(Mission, TX) – Thursday, January 5, there was a buzz in the gardens at the National Butterfly Center, where an unusual specimen was found. At first it was declared a White M Hairstreak, which is uncommon enough to warrant an alert. This sent members and visitors rushing to see it, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. All that remained were the photographs two visitors, Anisha Sapkota and Sajan KC, managed to snap.

Upon further review, the butterfly was confirmed to be the Mexican M Hairstreak, making this documented sighting of the live butterfly a first U.S. record.

Sapkota and KC have spent all day, nearly every day, since they arrived in Mission, Texas, in December, 2022, at the National Butterfly Center. Originally from Nepal, both are graduate students pursuing their Masters degrees in Biology at Eastern New Mexico University, where she is doing her thesis on the butterflies of eastern New Mexico, and he is conducting his on a special group of brown beetles called Hemipeplinae. Before moving to New Mexico, both were actively studying the butterfly diversity of Nepal, where they discovered around 20 species new to that country.

When they decided to spend their winter break in the Rio Grande Valley, they reached out to the National Butterfly Center to inquire about local accommodations and what they might expect to see at this time of year.

“We often field calls and email from prospective visitors,” states Marianna Treviño Wright, executive director of the center, “But I’ve never had anyone declare they have already memorized all 700-plus species in Dr. Jeffrey Glassberg’s definitive Swift Guide to North American Butterflies. I thought Sajan was joking when he told me this, but week after week, he’s proven he was not.”

Wright reminded Sapkota and KC that butterfly activity is highly weather dependent; so, visiting during December and January might yield little-to-no activity, if it was cold or rainy. Knowing this, KC and Sapkota chose to roll the dice and spend almost six weeks in Mission, just to be close to the world-renowned National Butterfly Center. Here, they hoped to encounter many “lifer” species, i.e. butterflies they had never seen before, but they only dreamed of finding a U.S. record.

As of Thursday, this trip to Mission, TX, had produced 80 lifers and 128 butterfly species, total, for the dedicated duo; including their discovery of the Mexican M Hairstreak, for which they will forever be remembered.

When asked about this, KC stated, “This exciting finding has boosted our passion even more!”

This “exciting finding” only occurs about once a year at the National Butterfly Center, where more than 240 species have been documented over the last 20 years.

“Still, it’s part of the reason people travel here from around the world and return, again and again,” states Wright. “There is simply no other place quite like it in the United States.”

To learn more about the National Butterfly Center, and how you can join us, visit www.nationalbutterflycenter.org or call 956-583-4300. Your annual membership or charitable gift impacts the beauty of our community and helps preserve the biologically diverse, natural treasures of deep South Texas.

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The National Butterfly Center is committed to ‘Growing Connections’ between people, plants, and the winged wonders that pollinate and propagate all that grows around us. We do this through educational and environmental initiatives that cultivate meaningful understanding of the processes that create sustainable ecosystems. The Center is open to the public, for visitors and members, seven days/week.