Mourning Cloak Butterfly - Nymphalis antiopa
It’s a bit early to revisit this magnificent dark-winged insect, but I have good reason to do so. The prior posts showed specimens at rests with their wings folded up, and while the wings remain folded up, this elusive Brush-Footed Butterfly resembles a dried leaf. Very inconspicuous if you happen to perch on a branch, among leaf litter or as it feeds on nectar or tree sap. While useful to avoid predation, it means photographers get only a fleeting chance to see the scales on the wings’ dorsal sides. Looking through some of the older photos, looks like I had a lucky find on the porch with an individual who was briefly sunning before taking off. Behold: a smooth brown and black blending, yellow borders and little blue accents! What a beautiful sight! This combination of colors is quite similar to that of the Eastern Black Swallowtail (one of my favorites to photograph). If you compare the two however, there’s no mistaking which is which. Furthermore, while the Swallowtail’s males and females can be distinguished at a glance, the Mourning Cloak requires a more technical approach...unless you see it patrolling over a territory, that’s a male.
Seeing the dorsal colors of the Mourning Cloak, I see a little more credibility to the whole “resembles a Carolina Locust in flight” observation. Not to dwell on it too long, but both insects don’t even fly the same way. I guess that’s my advice to you if you see something fly by quickly with yellow borders around the wings. To further touch on the wing color of this Butterfly (and other members of the Nymphalis genus), the Mourning Cloak’s genus has a common name: the Tortoiseshells. From what I gather, they are so named for their dorsal wing colors: orange, brown and black. The Mourning Cloak falls on the dark side of the color wheel, while other species such as the California and Compton Tortoiseshells (2 North American species) prominently sport vibrant orange wings with dark borders and spots (dorsally). The Mourning Cloak seems larger than the latter two examples as well, so if you’re going Tortoiseshell hunting, watch for the smaller Butterflies; they aren’t likely to be Monarch-sized, even if they wear similarly colored wing scales. I’ve yet to find some myself, but I’ll look carefully and hopefully open a new area for the blog.
Pictures were taken on July 4, 2017 with a Samsung Galaxy S4. Next week, a second look at another pretty Butterfly that warrants more exploration.
