<butterfly.htm>
FAMILIAR
BUTTERFLIES OF THE
UNITED STATES &
CANADA
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Butterfly
Conservation and Enjoyment
Anise Swallowtail,
Papilio
zelicaon
Clodius Parnassian, Parnassius clodius
Eastern Black Swallowtail, Papilio
polyxenes
Eversmann's Parnassian, Parnassius
eversmanni
Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes
Old World Swallowtail, Papilio
machaon
Oregon Swallowtail Papilio bairdii oregonia
Palamedes Swallowtail, Papilio
palamedes
Phoebus Parnassian, Parnassius phoebus
Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus
philenor
Polydamas Swallowtail, Battus
polydamas
Schaus' Swallowtail, Papilio aristodemus
Short-tailed Swallowtail, Papilio
brevicauda
Spicebush Swallowtail, Papilio troilus
Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio glaucus
Two-tailed Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio
multicaudata
Zebra Swallowtail, Eurytides marcellus
Becker's White,
Pieris chloridice beckerii
Cabbage White,
Pieris rapae
California Dogface, Colias eurydice
Checkered White,
Pieris protodice
Chiricahua Pine White, Neophasia
terlootii
Cloudless Giant Sulphur, Phoebis
sennae
Common Sulphur,
Colias philodice
Creamy Marblewing, Euchloe ausonia
Dogface Butterfly, Colias cesonia
Dwarf Yellow, Nathalis iole
Falcate Orangetip, Anthocharis midea
Great Southern White, Ascia
monuste
Little Yellow,
Eurema lisa
Mead's Sulphur,
Colias meadii
Olympia Marblewing, Euchloe olympia
Orange Sulphur,
Colias eurytheme
Orange-barred Giant Sulphur, Phoebis
philea
Pima Orangetip,
Anthocharis pima
Pine White, Neophasia
menapia
Queen Alexandra's Sulphur, Colias
alexandra
Sara Orangetip,
Anthocharis sara
Sleepy Orange,
Eurema nicippe
Statira, Phoebis statira
Tailed Orange,
Eurema proterpia
Veined White, Pieris napi
White Angled Sulphur, Anteos
clorinde
Acmon Blue, Plebejus acmon
American Copper,
Lycaena phlaeas
Atala, Eumaeus atala
Blue Copper, Lycaena heteronea
Bog Elfin, Callophrys lanoraieensis
Bramble Green Hairstreak, Callophrys affinis
apama
Bronze Copper,
Lycaena hyllus
Brown Elfin, Callophrys augustus
Cassius Blue, Leptotes cassius
Colorado Hairstreak, Hypaurotis crysalus
Cycad Butterfly,
Eumaeus minijas
Early Hairstreak,
Erora laeta
Eastern Pine Elfin, Callophrys niphon
Eastern Tailed Blue, Everes comyntas
Edith's Copper,
Lycaena xanthoides editha
Edwards' Hairstreak, Satyrium edwardsii
Gorgon Copper,
Lycaena gorgon
Gray Hairstreak,
Strymon melinus
Great Purple Hairstreak, Atlides
halesus
Great Gray Copper, Lycaena xanthoides
Greenish Blue,
Plebejus saepiolus
Harvester, Feniseca tarquinius
Henry's Elfin,
Callophrys henrici
High Mountain Blue, Plebejus glandon franklinii
Lupine Blue, Icaricia icariodes
Lustrous Copper,
Lycaena cupreus
Mormon Metalmark,
Apodemia mormo
Moss Elfin, Callophrys mossii
Nelson's Hairstreak, Callophrys nelsoni
Nivalis Copper,
Lycaena nivalis
Northern Blue,
Lycaeides idas
Olive Hairstreak,
Callophrys gryneus
Orange-bordered Blue, Lycaeides
melissa
Orange-veined Blue, Lycaeides melissa ?
