Mourning Cloak

Here's a butterfly that you might be able to see this time of the year or earlier, a Mourning Cloak. I found this one a little over 3 weeks ago here in NJ. Because this species can overwinter as adults, they're ready to flutter pretty much as soon as the temperatures warm up. I've heard they can sometimes be seen even in the middle of winter if we get a string of unusually warm days, though March 8 is the earliest I've personally seen one.

Another reason these butterflies can be seen this time of year is that they're not dependent on flower nectar for food, actually preferring to drink tree sap, and flowers are still a little scarce this time of year. They have to be careful though, since Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers drill holes to get sap flowing but will frequently return to their holes to gobble up insects that were attracted to the sap. The Mourning Cloak's lifestyle almost certainly puts it on the menu of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

I suspect that their unenthusiastic views on nectar are one reason we don't see this widespread species a lot. If they're up in trees drinking sap, us ground-dwellers are less likely to encounter them. They are easy to ID though, since no other butterfly or moth in this area is brown with a yellowish fringe and bluish-purple spots.

March 18, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 186772033, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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