Butterflies and Moths of Mississippi
Objectives: To introduce students to biodiversity by discussing some of the different
butterflies and moths that occur in Mississippi (easily adapted to other
states or regions).
To reinforce the students' knowledge of moth and butterfly differences by
showing them a variety of species.
Grade Level: 3rd - easily adapted to higher levels
Time: 30-60 minutes, depending on the amount of information given to the students.
Reference Web Sites:
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm (Butterflies of
the USA)
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/moths/mothsusa.htm (Moths of
the USA)
Teacher Notes to Supplement Powerpoint Presentation
Luna Moth
Adults are very strong fliers and are attracted to lights. Adults do not feed.
Deciduous hardwood forests. Common. Nova Scotia west to Saskatchewan
and eastern North Dakota; south to central Florida, the Gulf Coast, and
eastern Texas.
American Snout Butterfly
Adults perch on branches and imitate dead leaves by holding palps and
antennae downward to look like petioles. These butterflies sometimes
undertake huge migrations. Argentina north through Mexico and the West
Indies to southern United States. Migrates to central California, southern
Nevada, Colorado, and most of the eastern United States.
Cecropia Silk Moth
Adults do not feed. Successional habitats in many areas including urban and
suburban environments. Nova Scotia and Maine south to Florida; west
across southern Canada and the eastern United States to the Rocky
Mountains.
Cabbage White Butterfly
It is usually the first butterfly to emerge in spring. Almost any type of open space
including weedy areas, gardens, roadsides, cities, and suburbs. From central
Canada south through the United States (except Florida Keys, southern
Louisiana, and South Texas) to northwest Mexico.
Clouded Sulfur Butterfly
Many different open areas including fields, lawns, alfalfa and clover fields, road
edges, meadows. Alaska south through central and southeast Canada, all of
conterminous United states except much of California, south Texas, and most
of Florida.
Cloudless Sulfur Butterfly
Disturbed open areas including parks, yards, gardens, beaches, road edges,
abandoned fields, scrub. Permanent resident from Argentina north to
southern Texas and the Deep South. Regular visitor and occasional colonist
in most of the eastern United States and the Southwest.
Common Wood Nymph Butterfly
Large, sunny, grassy areas including prairies, open meadows, bogs, and old
fields. Southern Canada and the continental United States except for most of
the Southwest and Texas, southern peninsular Florida, and northern Maine.
Horace's Dusky-wing Butterfly
Open woodlands and edges, clearings, fencerows, wooded swamps, power-line
right-of-ways, open fields, roadsides. Massachusetts west to eastern South
Dakota; south through most of the eastern United States to Florida, the Gulf
Coast, and South Texas; south in the west through southeastern Utah,
Colorado, northeastern Arizona, and New Mexico.
Eastern Comma Butterfly
Deciduous woodlands; woods near rivers, marshes, swamps, and other water
sources. Eastern half of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains from
southern Canada to central Texas and the Gulf Coast.
Pink-spotted Hawk Moth
Caterpillar hosts: Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), jimsonweed (Datura), and
related plants. Adult food: Nectar from deep-throated flowers including
moonflower (Calonyction aculeatum), morning glory (Convolvulus), and
petunia (Petunia species). Tropical and subtropical lowlands, open areas.
Argentina north through Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean to the
southeastern United States, Texas, southern New Mexico, Arizona, and
southern California; strays northward in the summer to British Columbia,
Colorado, Michigan, and Maine.
Eastern Tailed-Blue Butterfly
Many open, sunny places including weedy areas and disturbed habitats.
Southeast Canada and Eastern United States west to western North Dakota,
central Colorado, and central Texas. Also ranges from southeastern Arizona,
western New Mexico, and west Texas south to Costa Rica.
Red Admiral Butterfly
Moist woods, yards, parks, marshes, seeps, moist fields. During migrations, the
Red Admiral is found in almost any habitat from tundra to subtropics.
Guatemala north through Mexico and the United States to northern Canada;
Hawaii, some Caribbean Islands, New Zealand, Europe, Northern Africa,
Asia. Cannot survive coldest winters; most of North America must be
recolonized each spring by southern migrants.
Schizura Moth
No information - scattered confirmations in Mississippi
Tulip Tree Silk Moth
Adults do not feed. Deciduous woodlands. Massachusetts east through central
New York, southern Ontario, and southern Michigan to central Illinois; south
to the Florida panhandle and Mississippi.
