Rare moth discovered at Falcon State Park

FALCON HEIGHTS - A winged beauty has made her United States debut and stumped experts.

Fran Bartle, a volunteer naturalist at Falcon State Park in Starr County, discovered a blue-and-orange striped moth recently while taking an inventory of the park's winged visitors.

"It was absolutely gorgeous," Bartle said.

Turns out she may have been the first to ever see the insect in the United States.

Bartle took several photographs and put them on a Web site viewed by butterfly and other insect enthusiasts and experts. She also sent them to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

The moth photographs quickly sent lepidopterists, scientists who study butterflies and moths, all aflutter.

Experts from the United States and Britain struggled over the following days to determine what species of moth it was.

As of Tuesday, the general consensus was that the insect probably is a Phoenicoprocta lydia tiger moth. These insects are more commonly found in Mexico and Central America, said Mike Quinn, an invertebrate biologist for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Wildlife Diversity Program.

Quinn confirmed that this type of moth had not been recorded north of the Rio Grande until this sighting.

Looking at pictures of the insect, Quinn said it probably is a female.

This isn't the first time Starr County has received new visitors of the winged and multi-legged kind.

Last fall, nature enthusiasts at Falcon State Park spotted one butterfly never seen before in the United States and another one that hadn't shown up for about 70 years.

Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, headquarters of the World Birding Center, in Mission, also had its share of newcomers when three dragonflies never recorded before in the United States were found.

Quinn thinks more rainfall, more butterfly gardens and an increase in people looking for insects are the reasons behind so many new sightings in the area.

The McAllen area received 26.24 inches of rainfall since Jan. 1, which is more than 7 inches above normal, according to the National Weather Service. Starr County, which is usually drier than its neighbors to the east, probably has a higher year-to-date rainfall than normal, but the National Weather Service does not keep rainfall counts for Starr County, said Greg Flatt, a forecaster at the service.