mourning cloak

not listed

N5 - Secure

S5 - Secure

not listed

Mourning cloak is a large, dark, brushfooted butterfly. It has a wingspan of 2¼″ to 4″.

Young butterflies are reddish-brown above with a wide yellow border at the outer margin and conspicuous, iridescent blue submarginal spots. The underside is dark, striated brown with a wide white border at the outer margin. Older individuals in May and June are dark brown above with a wide cream to yellow border at the outer margin and less conspicuous submarginal spots.

The caterpillar is black with much white flecking, a narrow black line down the center, 2 rows of red spots, and numerous long, shiny, black spines.

2¼″ to 4″ wingspan

Wherever host plants are found

Mid March to Mid October. One brood emerges in June or July.

This is usually the first butterfly seen in the spring because most adults overwinter. It is also one of the longest lived butterflies in Minnesota, living up to 10 months.

Caterpillars live in a communal web.

After the new brood emerges in June or July they enter a period of dormancy (estivate) similar to hibernation. They fly again in September and October.

Most adults hibernate in the winter in hollow logs, wood piles, and loose bark. Some adults migrate south in the fall.

Young leaves of mostly willow, but also plains cottonwood (Populus deltoides var. molinifera), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), American elm (Ulmus americana), paper birch (Betula papyrifera var. papyrifera), and northern hackberry (Celtis occidentalis).

Mostly oak and maple sap, but also other tree sap, rotting fruit, and occasionally flower nectar. Often found at sapsucker holes in the spring.

Sources

7, 20, 21, 24, 29, 30, 71, 75, 82.

Common

Drinking maple sap from a tap hole we drilled earlier this year

Location: Hennepin County

Location: Eagles Bluff Park, La Crescent, MN

Location: Albany MN

Drinking maple sap from a tap hole we drilled earlier this year

Location: Superior National Trail, near Grand Marais

I was astonished to see a mourning cloak butterfly flitting along Superior hiking trail north of Grand Marais today (November!)

Location: Chisholm, MN

Location: Marine, MN. 55047

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

Location: Oakdale Park

Observed adult sitting in leaf litter in open woodland on the north side of the nature center. Temperature in mid 60’s and sunny.

I was in my backyard today and saw this butterfly sunning itself. Beautiful. Didn't know what it was until I looked it up. Will it survive our cold and snowy Spring?

Good question. The next day it snowed. JG saw an early one on March 22, 2016 (below). I don't know what the weather was like that year.

Location: Roseville

Saw an adult in early this afternoon hovering over landscape bark at the base of a maple tree in our south-facing front yard

Location: Sauk Rapids

I have been seeing these in our neighbor hood all summer. We live in a swampy area with a lot of oak, popples, and willow trees.

Hello: I have one of these in a cocoon on my deck railing. Looking forward to watching it hatch.

Location: Hiawatha Park

Saw it cruising through the baseball infield at Hiawatha Park in Minneapolis.

Location: Douglas Co.

While researching what was eating my willow tree's I seen this email.  I had a quite large infestation of these yesterday.  Thought you might want to add douglas county as your sighting list.

Location: Uncas Dunes SNA