Purplish Copper,
Lycaena helloides
Red-banded Hairstreak, Calycopis
cecrops
Ruddy Copper, Lycaena rubidus
Shasta Blue, Lycaena melissa
Silver-banded Hairstreak, Chlorostrymon
simaethis
Silvery Blue, Glaucopsyche lygdamus
Sonoran Blue, Philotes sonorensis
Spring Azure, Celastrina argiolus
Swamp Metalmark,
Calephelis muticum
Tailed Copper,
Lycaena arota
American Painted Lady, Cynthia
virginiensis
Amymone, Cystineura amymone ?
Atlantis Fritillary, Speyeria atlantis
Baltimore, Euphydryas phaeton
Banded Daggerwing, Timetes chiron ?
Bog Fritillary,
Proclossiana eunomia
Bordered Patch,
Chlosyne lacinia
Buckeye, Precis coenia
California Tortoiseshell, Nymphalis
californica
California Sister, Limenitis bredowii
Compton Tortoiseshell, Nymphalis
vau-album
Crimson-patched Longwing, Synchloe
janalis ?
Diana, Speyeria diana
Edwards' Fritillary, Speyeria edwardsii
Eighty-eight Butterfly, Diaethria
clymena
Empress Louisa,
Asterocampa sp.
Fatima, Anartia fatima
Florida Leafwing,
Anaea floridalis
Florida Purplewing, Eunica tatila tatilista
Gillette's Checkerspot Leanira, Chlosyne
leanira
Goatweed Butterfly, Anaea andria
Gray Comma, Polygonia
comma
Great Spangled Fritillary, Speyeria
cybele
Gulf Fritillary,
Dione vanillae
Hackberry Butterfly, Asterocampa celtis
Harris' Checkerspot, Chlosyne harrisii
Julia, Anthocharis sara julia ?
Lorquin's Admiral, Limenitis lorquini
Malachite, Siproeta stelenes bipalgiata
Meadow Fritillary, Boloria bellona
Milbert's Tortoiseshell, Aglais
milberti
Mimic, Hypolimnas misippus
Monarch, Danaus plexippus
Mountain Emperor,
Chlorippe montis
Mourning Cloak,
Nymphalis antiopa
Nokomis Fritillary, Speyeria nokomis
Painted Crescent,
Phyciodes picta
Painted Lady, Cynthia cardui
Pearl Crescent,
Phyciodes tharos
Phaon Crescent,
Phyciodes phaon
Queen, Danaus gilippus
Question Mark,
Polygonia interrogationis
Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta
Red-spotted Purple, Limenitis arthemis astyanax
Regal Fritillary,
Speyeria idalia
Ruddy Daggerwing,
Marpesia petreus
Satyr Anglewing, Polygonia satyrus
Silver-bordered Fritillary, Boloria
selene
Snout Butterfly,
Libytheana bachmanii
Tawny Emperor,
Asterocampa clyton
Variegated Fritillary, Euptoieta
claudia
Viceroy, Limenitis archippus
Waiter, Marpesia coresia
West Coast Lady,
Vanessa carye
White Admiral,
Limenitis arthemis
White Peacock,
Anartia jatrophae
Zebra, Heliconius charitonia
Arctic Grayling,
Oeneis bore
Chryxus Arctic,
Oeneis chryxus
Common Alpine,
Erebia epipsodea
Creole Pearly Eye, Lethe creola
Eyed Brown, Lethe eurydice
Gemmed Satyr, Cyllopis gemma
Georgia Satyr,
Neonympha areolatus
Little Wood Satyr, Megisto cymela
Mitchells' Marsh Satyr, Neonympha
mitchelli ?
Northwest Ringlet, Coenonympha sp.
