BLUE BUTTERFLIES (Polyommantinae Family)

  • When their wings are open, blue butterflies can be bright and sparkly blue! When they close their wings, they look dull gray or brown with spots, helping them hide from hungry birds.

  • Most blue butterflies are tiny. Some are so small they could sit right on the tip of your thumb!

  • Because they are so small, blue butterflies don’t like windy days. They stay close to the ground, fluttering around grasses and desert wildflowers.

  • The Western Pygmy Blue is the smallest butterfly in North America.
  • Blue butterflies love mud puddles. Groups of them may gather around muddy spots to sip up water and important minerals.

  • Blue butterfly caterpillars have a secret friendship with ants. The caterpillars make a sweet liquid that ants love to eat, and in return, the ants protect them from predators like tiny bodyguards!

  • Blue butterflies use their feet to taste! Before laying her eggs, a mother butterfly taps her feet on a plant to make sure it’s the right food for her babies.

COPPER BUTTERFLIES (Lycaeninae Family)

  • With wings that are a bright, metallic orange-red color, they gleam in the desert sun just like a brand-new copper coin.
  • Even though they are a different color, copper butterflies belong to the same family as the tiny blue butterflies.
  • If you look closely when they rest, you will see their bright wings are decorated with little black and white spots.
  • Boy copper butterflies are very territorial and will fly out to chase away other insects and birds.
  • Coppers like to sit together on wet dirt to sip up water and healthy desert minerals.
  • They have a secret friendship with ants. Copper butterfly caterpillars make a sweet sugary liquid that ants love to eat. In return, the ants protect the caterpillars from predators like a team of tiny bodyguards.

HAIRSTREAK BUTTERFLIES (Theclinae Family)

  • They have tiny, thin lines on the bottom of their wings that look like long hairs, which is how they got the name “hairstreak.”
  • The back of their wings has little tails and bright spots that look like a fake face with eyes and antennae.
  • When a bird tries to bite the butterfly, it attacks the fake head on the wings instead of the real head, letting the butterfly fly away safely!
  • To trick predators, they land on a flower, and they rub their back wings together in a circle to make their fake antennae wiggle.
  • New Mexico has many kinds of hairstreaks, including the Juniper Hairstreak, which is bright green, and the great purple Hairstreak, which is shiny blue and purple.
  • Unlike big, slow-fluttering butterflies, hairstreaks are super fast and zip through the air like tiny darts.
  • The boys love to sit on the very top leaves of trees and bushes, watching the area and waiting for a female butterfly to fly by.
  • The slug-shaped caterpillars can change color based on what they are eating. They can turn green, white, pink, or even bright purple to blend in perfectly with flowers.

MONARCH BUTTERFLIES (Danaiae Family)

  • Their bright orange and black wings tell birds, “Do not eat me; I taste terrible and will make you sick!”
  • Every autumn, monarchs fly thousands of miles across New Mexico to spend the winter resting in the warm forests of Mexico. However, tagging studies have confirmed that at least some New Mexico monarchs travel west to California rather than south to Michoacán. 
  • Monarchs use the position of the sun and a special internal compass to find their way without getting lost.
  • Monarch caterpillars are incredibly picky and will only eat the leaves of the Milkweed plant. Can you find the Milkweed plant in The Backyard at the Children’s Museum?
  • Milkweed leaves contain a sticky, toxic juice. The caterpillars eat it up, which makes the insects poisonous to predators for the rest of their lives.
  • When a caterpillar turns into a chrysalis, it looks like a shiny green jewel decorated with a neat row of gold spots.
  • By planting native milkweed and colorful flowers in your yard, you can create a happy rest stop for hungry monarchs flying through New Mexico.
  • When they land on a plant, special sensors on their feet let them “taste” the leaves to make sure it is a safe, yummy spot to lay their eggs.

PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLIES (Nymphalinae Family)

  • Their wings have a beautiful, complicated pattern of orange, black, and white that looks like an artist painted them.
  • Painted Lady butterflies are found on almost every single continent on Earth, making them the most widespread butterfly in the whole world!
  • Unlike some butterflies that hibernate through the winter, Painted Ladies are always on the move, flying to warmer places when it gets chilly.
  • In the spring, millions of Painted Ladies migrate across New Mexico together, sometimes creating flocks so huge they can be seen on weather radar.
  • These little butterflies are speed champions, zooming through the air at up to 30 miles per hour. That’s faster than a human can sprint!
  • On hot desert days, Painted Lady butterflies will gather together around damp mud to drink water and enjoy healthy minerals.
  • When they land on a plant, special sensors on their feet let them “taste” the leaves to make sure it is a safe, yummy spot to lay their eggs.

