Adirondack Butterflies

The Adirondack Park is home to 74 species of butterflies, as well as an unknown number of moth species. Resident butterflies include the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, Painted Lady, the Monarch, and a host of fritillaries and sulphurs.

Resident moths include the pale lime green Luna Moth, the prominently-patterned Cecropia Silkmoth, and the hummingbird-like Hummingbird Clearwing.

Create Habitat for Monarchs

Monarchs cannot survive without milkweed; their caterpillars only eat milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.), and monarch butterflies need milkweed to lay their eggs. With shifting land management practices, we have lost much milkweed from the landscape.

Please plant milkweed to support monarch populations, and their incredible migration! Planting milkweed is a great way to help other pollinators too, as they provide valuable nectar resources to a diverse suite of bees and butterflies. For a brief how-to flyer on planting and gardening, download MJV’s Gardening for Monarchs.

iPhoneScreenShotButterflyId

Butterfly Id is a field guide to identifying all the butterfly species recorded in the British Isles. It is available for the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and Android phones and tablets.

The guide has been created by professional published ecologists.

Butterfly Id will help you quickly and easily identify species, its great fun to use too. Identification can be enjoyed by the whole family, and can engage children with the natural world around them. For the enthusiast there is anatomical, ecological and taxonomic information too.

Skippers
A skipper or skipper butterfly is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. They are named after their quick, darting flight habits.


Spread-wing Skippers
Northern Cloudywing
Dreamy Duskywing
Juvenal’s Duskywing
Persius Duskywing


Grass Skippers
Least Skipper
Leonard’s Skipper
Indian Skipper
Peck’s Skipper
Long Dash
Little Glassy wing
Hobomok Skipper
Black Dash
Dun Skipper
Common Roadside-Skipper

 

Whites And Sulphurs

Whites and Sulphurs are small to medium sized butterflies.Most Whites and Sulphurs are white, yellow, and orange with some black, and some may be various shades of gray-green. Their flight is mostly slow and fluttering, but some of the larger species have quicker flights.


Sulphurs
Clouded Sulphur
Orange Sulphur

 

Gossamer-Wing
are our smallest butterflies. Gossamer-wings include the subfamilies Hairstreaks, Harvesters, Coppers, and Blues. Their flights vary from the fast, erratic Hairstreaks to the slow, bouncy Blues. They like to feed at flowers, and males like to puddle at damp ground.


Harvesters
Harvester


Coppers
American Copper
Bronze Copper


Hairstreaks
Juniper Hairstreak
Eastern Pine Elfin
Coral Hairstreak
Acadian Hairstreak
Hickory Hairstreak
Banded Hairstreak
Striped Hairstreak


Blues
Eastern Tailed-Blue
Spring Azure
Summer Azure

 

Brush-Footed
These are usually medium sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colorful wings flat when resting. Many species are brightly colored but, the under wings are in contrast often dull and in some species look remarkably like dead leaves, or are much paler, producing a cryptic effect that helps the butterfly disappear into its surroundings.


Longwings
Great Spangled Fritillary
Aphrodite Fritillary
Atlantis Fritillary
Silver-bordered Fritillary
Meadow Fritillary


True Brushfoots
Silvery Checkerspot
Harris’ Checkerspot
Tawny Crescent
Baltimore
Question Mark
Eastern Comma
Green Comma
Milbert’s Tortoiseshell
Compton Tortoiseshell
Painted Lady
American Lady


Admirals and Relatives
Red-spotted Purple or White Admiral
‘Astyanax’ Red-spotted Purple
Viceroy


Satyrs and Wood-Nymphs
Northern Pearly Eye
Eyed Brown
Little Wood Satyr
Common Ringlet
Common Wood Nymph


Prominents
Black-Rimmed Prominent

Milkweed Butterflies

Monarch