Prairie Information

Information Compiled by Joel Dunnette

Butterfly	Habitat	Flight Months*	Larval food (SE MN)	Winter
Black Swallowtail	Open areas	-mJJAs-	Umbelliferae: wild parsnip, wild carrot, parsley, dill	Pupa
Tiger Swallowtail	Woods edge	-MJja--	Cherry, aspen and other trees	Pupa
Cabbage White	Open areas	aMJJASo	Mustards, cabbage family	Pupa
Clouded Sulphur	Open areas	aMJJASo	Clover, alfalfa	Caterpillar or pupa
Orange Sulphur – aka Alfalfa Sulphur	Open areas	-mJJASo	Alfalfa and relatives	Caterpillar or pupa
American Copper	Dry grasslands	aMJJaSo	Sorrel, dock and relatives	Caterpillar
Hairstreaks (Coral, Edwards, etc.)	Flowery meadows	--JJA--	Each has specific requirements	Egg or pupa
Eastern Tailed Blue	Lawns, grasslands	-mJJAs-	Legumes	Caterpillar
Spring/Summer Azure	Wood edges, shrubs	-mJJa--	Dogwood, cherry, meadowsweet	Pupa
Great Spangled Fritillary	Grasslands, woods edge	--jJA--	Violets	Caterpillar
Variegated Fritillary	Open fields with flowers	--jjA--	Violets	Caterpillar
Meadow Fritillary	Open, moist areas	-mjJa-	Violets	Caterpillar
Pearl Cresent	Open areas	-MJJAs-	Asters	Caterpillar
Baltimore Checkerspot	Wet grasslands	--jj---	Turtlehead, plantain	Caterpillar
Question Mark	Woods edges	amjjaso	Elm, Hackberry, Nettles	Adult
Comma (Eastern, Gray, etc.)	Woods edges	amjjaso	Elm, nettles	Adult
Mourning Cloak	Open areas in or near woods	Amjjas-	Willows, aspens, birches, elm, etc.	Adult

* Code for flight months: one char for each month, April, May, June, July, August, September, October
(peak months of flight in SE Minnesota are capitalized)

Butterfly	Habitat	Flight Months	Larval food (SE MN)	Winter
Milbert’s Tortoiseshell	Moist woods edge	--jja--	nettles	Adult
Painted Lady	Open areas with flowers	-mJJAs-	Thistles and many other plants	Adult, erupts from south
American Painted Lady	Open areas with flowers	-MJJa--	Everlasting, pussytoes, etc.	Adult, erupts from south
Red Admiral	Moist woods edge, although possible anywhere	amJJas-	Nettles	Adult, erupts from south
Common Buckeye	Grasslands and weedy areas	---JA--	Snapdragons, plantains	Adult
Red-spotted Purple	Moist woods	--jJA--	Cherry, aspen, poplar, etc.	Caterpillar
Viceroy	moist shrubby areas	--JJas-	Willows, aspens, some fruit trees	Caterpillar
Hackberry Emperor	Open woods	--JjA--	Hackberry	Caterpillar
Northern Pearly-eye	woods edges, esp. near water	--jJa--	Grasses
Eyed Brown	wet meadows	---J---	Sedges	Caterpillar
Little Wood Satyr	grassy woods	--jj---	Grasses	Caterpillar
Common Wood Nymph	Grassy meadows	--jJA--	Grasses	Caterpillar
Monarch	Open areas	-mJJAs-	Milkweeds	Adult migrates south
Silver-spotted Skipper	Woods edge	--jJA--	Locust, woody legumes	Caterpillar or pupa
Other skippers	Open fields	various	Grasses and other plants	various

* Code for flight months: one char for each month, April, May, June, July, August, September, October
(peak months of flight in SE Minnesota are capitalized)

For a listing of species seen in counts in Olmsted County (SE Minnesota) see Butterfly Count Results.
Links are provided in that file for photographs and other information on each of the species

Return to Main ZVAS Chapter Page