Butterfly Pictures and Information

Butterfly Families and Species Whites and Sulphurs (Pieridae) Cabbage White Checkered White Great Southern White Margined White Orangetip Pine White Sulfurs Dainty Sulfur Orange Sulfur Sleepy Orange Southern Dogface Tailed Orange Lycaenidae Blues Boisduval's Blue Greenish Blue Lupine Blue Reakirt's Blue Silvery Blue Spring Azure Western and Eastern Tailed-Blue Hairstreaks Behr's Hairstreak Brown Elfin Golden Hairstreak Gray Hairstreak Juniper Hairstreak Sheridan's Hairstreak Coppers Purplish Copper Brushfooted Butterflies Admirals American Snout Checkerspots Comma Butterflies Common Buckeye Empress Leila Monarch Butterfly Queen Butterfly Tortoiseshells Crescents California Crescent Field Crescent Mylitta Crescent Texan Crescent Fritillaries Great Spangled Fritillary Gulf Fritillary Hydaspe Fritillary Mormon Fritillary Pacific Fritillary Satyrinae Common Ringlet Common Wood Nymph Great Arctic Small Wood Nymph Riodinidae Metalmark Butterflies Swallowtails (Papilionidae) Anise Swallowtail Clodius Parnassian Eastern Black Swallowtail Giant Swallowtail Pale Swallowtail Pipevine Swallowtail Spicebrush Swallowtail Western Tiger Swallowtail Zebra Swallowtail Hesperiidae: Spreadwing Skippers Arctic Skipper Common Checkered-Skipper Erichson's White Skipper Funereal Duskywing Propertius Duskywing Silver-spotted Skipper Two-banded Checkered-Skipper

Butterflies are probably American's favorite insects, with wild butterfly identification studies continually gaining adherents.

Searching for butterflies can be a fun pastime becasue butterflies enjoy sunny days above 60 ^o F. Anyone who enjoys those weather conditions can get out and look for them.

This section of the website provides articles and pictures of many common butterflies and moths, with special attention given to providing field identification suggestions.

The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) suggests that the average person might be able to find up to one hundred different butterfly species within driving distance of their home. Getting pictures of those one hundred species is an altogether different matter.

The articles, Types of Butterflies, Identifying Blue Butterflies, Hairstreaks, Fritillaries and Crescent Butterflies are good starting points for those interested in field identification.

The links in the box on the right point to pictures and descriptions of specific butterfly species common in the Western and Southwestern United States.

In addition to the emphasis on species identification, the butterfly section offers other materials.

The Moth Pictures, Butterfly Clip Art, and Caterpillar Clip Art sections, for example, provide some usuable art for students.

The moth pictures album also shows that not all moths have dull colors.

A couple of additional articles address very common butterfly issues.

Battle Over Butterfly Releases
Because of the potential to wreck havoc on agricultural products, commercial butterfly breeding for release is regulated by both state and federal agencies.

How and why do butterflies get their names?
Examining the practice of naming butterflies.

Improving Rural Butterfly Habitat
Tips for increasing butterfly populations in rural areas.

New World Tropical Butterflies
New world tropical butterflies share many characteristics with their North American counterparts. A changing climate means that some species migh one day show up in the United States.

Orange Butterfly Quiz
Test you orange butterfly identification skills.

What Do Butterflies Eat?
Here's an answer to a very popular question.