Welcome to Austin Butterfly Forum!

September 28th, 2026 7:00pm-8:30pm

Zilker Botanical Garden Clubhouse and Zoom

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Native Plant Preferences and Species Diversity of Butterflies at Guadalupe River State Park, 2012-2026 

Speaker: 

Craig Hensley

Presentation: 

Beginning with the pretext of determining species diversity and generational patterns of butterflies at Guadalupe River State Park following significant land management to control Ashe Juniper prior to 2012, then Interpreter and Resource Specialist Craig Hensley recruited volunteers to begin surveying butterflies throughout the park. Fifteen years on this citizen science effort has provided illumination not only to butterfly diversity but also their use of and preferences for native plants of the park. Evolving results provide insights not only into what has been found in the park but how these findings may guide landowners large and small as to decisions on use and management of native plants on their properties in the Texas Hill Country.

Bio: 

Craig Hensley retired in 2025 following a 40+ year career as a naturalist, interpreter and wildlife biologist, serving 15 of those years with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, his final assignment as a Texas Nature Tracker Biologist. Craig has a broad-based knowledge of the natural world, including ornithology, entomology, and botany. He is a chaser of birds, butterflies, bees, dragons and damsels, as well as a grower of native plants at his home in Boerne. Craig is father to two children, Dr. Jenny Hensley, a pediatrician near Boston, and Noah Hensley, PhD., Manager Technical Advice for The Water Services Authority of New Zealand. He is a granddad of four girls, one boy and a still-to-be determined baby, due in September. He is married to Texas Master Naturalist Terry Lashley.