Ochre Ringlet, Coenonympha
sp
Pearly Eye, Lethe portlandia
Prairie Ringlet,
Coenonympha sp
Red Satyr, Megisto rubricata
Red-disked Alpine, Erebia discoidalis
Common Checkered Skipper, Pyrgus
communis
Dakota Skipper,
Hesperia dacotae
Horace's Duskywing, Erynnis horatius
Lace-winged Roadside Skipper, Amblyscirtes
aesculapius
Least Skipperling, Ancycloxypha numitor
Long-tailed Skipper, Urbanus proteus
Sandhill Skipper,
Polites sabuleti
Silver-spotted Skipper, Epargyreus
tityrus
Whirlabout, Polites vibex
Yehl Skipper, Poanes yehl
Yucca Giant Skipper, Megathymus yuccae
Peterson & Pyle (1993) noted that, Watching
butterflies is a visual activity; like birdwatching or birding. it trains the
eye. But we can usually approach
butterflies more closely than we can birds.
We do not need binoculars to see them well.
Most of you who are fascinated by butterflies,
if you live in the eastern or central parts of the United States or Canada,
will want to own A Field Guide to the
Butterflies. Or, if you live in the
West.... A Field Guide to Western
Butterflies. These guides offer
shortcuts in recognizing even the most confusing butterflies, using little
arrows that point to the special features or marks by which one kind of
butterfly may be known from another.
Some, like the Monarch, are readily distinguished from all other
butterflies except for one-- its mimic, the Viceroy. In the Field Guide an
arrow points to the black line across the lower wing, a line that the Monarch
lacks.
Even a person who is colorblind can
become skilled at identifying most butterflies by the shape of the wing, the
pattern, venation, and even the manner of flight; but, for most of us, color is
the first step....
Many groups of butterflies are basically
similar in color. Sulphurs are usually
yellow, fritillaries orange, blues blue, wood nymphs brown. Basic color is a useful first clue when
putting names to them, but color alone is not enough to identify most
butterflies on the species level. Most
sulphurs, for example, are yellow. You
must also look at other details to narrow your butterfly down to a Common
Sulphur, a Dogface, and Orange Sulphur, or whatever. Nevertheless, color is step number one.
There are literally hundreds of species
of butterflies in North America.....
Some of the most familiar butterflies are those that feed on the nectar
offered by the common roadside flowers.
Parts of a Butterfly.
The diagram shows the makeup of a typical butterfly. You need to become familiar with its parts
for identification. Every butterfly has
four wings, each with an upper side (above) and an underside (below). The wings may be held in an open or closed
position, depending upon what a butterfly is doing-- basking in the sun, hiding
from predators, or courting, for example.
The colors on the wings come from scales. These are tiny shingles that cover both butterflies and moths,
setting them apart from all other insects.
Some of these scales are colored by pigments, others are shaped so they
bend the light like a prism to create iridescent or metallic colors. Because scales fall off or fade as a
butterfly ages, its colors may change somewhat. The patterns on the wings serve many functions-- camouflage (such
as false eyespots to fool predators), attracting mates, and so on. These patterns may vary from place to place
and often differ between sexes.
Peterson & Pyle (1993) refer to the
upper- and undersides of the wings; to the base, cell, tip, and margins or
borders of wings, and to forewings and hindwings. All these are labeled on the diagram. The wings and legs attach to the thorax, the middle of the body
between the head and the abdomen. On
the head are the large, many-faceted eyes, the knobbed antennae (moths have
pointed ones), and the coiled, drinking-straw tongue or proboscis. Usually the body parts are brown or black,
but they may be covered with colorful, furry scales.
Life History. Butterflies have four life stages. The adults mate and the female lays eggs, which hatch into tiny
caterpillars or larvae. These, feeding
on particular kinds of host plants, grow and shed their skins. Finally, out comes the chrysalis or pupa. Within this case, one of the greatest
miracles in nature takes place as the larval material rearranges itself to
become the adult butterfly. When it is
ready, the butterfly emerges, spreads and dries its wings, and begins the cycle
once more.
Identification.
Just like birds, most butterflies possess field marks-- special features
that will help you in telling them apart.....
Other facts-- such as locality, plant association, and flight period--
help in identification as well.
Spotting Butterflies.
First you must find butterflies.
The most important factor is sunshine.
