Mourning cloak

Description:

Mourning cloaks are a fairly large butterfly with a wing span of 6-10 cm. The dark, brown wings with beige coloured edges and blue spots.

Habitat:

Spotted sunning near the Cle elum river. The mourning cloak butterflies are distributed broadly around the world. They are commonly found throughout all of North America and northern Eurasia. Mourning cloak butterflies are prevalent throughout North America. They can usually be found in hardwood forests, though they have been found in virtually all habitats.[9] They may also be found as far as the northern part of South America, though they are typically not seen as frequently in southern states such as Florida, Louisiana, or Texas. They are occasionally seen in the more temperate places in Asia, and a few have even been seen in Japan. However, the mourning cloaks tend to be found predominantly in cold, mountainous areas.

Notes:

Butterflies must be warm to fly. They need body temperatures close to ours for proper flight. Once they are flying their flight muscles usually provide enough heat to keep them going. Most butterflies bask, opening their wings and angling their bodies toward the sun, to increase their body temperature prior to flight. Basking is particularly important for butterflies that are active in early spring, like the mourning cloak. All of our spring-active butterflies have dark coloured bodies and wings to aid in this solar heating.