Brush-Foot Butterflies

This is a large family of butterflies whose first pair of legs is very reduced, giving them the appearance of having only four legs. They can be small, medium or large butterflies, and many species in this group migrate. Milkweed butterflies are brush-foots, including monarchs, whose caterpillars feed on milkweed to make them toxic to birds. The group includes the Admirals, who are known for the adults preferring to eat sap flows and rotting fruit, and for the males to be seen “puddling”, that is, gathering necessary minerals from unusual sites. The brush-foots also include satyrs, small butterflies who usually have eyespots on their wings; emperors, larger butterflies who tend to favor tree sap for food, fritillaries, who tend to be orange, brightly marked butterflies, and many others.

Satyrs

Butterflies	Size of Adult	Where found	When seen	Larval plants	Interesting facts
Carolina satyr	1-1.5 inch	shady woodlands and adjacent areas	Apr-Oct	St Augustine grass, broadleaf Carpet grass, Bermuda grass	Frequents home gardens
Gemmed satyr $C:\Users\Karen\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Word\Gemmed satyr, drinking.jpg$	1.25-1.7 inch	moist woods, shady open areas	Apr-Sept	Bermuda grass and other grasses	Dances along the ground; only satyr with no spots
Little Wood satyr	1.5-1.9 inch	woodlands, clearings and forest margins	May-Sept	var. grasses, include St Augustine grass, blue grass and Orchard grass	Adults feed on sap flows, rotting fruit and dung, don’t visit flowers
Common Wood Nymph	1.8-2.8	grassy fields and meadows, open woodlands	July-Oct	Grasses, including bluegrass, Poverty Oatgrass	Feed on sap flows and flowers

Admirals

Butterflies	Size of Adult	Where found	When seen	Larval plants	Interesting facts
Red-spotted Purple $C:\Users\Karen\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Word\redspotted purple on pokeweed best.jpg$	large, 3-4"	open woodlands, adjacent gardens and fields	Apr-Oct	Cherry and willow	Pipevine swallowtail mimic; feed on sap and nectar
Viceroy	2.6-3.2 inch	pond edges, wetlands, ditches	Apr-Oct	Willows	Mimics monarchs to discourage predators

Milkweed butterflies

Butterflies	Size of Adult	Where found	When seen	Larval plants	Interesting facts
Monarch $C:\Users\Karen\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Word\monarch on zinnia.jpg$	3.5-4.0 inch	Open, sunny sites, fields, pastures, gardens	Apr-Oct	Various milkweeds	Milkweed toxins make caterpillars and adults taste bad.

True Brush-foots

Butterflies	Size of Adult	Where found	When seen	Larval plants	Interesting facts
Mourning cloak	large, 3-4"	deciduous woods and adjacent areas	Feb-May, Sept-Nov	birch, willow, elm, aspen, hackberry	Feeds mostly on sap flows and rotting fruit; adults overwinter
American Snout	1.6-2.0 inch	deciduous woods, stream corridors, woodland clearings	Mar-Oct	Hackberry and Sugarberry	Uncommon but very distinctive appearance
Common buckeye $C:\Users\Karen\Pictures\best butterflies for disc\buckeye on lantana 2.JPG$	1.5-2.7 inch	Fields, pastures, gardens, woods	Mar-Oct	Many incl. toadflax, plantains, ruellia, frogfruit	Abundant; males ‘puddle’, often seen on grass heads

Emperors

Butterflies	Size of Adult	Where found	When seen	Larval plants	Interesting facts
Hackberry Emperor $C:\Users\Karen\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Word\hackberry butterfly.jpg$	2.0-2.6 inch	rich woodlands, gardens, parks, stream corridors	May-Oct	Hackberry and Sugarberry	Adults eat sap, rotting fruit
Tawny Emperor	2.0-2.75 inch	rich woodlands, gardens, parks, stream corridors	May-Oct	Hackberry and Sugarberry	Often flies with Hackberry emperor. Note difference in spots.
Pearl Crescent	1.25-1.6inch	open, sunny areas, gardens, fields	May-Oct	Asters	Very abundant, spring individuals darker than summer
American Lady $C:\Users\Karen\Pictures\best butterflies for disc\american painted lady, ventral 1.JPG$	1.75-2.5 inch	open disturbed sites, roadsides, fields, gardens	Apr-Oct	Cudweed, Pussytoes, Sweet Everlasting, others	Very abundant,
Red Admiral	Medium 1.75-2.5'	woodlands, moist areas, suburban gardens	Mar-Oct	False nettle, nettles	Adults feed on sap flows and rotting fruit; males ‘puddle’
Eastern Comma	2.0-2.4 inch	deciduous forest, stream corridors, adjacent areas	Mar-Oct	Nettles, false nettles, Elm, Hops	Adults overwinter, hibernate in log piles, tree hollows or houses
Question Mark	2.25-3.0 inch	deciduous forest, stream corridors, adjacent areas	Jan-Dec	Sugarberry, Elm, false nettles, stinging nettles	Looks like dead leaf, very hard to see

Fritillaries

Butterflies	Size of Adult	Where found	When seen	Larval plants	Interesting facts
Variegated fritillary $C:\Users\Karen\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Word\variegated fritillary, on zinnia.jpg$	1.75-2.25 inch	open, sunny sites, fields, roadsides, gardens	Apr-nov	Violets and passionflowers	Common
Gulf fritillary	2.5-3.0 inch	open disturbed sites, roadsides, parks and gardens	Apr-Nov	passionflowers	Migrates south to Florida to overwinter
Great Spangled Fritillary	2.9-3.8 inch	open, sunny sites, fields, roadsides, gardens	Apr-Nov	Violets	More common in the mountains

Girl Scout Butterfly Air Garden

Brush-Foot Butterflies