Table of Contents
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Overview
Brief Summary
North American Ecology (US and Canada)
- Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press.
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Comprehensive Description
General Description
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Distribution
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Geographic Range
The Mourning Cloak occupies an area in North America defined by the tundra line in Canada and Alaska in the north and the region of central Mexico in the south. Its range may extend further southward to northern South America, but it is not native to subtropical locales. Thus, it is usually not found in the southern regions of the states of Texas, Florida, and Louisiana. The Mourning Cloak also inhabits northern Eurasia, where some individuals may wander to England, and the temperate zones of Asia, even as far as Japan (Moucha, 1963; Pyle, 1981; Tveten and Tveten, 1996).
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National Distribution
Canada
Origin: Native
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Present
Confidence: Confident
Type of Residency: Year-round
United States
Origin: Native
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Present
Confidence: Confident
Type of Residency: Year-round
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Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) Holarctic. Occurs in virtually all of North America, except for very dry areas and the high Arctic. Overwinters successfully in most of range but perhaps not in coldest parts and may be present in winter only in some southern areas. Also extends south to Venezuela.
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Physical Description
Morphology
Physical Description
The Mourning Cloak has a wing span of 2.875 to 3.375 in. Its dark maroon wings are characterized by a ragged creamy yellow margin that is lined on the interior by bright blue iridescent spots. When viewed closely, the wings appear to be iridescent as they reflect purple highlights. A rare variation in the appearance of the dorsal side of the wings, in which the margin is wider than normal and the blue spots may be absent, sometimes occurs. This aberration is a result of the pupa's being exposed to unusually cold temperatures. The ventral surface of the Mourning Cloak is a striated pattern of gray-black outlined by a yellow wing margin similar to that found on its dorsal surface (Holland, 1910; Pyle, 1981; Tveten and Tveten, 1996).
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Ecology
Habitat
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The Mourning Cloak occupies "watercourses, sunny glades, forest borders, parks, gardens, open woodlands, and groves" (Pyle, 1981). During hibernation, it may be found "under the eaves of houses, in cellars, crevices and hollows" (Moucha, 1963).
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Comments: Adults occur in almost any kind of woods or forest and larvae are on the foodplants in or near these habitats. Females will oviposit on willows in rather open situations. In some coastal plain areas (e.g along Delaware Bay) dense mixed swamps are important hibernation areas even though there are often no breeding habits nearby.
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Migration
Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.
Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).
Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.
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Trophic Strategy
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Food Habits
The caterpillar of the Mourning Cloak feeds in groups on the leaves of deciduous trees, including the willow, elm, hackberry, cottonwood, poplar, rose, birch, and mulberry trees. The adult butterfly feeds on tree sap by landing above the flow of sap on a tree and bending its head downward to siphon it. It also feeds on rotting fruit. It very rarely feeds on flowers, but, in the summer, the butterfly may feed on the nectar of scabious and knapweed (Klots, 1951; Pyle, 1981; Tveten and Tveten, 1996).
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Associations
Flowering Plants Visited by Nymphalis antiopa in Illinois
(observations are from Robertson and Graenicher; this butterfly is the Mourning Cloak)
Aceraceae: Acer saccharum [oozing sap] (Rb); Asclepiadaceae: Asclepias syriaca [plpr sn] (Rb); Asteraceae: Aster lanceolatus sn (Gr), Eupatoriadelphus purpureus sn (Gr), Euthamia graminifolia sn (Gr); Salicaceae: Salix humilis [stam sn] (Rb); Thymelaeaceae: Dirca palustris sn (Rb)
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Hilty, J. Editor. 2013. Insect Visitors of Illinois Wildflowers. World Wide Web electronic publication. illinoiswildflowers.info, version (05/2013)
See: Abbreviations for Insect Activities, Abbreviations for Scientific Observers, References for behavioral observations
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Population Biology
Number of Occurrences
Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.
Estimated Number of Occurrences: 81 to >300
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Life History and Behavior
Behavior
- Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press.
© Leslie Ries
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Cyclicity
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Life Cycle
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Reproduction
Butterflies undergo complete metamorphosis. The first stage of this process is represented by the egg. The Mourning Cloak lays its eggs in clusters of rings around twigs. The pale colored egg is 0.9 x 0.7 mm and becomes black prior to hatching; this event reveals the second stage of the process, the caterpillar. The caterpillar can grow up to 2 in long and is velvety black with raised white dots and a row of red spots on its mid-dorsal region. The caterpillar's legs are the color of rust, and several long black spines line its body. It associates in groups. The caterpillar undergoes four ecdyses, instances in which the caterpillar sheds its skin. Each ecdysis is called an instar. A fully grown caterpillar has gone through five instars. The latitude and altitude of the population's geographic location determines the number of broods, usually two or three. The next stage is the chrysalis. The chrysalis of the Mourning Cloak hangs upside down from grass stems; the tip of its abdomen is adjoined to the leaf by a silk pad produced by the caterpillar. It may grow up to 28 mm long and its color ranges from tan to gray. It has two head horns, a "beak," and tubercles that run the length of its body. The final stage is the adult butterfly (Feltwell, 1986; Klots, 1951; Moucha, 1963; Pyle, 1981; Tveten and Tveten, 1996).
