365 Urban Species. #092: Mourning cloak

[urbpan]

Urban Species #092: Mourning cloak Nymphalis antiopa

Most butterflies live a short time, mating, laying eggs, and dying. In New England we have to wait until summer to see them in number. But the mourning cloak survives the winter, hibernating through the long cold months, and then awakening in spring. This makes the mourning cloak the first butterfly most of us see in the north. It doesn't have the vibrant colors of the monarch or the tiger swallowtail, but it has its own striking beauty.

The adults awaken from hibernation and get down to the business of mating and laying eggs. The young of the mourning cloak are black spiky caterpillars with red spots. They can feed on a variety of different tree and shrub leaves, but prefer elms, willows, poplars, and birches. In late summer each caterpillar makes a chrysalis and metamorphoses into a butterfly, and then spends almost half of its 10 month life span in hibernation.

Because the mourning cloak is active when there still may be cold days, they can often be seen basking in the sun to get energy (as in these photographs). Their dark coloration, while it gives it its romantic name, is also an aid in this process. There are few flowers available to drink nectar from in early spring, but they also make use of tree sap flowing from wounded trees. Urban mourning cloaks can also feed on food sources such as the juices of discarded fruit, and other sweet items found in the trash.

Comments

[phlogiston-5.livejournal.com]

Ooh that's one of my favorites.

I have also seen them hanging out on horse manure, presumably for moisture.

[ankhanu.livejournal.com]

Possibly heat as well. Decaying feces produces a fair amount of heat.

[artemii.livejournal.com]

there are a number of butterflies that "feed" on manure (many of the same ones [as well as some other ones] also feed on rotting/rotted fruit).

Puddling.

[marmota-monax.livejournal.com]

presumably for moisture

In truth, the butterflies are attracted to manure for the minerals it contains. The activity is called "puddling". We see hundreds of butterflies in our paddock each spring and summer, puddling on the sheep and llama manure there.

Re: Puddling.

[phlogiston-5.livejournal.com]

Cool, an army of little recyclers. I hadn't even considered that.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Whatmarmota_monax said. We see many different species doing this at Drumlin Farm, too. Somewhere out there I've seen a picture a butterfly perched on a tortoise's head drinking its tears for the minerals.

[ankhanu.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've ever seen these... but I'm also not sure that we have any butterflies that overwinter as adults. Moths, yes, butterflies, maybe not.

It's an attractive butterfly though.

[phlogiston-5.livejournal.com]

You guys have winter moth too right?