SULFUR BUTTERFLIES (Coliadinae Family)

  • Sulphur butterflies’ wings are the color of yellow sulphur rock, which looks exactly like a stick of bright yellow butter.
  • Some people believe that long ago, these yellow “butter-colored” insects were flying around and people started calling them “butterflies!”
  • When a sulphur butterfly lands on a flower to rest, it snaps its wings shut so you can only see the pale underside.
  • Many sulphur butterflies in New Mexico have a pretty, thin pink border or a little pink spot on the edges of their yellow wings.
  • On hot desert days, dozens of yellow sulphur butterflies will gather around damp mud to drink water and slurp up healthy minerals together.
  • They like to sleep in! Unlike some butterflies that wake up at dawn, sulphurs usually wait until the morning sun completely warms up the desert before they start flying.
  • Sulphur butterflies that hatch in the cool spring often have darker markings than the ones that hatch in the hot summer!

SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLIES (Papilionidae Family)

  • Swallowtails have hind wings with long, pointy tips that look just like the long feathers of a swallow bird.

  • Swallowtails are some of the largest butterflies in North America, with wings that can stretch wider than a kid’s open hand!

  • The beautiful, bright yellow two-tailed Swallowtail was named the official state butterfly of New Mexico in 2004.

  • When they are just caterpillars, some swallowtails have huge, fake eye-spots on their backs that make them look like a scary green snake.
  • If a caterpillar gets scared, it pokes out a hidden, bright orange Y-shaped antenna from its head that shoots out a super stinky smell to drive predators away.

  • When they land on a flower to drink sweet nectar, they keep their giant wings fluttering and shaking rapidly to stay balanced on the petals.

  • On hot desert days, Swallowtail butterflies will gather around damp mud to drink water and slurp up healthy minerals together.

  • In New Mexico, you can find the bright yellow Western Tiger Swallowtail with black stripes, or the deep black Black Swallowtail with rows of yellow and blue dots.

HUMMINGBIRD MOTH

  • Even though it’s a moth, the hummingbird moth looks, sounds, and moves like a tiny hummingbird!
  • Also called the White-lined Sphinx Moth or Clear Wing Moth, it loves sunshine and twilight, and doesn’t come out at night. 
  • The white-lined sphinx is most commonly found in NM, but the Rocky Mountain Clear Wing Moth can be spotted, too.
  • This moth drinks nectar through a long tongue that rolls up like a party horn!  Its wings beat 80 times per second, making a loud buzzing sound.
  • Hummingbird moths can even fly backward and upside down. They may look a little scary, but don’t worry—they don’t bite or sting!
  • Their soft, fuzzy bodies look almost like fur, and they love visiting colorful desert flowers. They might even mistake your bright clothes for a flower!

YUCCA MOTH

  • The Yucca Moth is a tiny, white insect with a giant superpower. It is the only creature that can pollinate the Yucca, which produces New Mexico’s famous state flower!
  • Neither the plant nor the moth could survive without the other.
  • They do not have normal digestive systems and never eat or drink. Their only goal during their short few weeks of life is to lay eggs and pollinate.
  • A female moth uses her mouth tentacles to gather sticky pollen and roll it into a ball that can be three times the size of her own head!
  • Most bugs pollinate plants by accident when brushing against them, but the Yucca Moth intentionally stuffs the pollen ball directly into the flower’s tube.
  • They use their antennae to smell if another moth has already laid eggs in a bloom. If it’s full, they fly away so the future babies don’t compete to eat the Yucca seeds.
  • If a moth gets greedy and lays too many eggs, the Yucca plant drops the flower completely, sacrificing it to ensure the remaining blossoms can survive.
  • When the caterpillars finish eating their share of seeds, they wait for a rainy night to chew a hole, drop to the desert floor, and burrow into the dirt to cocoon.

MEET MORE POLLINATORS & EXPLORE THEIR PLANT PARTNERS:

Bees & Flies

Learn More

Hummingbirds

Learn More

Backyard Plants

Learn More
RETURN TO HIGH DESERT HELPERS HOMEPAGE

High Desert Helpers is sponsored through the Trails+ Grant Program by the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division.