The mourning cloak is a large butterfly found across nearly all of North America, with dark maroon wings, a pale yellow border, and a row of bright blue spots. Because adults spend winter tucked under tree bark, it's often the first butterfly you'll see each year—sometimes on a mild winter day—and adults can live 10–12 months, one of the longest lifespans of any butterfly. In Britain it's called the Camberwell beauty.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Wingspan 2.75–4 in (7–10 cm). The upperside is dark maroon to purplish black with a ragged pale yellow edge and a row of iridescent blue spots. With wings closed, the gray, finely streaked underside looks like charred wood or bark. Males and females look alike.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Hardwood forests
- Woodland edges
- Range
- Throughout most of the US and Canada, including Alaska; less common in the far South, such as Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. It also lives across northern Europe and Asia.
- Preferred conditions
- Most often found in and near hardwood forests, but it can turn up in almost any habitat.
Behavior
- Diet
- Adults prefer tree sap, rotting fruit, and aphid , and only occasionally sip flower nectar.
- Activity
- Adults fly whenever it's warm enough—even on mild winter days—so they're among the first butterflies of spring and the last of fall. In Illinois, they can appear on warm winter or early spring days, and new adults emerge in June–July. After emerging they rest through the hottest part of summer, then feed in fall before overwintering.
- Overwintering
- As an adult, in tree cavities or under loose bark.
Life cycle
- Larva
- Black, spiny caterpillars with white specks and a row of red spots down the back, up to 2 in (5 cm) long. They feed in groups on fresh leaves and rarely cause lasting harm to trees; they're sometimes called spiny elm caterpillars.
- Caterpillar food plants
- Willows, American elm, cottonwoods and aspens, birches, and hackberry.
- Lifespan
- Adults live about 10–12 months.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Several subspecies have been named, including N. a. hyperborea in Canada and Alaska.
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- Montana adopted the mourning cloak as its state insect in 2001.
- The British name Camberwell beauty comes from two specimens found in Camberwell, England, in 1748.
More species to explore
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