The Rio Grande Valley’s well-deserved renown for being a national birding hotspot overshadows another element of wildlife that attracts eco-tourists to the region. 

The Valley has a stunning array of butterflies. Almost 40 percent of the over 700 species of butterflies in the United States live in the region. The National Butterfly Center south of Mission is at the forefront of this brand of eco-tourism. The center’s 100-acre site features native botanical gardens and trails for exploring and observing the many species of butterflies found in the Valley. The North American Butterfly Association operates the nonprofit nature preserve, open seven days a week to the public.

The 100-acre center and a 350-acre site just west of the butterfly center that it recently began managing give the Valley a boost to the region’s already thriving eco-tourism industry. The larger site will eventually provide public access and add to the services already offered at the butterfly center.

“The Rio Grande Valley has the greatest diversity of butterfly species in North America,” said Marianna Trevino Wright, the executive director of the butterfly center. “We have such a rich and diverse plant life here on the edge of the subtropical Americas.”

Impact Of Weather

The butterfly center is located on the banks of the Rio Grande and was once the site of an onion field among other forms of farming in the area.

The national butterfly association has owned and managed the site for over 20 years and has worked to bring the tract back to its natural habitat state. Wright has been a passionate advocate for what the butterfly center represents in preserving native Valley habitat, and attracting students and tourists to a site that’s located near Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park.

Wright has been in national news reports regarding construction of the border wall, which through litigation and legislation stays off butterfly center land. In a recent conversation, however, she was all about the higher-than-normal numbers of butterfly species at the center during the Valley’s winter months. Fall months are usually the best times of year to see butterflies in the region. In February, 72 species were seen at the center as compared to 62 in October.

Wright attributed weather changes, drought and the extreme heat of summer 2023 as the causes for the leaner-than-usual butterfly species seen last fall. Butterflies are wholly dependent on plant life for their existence to feed and to find the right host plants to lay their eggs. Each butterfly species has a unique plant where eggs are laid and from which newly hatched caterpillars eat the leaves of the host plant.

The monarch butterfly, for example, can lay its eggs only on the milkweed plant. Wright calls it “a feeder relationship” and nature’s way of restricting butterfly species to specific plants for reproducing less hungry caterpillars that consume all forms of plant life.

Representing The RGV

It’s the sort of information the butterfly center widely shares with schoolchildren who visit by the hundreds every year during field trips to learn more about RGV wildlife.

The Texas Butterfly Festival that takes place every October at the center attracts more than 3,000 visitors. Over 35,000 “unique visitors,” as Wright calls them, come to the butterfly center as tourists, which she says does not include local residents who are frequent visitors. The center is part of collaborative efforts with the National Park Service to ensure the survival of monarch butterflies on their mass migration through the Valley. It also works with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on trails restoration and partners with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to plant rare grasses and endangered flowers.

And it’s not just about butterflies. One can see about 300 species of birds at the center, including all manner of ducks, geese, doves, hummingbirds and hawks. The butterfly center has been featured on PBS nature shows. Wright said a crew from Expedia were recent visitors to shoot pictures and videos to inform travelers about the butterfly center.

“We’re so proud of the Rio Grande Valley and its natural treasures,” Wright said. “We’re always excited to represent it and to share information about the Valley.”