Bordered Patch

About the Bordered Patch

The Bordered Patch is one of the most variable butterflies in North America -- so variable that early naturalists described the same species several times over. The reliable version in Central Texas is a small dark butterfly crossed by a broad band that runs cream to orange, with a checkered fringe and a scatter of pale spots toward the wingtips. No two ever look quite alike, which is half the fun.

Its fortunes ride on sunflowers. The spiny black caterpillars feed communally on sunflower and ragweed leaves, and wherever a Texas field edge goes gold in summer, Bordered Patches are usually flickering low through the stems. Good years produce them in remarkable numbers.

This one was photographed on July 8, 2023 during a summer macro session in eastern Travis County -- part of the same insect-rich morning that produced ringtail dragonflies and grass-carrying wasps at the ponds.

Patch butterflies feed with their wings open more often than many nymphalids, so a nectaring bird -- er, bug -- will eventually give you the full upper-wing pattern. Get the checkered fringe sharp; it is the field mark that separates a worn Patch from everything else.