elm family, and one way you can tell is that the base of the leaf where it attaches to the stem is always uneven — one side dips down lower than the other.  This tree is not one of my favorites – to me the leaves always look sick.  They are droopy and yellowish-green, and they feel like sandpaper.

However I love the mottled look of the trunk and the sculptural bumps of bark that build up.

There is something satisfying to me about being able to match a butterfly to its host plant!

*Butterflies of Houston and Southeast Texas, 1996, University of Texas Press