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No, the atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala florida) is not native to Texas! The butterfly is a tropical species that has been historically documented (1800's) in southeast Florida only. Recently, some people have been introducing it into southwest Florida (to the consternation of many conservation lepidopterists!) The Florida butterfly is considered a subspecies of the Caribbean nominal race, Eumaeus atala atala. The species has a historical range that extends from southern Palm Beach County to northern Monroe County, and is still more prevalent in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. The butterfly will disperse and extend its range during the summer months, but "freeze-back" during the winter months to overwinter in pockets in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. The butterfly has a normal "crash-irruption" cycle, which means that the population in a colony will out-grow its food source--by the hundreds--and will crash to zero (several Zamia species, our only native cycad, are the only larval food source. The cycad has many scientific names, but most are commonly called "coontie.") The Caribbean species populate the pinelands in the Bahamas, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and other tropical islands in the archipelago. (I have been studying this insect for 6 years!)

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15y ago

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