Butterflies by Group—Recognizing in the Field

There are some tips and tricks to identifying butterflies in the field, as I mentioned in my last post, "Butterflies for Beginners." Another good way to improve your butterflying skills is to learn the general characteristics of different types of butterfly. Once you've narrowed a new butterfly's ID to a basic group, finding the right species account in your field guide will be much quicker and easier. 

Spicebush Swallowtail

• Swallowtails
• Large, strong fliers
• Rounded “tails” off hindwings

Cabbage White

• Whites & Sulphurs
• Medium size
• Often fly erratically
• Usually perch with their wings closed, showing the pattern on their underwings
• Species in our area [MidAtlantic] usually have a few darker markings on a whitish/yellowish/orange background.

Juniper Hairstreak

• Hairstreaks
• Small
• Erratic flight
• Most species have thin hairlike “tails” off their hindwings, thought to be false antenna to trick predators
• Often rub their hindwings together while perched, making those tails wiggle like antenna
• Elfins
• Univoltine (single-brooded)
• Only flight is in early spring, roughly April
• Tailless
• Patterned in all browns
• Not quite as fast fliers as other hairstreaks

Eastern Tailed-Blue

• Blues & Azures
• Small
• Whitish/gray underwings, blue/gray/white upperwings
• Beware the Eastern Tailed-blue, which has tails like a hairstreak—even rubs its hindwings together just like hairstreaks do.

Great Spangled Fritillary

• Fritillaries
• Medium to large
• Patterned in oranges & browns
• Most of our fritillaries have obvious silver spots on their underwing, except for the Variegated Fritillary.

• Crescents—only one species in our area, Pearl Crescent
• Small
• Orange & black

• Checkerspots—only 2 species in our area, Silvery Checkerspot and Baltimore Checkerspot (rare)
• Medium
• Orange & black

• Anglewings
• I highlighted our two local species, Eastern Comma & Questionmark, in a “Tricky ID” blog post for my butterfly survey project.
• Distinctive shape
• Upperwing orange with black markings
• Underwing dead leaf mimic
• Silver mark on underside of hind wing- shape determines E. Comma or Q. Mark
• Fond of non-nectar food sources, but may also be seen at flowers

American Lady

• Distinctive Brushfoots
• Brushfoot—front pair of legs reduced in size and covered with hairs, often doesn’t touch perch
• Brushfooted butterflies also include Fritillaries, Crescents, Checkerspots, Anglewings. “Distinctive” don’t fit with the other categorizations though, so best to look at the silhouettes in your field guide and familiarize yourself with species photos.
• Mourning Cloak
• Red Admiral
• Painted Lady
• American Lady
• Common Buckeye
• Red-spotted Purple
• Viceroy
• Monarch

• Satyrs
• Medium size
• Brown, with eyespots
• Often have very bouncy flight
• Typically found in woodland clearings or near forest edges
• Likely eat from non-flower sources, some species will come to flowers though.

Silver-spotted Skipper

• Spread-wing Skippers
• Medium size
• Includes Silver-spotted Skipper, Duskywings, Cloudywings
• Don’t usually “jet plane” like smaller grass skippers, although they can

Sachem skipper in the "jet plane" posture

• Grass Skippers & Skipperlings
• Small
• Oranges & browns
• Note the “jet plane” posture they often assume: forewings held vertically, perpendicular to their horizontally spread hindwings
• Often the pattern seen on upper hindwing is diagnostic, so try to get looks at both the jet plane and closed postures if you can
• Several species are very similar! It’s a challenge to discern subtle differences.