WATCH: Butterflies swarm Texas coast during mass migration
Butterflies swarm Texas coast
Watch as American snout butterflies swarm vehicles as they cross Corpus Christi Bay.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A video shows a swarm of butterflies surrounding vehicles crossing Corpus Christi Bay earlier this month.
What we know:
The video posted by Nikki Ikonomopoulos on June 17 shows black specks fluttering against the backdrop of a blue sky.
Ikonomopoulos called the insects "snout-nosed" butterflies, likely referring to the American snout butterfly.
According to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, these butterflies with black-brown wings with white and orange markings, get their name from their long mouth.
What they're saying:
They have a long history of darkening skies in Texas during their irregular migrations, according to Texas Parks & Wildlife.
"In 1921, an estimated 75 million butterflies per hour passed through South Texas in a particularly large wave that stretched for nearly 250 miles," Ben Hutchins wrote in an article for the department’s magazine in 2017.
Dig deeper:
These butterflies dine on hackberry leaves as caterpillars. As adults they enjoy nectar from flowers such aster, dogwood and goldenrod.
The Source: Information in this story came from Storyful, Facebook, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Texas Parks & Wildlife.