On October 26 1996 Doug found this butterfly in his backyard in Holbrook NE. If I recall correctly he said it was on a watermelon rind he had left in the garden to attract butterflies. Well I guess it worked. Most people (myself included) would have thought “Hey, that’s interesting, a Goatweed Butterfly”. (The Goatweed Butterfly is widespread but somewhat uncommon in Nebraska). But not Doug. Recognizing it was not a “typical” Goatweed he collected the butterfly and sent the pics off to Drs. Ray Stanford and Paul Opler who verified it was a Tropical Leafwing form “trogolodyta” The Tropical Leafwing is a resident in southern and western portions of the United States and then into Mexico. There are several records from Kansas but Doug has the only Nebraska record of this southern stray. Tropical Leafwing Anaea aidea (Guérin-Méneville, [1844]) | Butterflies and Moths of North America.
For comparison purposes the more common Goatweed (of which there are multiple forms) is illustrated below.
I’ve always loved the leafwing group!! Caught my first one in an alfalfa field in Columbus, NE as a kid some 45 years ago. I chased that thing for what seemed like an hour!!