While some butterflies come out on cloudy days, most are sun worshipers. Different species fly at different times,
from early spring to late autumn, and a few even fly in midwinter as long as
the days are sunny and warm.
Butterflies seek flowers, so you must do the same. Not all gardens and wildflowers have nectar
that is equally attractive to butterflies, so you will want to learn which
flowers in your area are their favorites.
Phlox, thistle, milkweed, butterfly bush, and dandelions are always
good. Butterflies also love tree sap,
rotting fruit, carrion, and animal scat.
Damp patches of sand or mud attract butterflies-- swallowtails,
sulphurs, blues, and skippers are avid mud-puddlers. When you can identify the plant on which the butterfly's
caterpillar feeds, you have another good clue to finding it.
Having once located butterflies, you
then need to approach them ever so gently.
Move slowly and make no quick movements. This way you can creep very close-- close enough to take a
butterfly onto your finger or to observe it with a hand lens. Binoculars are useful for spotting
butterflies that are too high, far, or wary to approach.
Butterfly Diversity. The word diversity refers to how many different
kinds there are. In North America,
butterflies are about as diverse as birds, much less so than flowers. Most that accompany this section are common
species. Others are especially
beautiful or interesting for their natural history. Their colors and patterns range from brilliant and striking to
soft and simple.
Scientists don't all agree on how many
butterfly families there are. Within
the brush-footed family there are several groups that others consider to be
separate families. Regardless of family
names, you will quickly see how all longwings fit together but differ from
fritillaries, for example. It is more
important to get to know the butterfly itself as a living creature than to
worry about classification. With common
sense and open eyes, you will gain a feel for evolutionary relationships among
butterflies. Observing them and
coloring their pictures are useful ways of getting started.
Butterfly
Conservation and Enjoyment. Many
butterflies can live only in certain places..... If those places are destroyed, the butterflies die out.
.....several endangered species that prove this point-- Schaus' Swallowtail,
Atala, Mitchell's Marsh Satyr, and the Dakota Skipper. Rarities like these should be collected
sparingly, if at all. But for the most
part, it is habitat destruction rather than collecting that threatens rare
butterflies. If you go on to study
insects in depth, you will probably form a collection. With care and common sense, insect
collecting need not be damaging and it is necessary for the progress of
entomology (the scientific study of insects).
But most butterfly lovers would prefer to enjoy butterflies alive. They do so by watching, photographing, or
gardening for butterflies.
The largest and some of the most colorful
butterflies belong to the family Papiliionidae, which includes the
swallowtails. Most swallowtails have
tails on their hind wings that serve to distract birds from the butterfly's
body. The family also includes the very
unique waxy white and red-spotted parnassians, which live in mountains of the
northern states. Swallowtails occur in
most parts of the world.
Spicebush
Swallowtail, Papilio troilus
<LEP1> (COLOR
PICTURE) (SKETCH)
This butterfly occurs in the eastern
United States, its name coming from the caterpillar's host plant. Often found in fields and gardens,
especially near woods. Here it gathers
nectar on bush honeysuckle. The velvety
black wings and body are yellow -spotted.
Two rows of bright orange spots enclose starry clouds of blue or green
scales on the hindwings.
Pipevine
Swallowtail, Battus philenor <LEP2 > (COLOR PICTURE) (SKETCH)
Small greenish spots run around the edges
of the wings. The forewings are jet
black, but the hindwings with their tails shimmer with a brilliant blue or
blue-green iridescence. The
caterpillars feed on poisonous pipevines, which give the adults an awful
taste. Birds avoid them and several
other butterflies that have come to mimic the Pipevine. The example here is on Japanese honeysuckle.
Tiger
Swallowtail, Papilio glaucus <LEP3> (COLOR PICTURE) (SKETCH-1) (SKETCH-2)
Common in every eastern city, this big
bright swallowtail prefers phlox and thistle for nectar. A similar species lives throughout the
western United States. Both are
lemon-yellow with black tiger-stripes.
