By Rachael Dunlap
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-638778.mp3
Dallas, TX – A sighting of a rare butterfly in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas has enthusiasts in a flutter. On Monday, a visitor to the Falcon State Park photographed a Telea Hairstreak butterfly.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Biologist Mike Quinn says this is the first reported sighting of a Telea in the United States since 1935.
We try to document all the plants and animals in Texas, so this is another one to add to the list and learn about and consider whether it needs protection or not, where it fits in among all the other plants and animals, what it feeds on, and some of the questions we like to ask and don't have all the answers to yet. So it's a new species, almost, for the United States. It's quite exciting, said Quinn.
Quinn says the bright green Teleas are difficult to spot because they are the size of a thumbnail.
He's excited that the Telea spotted is a female because that could mean the species have established a population in South Texas.
If you'd like to take a look at the photo of the Telea that has stirred so much excitement look at the following link:
leps.thenalls.net