The inspiration for this website on the Butterflies of the Colorado Front Range originally came from two sources: 1) Butterflies and Moths of North America, hosted and maintained by Kelly Lotts and Thomas Naberhaus of the Butterfly and Moth Information Network, and 2) Mike Reese’s Wisconsin Butterflies. Both of these websites are worth checking out.

The creators of this website, Catherine Cook, Donn Cook, and Joe Krieg, are longtime volunteer naturalists for Boulder County Parks and Open Space and have studied the butterflies of the northern Colorado Front Range area for decades. The authors have also participated in research surveys of butterflies in Boulder County for many years under the leadership of our mentor, Jan Chu. As naturalists, and not trained lepidopterists, we rely on the knowledge and expertise of excellent resources, such as the website Butterflies and Moths of North America mentioned above and the opportunity to spend time with many well-known lepidopterists who continue to guide us and confirm the accuracy of the information and images on the website. We wish to acknowledge and thank the many lepidopterists, researchers, authors, tour guides, photographers, and butterfly watchers who have been our mentors and guides over the years and who have added to our knowledge and fueled our passion for butterflies: Robert Michael Pyle, Paul Opler, Jim Brock, Roland H. Wauer, Ray Stanford, Janet Chu, and Jeffrey Glassberg. We have also learned from many other butterfly enthusiasts in the region and always appreciate their willingness to share information and photos. The continued support, advice, and contributions from others is how this website will evolve into a better resource with more accurate and complete information on the Butterflies of the Colorado Front Range.

The following sources have been our constant companions in the field and were used to develop the species pages:

• Butterflies of Rocky Mountain National Park, Leslie Angel (2005)
• Butterflies of North America, Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman (2003)
• The Butterflies of Cascadia, Robert Michael Pyle (2002)
• Butterflies through Binoculars: The West, Jeffrey Glassberg (2001)
• A Field Guide to Western Butterflies, Paul Opler (1999)
• Peterson First Guide to Butterflies and Moths, Paul Opler (1994)
• Butterflies and Moths of North America hosted and maintained by Kelly Lotts and Thomas Naberhaus of the Butterfly and Moth Information Network.
• Handbook for Butterfly Watchers, Robert Michael Pyle (1984)
• The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies, Robert Michael Pyle (1981)
• Caterpillars in the Field and Garden, Thomas Allen, Jim Brock and Jeffrey Glassberg (2005)
• AMERICAN BUTTERFLIES, Quarterly Journal of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA)
• Butterflies of the Colorado Front Range: A Photographic Guide to 80 Species, Janet R. Chu and Stephen R. Jones (2011)
• Butterflies of the Colorado Front Range: A Photographic Guide to 100 Species, 2nd Edition, Janet R. Chu and Stephen R. Jones (2020)

In 2016, the Boulder County Nature Association agreed to host the website and to work with Catherine Cook, Donn Cook and Joe Krieg to update the site. Floyd Dog Web & Graphic Design was hired to put the website on a WordPress platform.

Images: We thank the photographers who have granted us permission to use their photos for this website: John S. Barr, Janet R. Chu, Catherine Cook, Wade Curran, Chris Friedman, Harold Goerzen, Sue Hirshfield, Richard Holmes, Stephen R. Jones, Venice Kelly, Nick Komar, Joe Krieg, Karen Krieg-Clark, Leslie Larson, Ted Muller, Christian Nunes, Brian Perry, Pam Piombino, Gordon Revey, Bryan Reynolds, Ellen Shannon, Mary Jane Voogt, Glenn Walbek, and Roland H. Wauer. Future photos submitted to the website will be credited with the photographer’s name and are the sole property of the photographer (see copyright notice below).

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All photographic images on this website are the sole property of the photographers and are not to be copied or used for any purpose without the express written permission of the photographer and proper credit given.