The underside, as shown in the drawing, has a field of blue patches
along the outer part. Orange spots run
along the outer edge of the hindwing.
Here it is on garden phlox.
Palamedes
Swallowtail, Papilio palamedes <LEP4> (COLOR PICTURE) (SKETCH-1) (SKETCH-2)
This species is especially abundant in
the southeastern woods of the United States.
Palamedes has very broad wings enabling it to fly well. The lower surface is generally dark brown
with yellow spots. A row of orange
chevrons crosses the hindwing, each lined with brilliant blue. Orange-red spots edge the wing to below the
long, rounded tail.
Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes <LEP5> (COLOR PICTURE) (SKETCH)
This is the largest butterfly in North
America, reaching almost 6 inches across.
The huge, saddled caterpillar, known as the Orange Dog, feeds on
citrus. It resembles the dropping of a
bird, so that predators usually avoid it.
The wings are mostly black with yellow bands above, yellow with black
bands below. Both sides have an orange
spot near the tip of the body, with blue crescents. Two Giants are shown feeding on the nectar of lilac.
Zebra
Swallowtail, Eurytides
marcellus <LEP6> (COLOR PICTURE) (SKETCH)
This species has the most pronounced tail
of all North American swallowtails.
Black stripes alternate with creamy white bands, and a scarlet streak
crosses the middle of the hindwing. A
pair of red spots, then two blue ones, lead down to the long tail. This striking butterfly is found only where
pawpaw grows as the larvae feed on this plant.
Anise Swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon <LEP7> (COLOR PICTURE) (SKETCH)
This species and its relative differ from
the Tigers by having yellow bands across black wings instead of black stripes
on yellow. Blue spots rim the
hindwings, leading down to the black-pupilled orange spot inward from the black
tails. Anise Swallowtails commonly seek
mates on mountaintops.
Two-tailed
Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio
multicaudata <LEP8> (COLOR PICTURE) (SKETCH)
It sports a pair of tails on each
hindwing. The bright yellow wings and
abdomen carry narrow black stripes. A
field of blue liens inside the marginal yellow spots, and the two spots below
the tails are red-orange. Two-tailed
Tigers soar through western canyons where wild cherries provide nectar and
host-plant forage. The picture shows
one visiting teasel.
Short-tailed
Swallowtail, Papilio
brevicauda <LEP9> (COLOR PICTURE) (SKETCH)
This species occurs only in the Maritime
region of Canada. Like other black
swallowtails, its larval host plants are in the carrot family. Its color is very black, with yellow spots,
giving each spot an orange flush toward the outer edge. There is some blue between the yellow spot
rows of the hindwing.
Eastern
Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes <LEP10> (COLOR PICTURE) (SKETCH)
This is a common swallowtail in gardens,
meadows and wetlands of the Rockies.
Bright orange spots parallel the yellow spots below, with clouds of blue
scales between them. Only the corner spot
near the body is orange above. It
occurs commonly in gardens around carrots.
Schaus'
Swallowtail, Papilio aristodemus <LEP11> (COLOR PICTURE) (SKETCH)
Sometimes called the Ponceanus Swallowtail,
it is an endangered species.
Destruction of its tropical hardwood hammock habitat in Florida has
brought it near extinction. Efforts
have been made to save it. The general
color below is mustard yellow with brown bands. The large patch on the hindwing is rusty-red, lined by sky-blue
on its outer edge. It is shown feeding
on nectar of red hibiscus.
Old
World Swallowtail, Papilio machaon <LEP12> (COLOR PICTURE) (SKETCH)
Mostly an arctic butterfly in North
America, it is common in Europe and Asia.
The black wings have broad yellow bands and are peppered with yellow
scales near the body. A row of blue-scaled
patches runs around the hindwing above the black tails, ending in a large
orange spot that is rimmed with black and capped with blue. Also called Artemisia Swallowtail
Oregon Swallowtail, Papilio bairdii oregonia <LEP13>