The Urban Pantheist

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.