Goatweed Leaf-Wing Butterfly
Deciduous woods and scrub, especially along waterways; open fields, roadsides,
railroad tracks, and other places. Eastern Wyoming and eastern Colorado
south to New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas; east to Michigan, South Carolina,
Virginia, and the Gulf States.
Gray Hairstreak Butterfly
Open, nonforested sites; common in disturbed, weedy areas. Throughout
continental United States from southern Canada south to Mexico; southward
to Venezuela.
Monarch Butterfly
Adults warm up by basking dorsally (with their wings open and toward the sun).
Adults make massive migrations from August-October, flying thousands of
miles south to hibernate along the California coast and in central Mexico. A
few overwinter along the Gulf coast or south Atlantic coast. Along the way,
Monarchs stop to feed on flower nectar and to roost together at night. At the
Mexico wintering sites, butterflies roost in trees and form huge aggregations
that may have millions of individuals. Most milkweeds contain cardiac
glycosides which are stored in the bodies of both the caterpillar and adult.
These poisons are distasteful and emetic to birds and other vertebrate
predators. After tasting a Monarch, a predator might associate the bright
warning colors of the adult or caterpillar with an unpleasant meal, and avoid
Monarchs in the future. Many open habitats including fields, meadows, weedy
areas, marshes, and roadsides. Southern Canada south through all of the
United States, Central America, and most of South America. Also present in
Australia, Hawaii, and other Pacific Islands.
Painted Lady Butterfly
Almost everywhere, especially in open or disturbed areas including gardens, old
fields, dunes. On all continents except Australia and Antarctica. From the
deserts of northern Mexico, the Painted Lady migrates and temporarily
colonizes the United States and Canada south of the Arctic. Occasionally,
population explosions in Mexico will cause massive northward migrations.
Pepper and Salt Skipper Butterfly
Near streams in forest glades and edges. Nova Scotia and Maine west to
southern Manitoba; south to Georgia, north Florida, and southeastern Texas.
Mostly absent from the coastal plain.
Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly
A wide variety of open habitats, open woodland, and woodland edges. Rare
stray to Canada (s. Manitoba). Tropical lowlands south to southern Mexico.
Question Mark Butterfly
Wooded areas with some open space, city parks, suburbs, fencerows. Southern
Canada and all of the eastern United States except peninsular Florida, west
to the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, south to southern Arizona and
Mexico.
Virginia Creeper Sphinx Moth
Woodlands and brushy areas. Maine south to south Florida; west to North
Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Texas.
Southern Broken-Dash Butterfly
Openings near wooded rivers or swamps. Eastern Texas and the southeastern
United States south through the West Indies and Central America to
Argentina. Strays north to central Missouri, northern Kentucky, and
Delaware.
Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly
Deciduous woodlands, fields, roadsides, yards, pine barrens, wooded swamps,
and parks. Eastern states from southern Canada to Florida; west to
Oklahoma and central Texas. Occasionally strays to North Dakota, central
Colorado, and Cuba.
Great Leopard Moth
No information - rare in Mississippi
Summer Azure Butterfly
Various habitats including stream valleys, powerline right-of-ways, gardens.
Most of eastern and central United States as well as southern Canada.
Viceroy Butterfly
Upperside is orange and black, resembling the Monarch (Danaus plexippus),
except the Viceroy has a black line across the hindwing and a single row of
white dots in the black marginal band. Where Monarchs are rare in Florida,
Georgia, and the Southwest, Viceroys are brown instead of orange and mimic
the Queen (Danaus gilippus). Moist open or shrubby areas such as lake and
swamp edges, willow thickets, valley bottoms, wet meadows, and roadsides.
Northwest Territories south along the eastern edges of the Cascade and
Sierra Nevada mountains to central Mexico, east through all the eastern
United States.
Azalea Sphinx Moth
Nova Scotia and Maine south to Florida, west to North Dakota and Texas.
Various azalea, viburnum, and blueberry species. Flower nectar.
Gray Furcula Moth
No information
Heterocampa Moth
No information
Plusiodonta Moth
No information - very common in Mississippi
These are just a few of the species that could be presented. Others are available on
the reference web sites listed above.