Even though it may look a bit eccentric, I've started taking my camera with me when I go to the plant nursery. Nurseries always have something blooming, and flowers not only attract shoppers, but butterflies as well. I spotted this Texan Crescent (Anthanassa texana or Phyciodes texana) butterfly perched on a shrub at my local nursery in April of 2005.

Texan Crescent butterflies can be identified by their dark upper wing surfaces with a row of white dots across the hindwings and a rounded indentation in the far edges of the forewings. Faint orange markings can be seen at the base of the dark dorsal wing surfaces.

These butterflies lay their pearl-like eggs on plants in the Acanthus Family (Acanthaceae), which we do have here in the Sonoran Desert.

As I discovered, there is some disagreement on the official scientific name of this species, which is why I listed two scientific names for it.