MOURNING CLOAK BUTTERFLY

Nymphalis antiopa

Mourning Cloak Butterflies are a species of butterfly native to much of North and South America and Eurasia. Adults lay their eggs on trees, mainly willows, elms, and poplars. The caterpillars grow up together in self-spun webs, feeding on the leaves of host plants on which they were born. Adult Mourning Cloaks eat tree sap and rotting fruit, and also sometimes feed on mud, dung, and flower nectar. They are eaten by many larger animals such as birds, amphibians, mammals, dragonflies, and reptiles, as well as several species of insects, both parasitic and egg-eating.

1. Butterfly FAQ https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/butterflies/butterfly-faq. Accessed 5 April. 2023
2. Mourning Cloak | Department of Entomology. https://entomology.umn.edu/mourning-cloak. Accessed 21 Feb. 2023.
3. Mourning Cloak - Nymphalis Antiopa (Linnaeus). https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/mourning_cloak.htm#top. Accessed 21 Feb. 2023.
4. Mourning Cloak Revisited. https://uwm.edu/field-station/mourning-cloak-revisited/ Accessed 5 April. 2023.