Look for black dots on the wings, one for a male and two for a female. Orange Sulphur. Replace the white of the cabbage butterfly with lemon yellow to orange color and you have the orange sulphur. The sulphurs are medium-sized butterflies whose colors range from white to orange.
This species is one of the most abundant in North America, sometimes swarming in vast numbers in alfalfa fields. It is found throughout the United States and most of Canada. Its close relatives, including the common and widespread, clouded sulphur, are pure yellow above, with no trace of orange.
Spring Azure. The brilliant blue of spring azures is a wake-up call for the winter weary butterfly enthusiast. Azures are one of the first butterflies to emerge in the spring to greet the new season and are found over most of the continent. Some of the 30 other species of blues are difficult to distinguish from this one, but only the tailed blues are likely to be found in your garden.
They are darker blue above with fine tails. Mourning Cloak. The mourning cloak is another large butterfly. It is the only black or very dark brown butterfly with yellow wing edges. Because it overwinters as adults, they are another early appearing butterfly. They can sometimes be seen on an extremely warm day in January.
They will become plentiful again in mid-July. The adults do not usually visit flowers but are partial to tree sap and various decaying organic matter. The caterpillars feed mainly on willows. Question Mark and Comma. These butterflies are named for the silvery marks in the middle of the underside of their hind wings, which resemble certain punctuations marks.
This is the best-known butterfly in North America. Some butterfly species can live for many months and migrate huge distances. Other types of butterflies may only live for a few weeks. In this article, you will learn how to identify the many types of butterflies that are commonly found in woodlands and summer gardens. Butterflies fluttering around gardens are synonymous with warm summer days.
However, some people attach special symbolism or meaning to butterflies. For example, in Asian cultures, butterflies have come to mean long life or love. In some cultures, black butterflies are viewed as an omen of bad news, having a red butterfly fluttering around you can mean good news, or white butterflies can mean good luck.
Butterflies are a type of invertebrate insect with 4 wings that are usually brightly colored. These animal types belong to the class Insecta in the order Lepidoptera butterflies and moths both belong to this order. Butterflies are grouped into 6 families, and moths are in the family Hedylidae. Like all other insects, butterflies have six legs and three main body parts: head, thorax chest or mid section and abdomen tail end. Butterflies also have two long antennae on their heads and they also have an exoskeleton.
All butterflies start life as creeping caterpillars before metamorphosis. In fact most types of caterpillars bear no resemblance to the beautiful insects they become. For example, the famous orange and black monarch butterfly is a long green caterpillar with black and yellow stripes. Usually, male butterflies are identified by their slender bodies and they may have different wing markings. Female butterflies tend to have a larger rounded abdomen in comparison to male butterflies.
Also, wing markings of male and female butterflies may be different. Male and female monarch butterfly identification. Most butterflies in North America and Europe are medium-sized insects. The smallest butterfly is the Western Pygmy blue from Africa which just measures 0. It is generally easy to tell the difference between moths and butterflies. Of course, some moths are also very colorful but they have different characteristics. For example, moths generally feed at night rather than in the day time.
Also, butterflies rest with their wings in the closed position and moths generally keep their wings open when resting. Also Butterflies have thin and long antennae, whereas moths have feathery and shorter antennae. Most butterflies have thin slender antennae while moths often have feathery shorter antennae.
All butterfly species are classified by the family they belong to. Butterflies in some groups have common identifying features.
The main families of butterflies are as follows:. The Nymphalidae family has around 6, species of butterflies and include monarchs, admirals, emperors, and tortoiseshells.
Butterflies in the Lycaenidae family contain small species of brightly-colored butterflies and there are also around 6, different species. Hesperiidae , or skippers, are a family of small butterflies that often have antennae pointing backward.
Papilionidae butterflies are identified by wings that seem to have small tails on them. Pieridae is a family of butterflies from Africa that contains about 1, species. Riodinidae is a group of butterflies with interesting metallic colors on their wings. They are also called metalmark butterflies. The monarch is a popular butterfly with black and orange wings and white spots. The most iconic butterfly is the monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus with its orange wings, black veins, and white markings.
These orange and black butterflies are also found in Australia, North Africa, and islands in the Pacific Ocean. Monarchs are also famous for migrating thousands of miles. The red admiral is a type of medium-sized butterfly with black and orange wings and white spots. Red admirals are commonly found in woodlands in North American and Europe.
You will usually find these butterflies resting on stinging nettles and feeding on the appropriately named butterfly bush Buddleia. The black swallowtail is a large beautiful butterfly with black and yellow wings, and red and blue markings.
Some of the largest species of butterflies in North America are from the genus Papilio. The black swallowtail Papilio polyxenes is an especially striking butterfly in the family Papilionidae. Its wings are black with yellow markings or dots on the hind wings. There are also beautiful blue and red markings on the base of its hind wings. The large sized wings of the swallowtail butterfly are black with yellow bands and small red dot.
As its name implies, the giant swallowtail Papilio cresphontes is the largest in the family Papilionidae and it is also the largest species in North America.
Male giant swallowtails have an average wingspan of up to 5. However, you can only find 30 of them in the United States. Aside from their coloring, these butterflies are also known for having tails located in their hindwings and for being relatively larger in size. In fact, Swallowtails are the largest kind of butterflies that are found in Great Britain. Some swallowtails have blue and orange markings mixed in with their usual yellow and black colors with some having more blue pigment than yellow.
Anyway, here are some swallowtail butterflies which have prominent yellow and black colors in their wings. As its name implies, this butterfly is characterized by its pale yellow and black striped wings.
0コメント