Vanessa atalanta, the red admiral or, previously, the red admirable, is a well-characterized, medium-sized butterfly with black wings, red bands, and white spots. It has a wingspan of about 2 inches (5 cm). It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. The red admiral is widely distributed across temperate regions of North Africa, the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. It resides in warmer areas, but migrates north in spring and sometimes again in autumn. Typically found in moist woodlands, the red admiral caterpillar's primary host plant is the stinging nettle ; it can also be found on the false nettle. The adult butterfly drinks from flowering plants like Buddleia and overripe fruit. Red admirals are territorial; females will only mate with males that hold territory. Males with superior flight abilities are more likely to successfully court females. It is known as an unusually calm butterfly, often allowing observation at a very close distance before flying away, also landing on and using humans as perches.
Phoebis sennae, the cloudless sulphur, is a mid-sized butterfly in the family Pieridae found in the Americas. There are several similar species such as the yellow angled-sulphur, which has angled wings, statira sulphur, and other sulphurs, which are much smaller. The species name comes from the genus Senna to which many of the larval host plants belong.
The great purple hairstreak, also called the great blue hairstreak, is a common gossamer-winged butterfly species in parts of the United States. It is actually a Neotropical species; its North American range only includes the warm-temperate and subtropical parts of that continent, and it ranges southwards almost to the Isthmus of Panama. The type specimen, however, was shipped to Europe from the Colony of Virginia, probably around the time of the United States Declaration of Independence.
Eumaeus atala, also known as the Atala butterfly or coontie hairstreak, is a small colorful butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in southeastern Florida in the United States, and the Bahamas, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands in the West Indies. Its coloration and habits are unique among butterflies within its range.
The eastern tailed-blue or eastern tailed blue, also known as Everes comyntas, is a common butterfly of eastern North America. It is a small butterfly that is distinguished from other blues in its range by the small thin tail.
The pearl crescent is a butterfly of North America. It is found in all parts of the United States except the west coast, and throughout Mexico and parts of southern Canada, in particular Ontario. Its habitat is open areas such as pastures, road edges, vacant lots, fields, open pine woods. Its pattern is quite variable. Males usually have black antenna knobs. Its upperside is orange with black borders; postmedian and submarginal areas are crossed by fine black marks. The underside of the hindwing has a dark marginal patch containing a light-colored crescent.
Glaucopsyche, commonly called blues, is a Holarctic genus of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae, found mainly in Palearctic Asia. For other species called "blues" see subfamily Polyommatinae and genus Plebejus.
Asterocampa clyton, the tawny emperor, is a species of brush-footed butterfly. It is native to North America, especially the eastern half from Canada to northern Mexico. The tawny emperor should not be mistaken for a very similar Asterocampa butterfly, the hackberry emperor, which can be distinguished by the white spots near the tip of its forewing and the black eyespot lower along the edge of the forewing.
Zerene cesonia, the southern dogface, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Pieridae, subfamily Coliadinae.
Asterocampa celtis, the hackberry emperor, is a North American butterfly that belongs to the brushfooted butterfly family, Nymphalidae. It gets its name from the hackberry tree upon which it lays its eggs. The hackberry tree is the only host plant for A. celtis and is the food source for larvae.
Castilleja attenuata is a species of Indian paintbrush, known by the common names valley tassels, attenuate Indian paintbrush, and narrowleaf Owl's-clover. It is native to western North America from British Columbia, through California, to Baja California, where it grows in grasslands and open woodland habitats.
The Appalachian azure is a butterfly in the gossamer wings family Lycaenidae. The male is light blue on the upperwing with a narrow, dark line running along the edge of the forewing. The underwing is chalky white and is dotted with small, pale dark spots. The very back of the hindwing has a row of dark spots running along the edge and contained by a faint zigzagging band. Females are similar to the males but have broad dark wing borders instead of the male's narrow ones. The adult butterfly has a 1.1–1.4-inch (2.8–3.6 cm) wingspan. It is the largest azure in the area.
Glaucopsyche lygdamus, the silvery blue, is a small butterfly native to North America.
Lupinus argenteus is a species of lupine known by the common name silvery lupine. It is native to much of western North America from the southwestern Canadian provinces to the southwestern and midwestern United States, where it grows in several types of habitats, including sagebrush, grassland, and forests.
Lupinus elatus is a species of lupine known by the common name tall silky lupine. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the Transverse Ranges above Los Angeles, and possibly also from the southernmost slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Its habitat includes dry areas in the forests of the mountains. This is an erect perennial herb reaching a maximum height near 90 centimeters. Each palmate leaf is made up of 6 to 8 leaflets up to 8 centimeters long. The herbage is coated in silvery silky to woolly hairs. The inflorescence is a long raceme of flowers, each about a centimeter long and arranged in whorls. The flower is purple or blue with a pale yellow patch on its banner. It yields a legume pod 2 or 3 centimeters long. This is a host plant to the Southern California native butterfly subspecies known as the San Gabriel Mountains Arrowhead Blue.
Aphrissa statira, the statira sulphur, is a species of Lepidoptera in the family Pieridae. The species is a medium-sized yellow butterfly, with females more pale than males. They are found from southern regions of Florida and Texas through southern Brazil and northern Argentina. The caterpillars feed on the leaves of several local host plants, while adults prefer to feed on the nectar of red or orange colored flowers. The species is most noted for their dramatic migrations in the tropical areas of the Americas. They have been the subject of many studies about how butterflies navigate and orient during migration.
Sagittaria sanfordii is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the water plantain family known by the common names valley arrowhead and Sanford's arrowhead that is endemic to California.
Cercyonis sthenele, the Great Basin wood-nymph, is a North American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
Euphilotes rita, the rita blue or desert buckwheat blue, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico. The species was first described by William Barnes and James Halliday McDunnough in 1916.
Euphilotes ancilla, the Rocky Mountain dotted blue, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from Washington south to California and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan south through the Rockies and high plains to Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and northwestern New Mexico. The species was first described by William Barnes and James Halliday McDunnough in 1918.
