Appearance: Above, mostly orange with heavy unbroken dark mark on inner part of forewing and black forewing tips with bold white spots. Below, hindwing mottled brown and white with prominent veins and submarginal row of four yellow-ringed, blackish-blue spots. The underside of forewing is similar to upper surface.

Wingspan: Medium; 1 7/8 to 2 1/2 inches.

Habitat: Very much a generalist showing up everywhere from plains to the alpine areas in the course of a season. They are a migratory butterfly which flies into this area in the spring from the southwest and can stay until fall but cannot survive our harsh winters.

Flight Times: May through September; one to three broods.

Larval Foodplant: Often lays eggs on species of thistle, but other plants such as mallow and legumes have been used. Throughout its range, over 100 host plants have been noted.

Did You Know…
Next to the Monarch this is one of the most commonly seen and recognized butterflies. Truly a ”Cosmopolitan Butterfly” seen on all continents except Antarctica and the only butterfly ever seen in Iceland (Pyle, 1981).

Species Gallery (click to enlarge)

Return to Butterfly Families page

Next species

Last species