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Molecular Biology and Genetics
Molecular Biology
Barcode data: Nymphalis antiopa
There are 9 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank. Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species. See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.
-- end --
Download FASTA File
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Statistics of barcoding coverage: Nymphalis antiopa
Public Records: 9
Specimens with Barcodes: 80
Species With Barcodes: 1
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Conservation
Conservation Status
The Mourning Cloak enjoys legislative protection in Austria and Switzerland (Feltwell, 1986).
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: no special status
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National NatureServe Conservation Status
Canada
Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure
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NatureServe Conservation Status
Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure
Reasons: Widespread holarctic species.
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Threats
Degree of Threat: D : Unthreatened throughout its range, communities may be threatened in minor portions of the range or degree of variation falls within natural variation
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Management
Global Protection: Many to very many (13 to >40) occurrences appropriately protected and managed
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Relevance to Humans and Ecosystems
Benefits
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
Canada has designated the caterpillar of the Mourning Cloak as a pest that attacks deciduous trees (Moucha, 1963).
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Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
While the Mourning Cloak's function as a pollinator is minimal because the Mourning Cloak does not usually feed on flowers, it is still existent.
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Wikipedia
Nymphalis antiopa
Nymphalis antiopa, known as the Mourning Cloak in North America and the Camberwell Beauty in Britain, is a large butterfly native to Eurasia and North America. See also Anglewing butterflies. The immature form of this species is sometimes known as the spiny elm caterpillar. Other older names for this species include Grand Surprise and White Petticoat. A powerful flier, this species is sometimes found in areas far from its usual range during migration. It is also the State Insect of Montana.
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Subspecies [edit]
- N. a. antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)
- N. a. hyperborea (Seitz, 1914) (Alaska)
- N. a. asopos (Fruhstorfer, 1909) (Japan)
Appearance and Behaviour [edit]
Nymphalis antiopa has a wingspan of 62–75 mm. The upper side of the butterfly is colored in a very dark red, with a bright, yellowish border around the wings. There is a darker band with bright blue spots between the border and the dark red inner side. Sexes are similar, although the females are slightly larger.
These butterflies lay eggs in clusters around twigs of their favored food plants, in Europe, generally Grey Willow (Salix cinerea) and in North America, generally Black Willow (Salix nigra) but also other willow species, as well as poplar, elm, birch, and hackberry. The larvae feed gregariously, and are black and spiny, with fine white speckles, and a row of red spots running down the back. They disperse to pupate and emerge after about three weeks. Soon after emergence, they will disperse further from their breeding grounds in order to find food (sometimes nectar, but more commonly tree sap) to build up fat stores for hibernation, and will often enter parks and gardens to do so. They are single-brooded and hibernate as adults.
Throughout its range, this species is generally considered a butterfly of woodlands, though it may occasionally be found in drier areas such as the deserts of western North America. During migration, they may be found in almost any habitat. The Mourning Cloak was adopted as the state butterfly of the State of Montana in 2001.
Distribution [edit]
In North America, N. antiopa ranges from the northern tundra to central Mexico. It is also found throughout continental Europe to eastern Siberia and Japan. Migrants arrive in Great Britain most years during summer and autumn, but numbers are usually very low. There is no evidence that the species breeds in Britain; it is thought that mild, wet winters prevent them from surviving there for very long. The 'Butterfly Farmer' L. Hugh Newman raised thousands for release at his 'farm' in Bexley, but none were seen the following spring. Specimens stored in his refrigerator for the winter survived however.
Etymology [edit]
The North American name "Mourning Cloak" [edit]
In several European countries with Germanic languages, other than Britain, the name for this butterfly literally translates to "Mourning Cloak", such as German "Trauermantel", Swedish "sorgmantel", and Norwegian "Sørgekåpen". This suggests it is a name which came with Scandinavian or German rather than with British settlers, for whom this species would be considerably less familiar.
The British name "Camberwell Beauty" [edit]
The name originated from the discovery of two individuals at Coldharbour Lane in Camberwell in August 1748. Camberwell is in South London, about three miles south of London Bridge—in reporting this, the author Harris named the species Grand Surprise or Camberwell Beauty (Bretherton & Emmet, 1990). It has been suggested that the "pair" were stowaways on ships bringing timber from Scandinavia.
In popular culture [edit]
The poem Unconscious came a beauty by May Swenson mentions the Mourning Cloak (or the similar looking Red-spotted Purple) – a butterfly that makes her pause and think, while writing. The poem is also a word-picture or iconograph – the lines are laid out to look like a butterfly. In the Doomspell Trilogy by Cliff McNish, Camberwell Beauties are the main icon of the baby Yemi. They act as his protectors and guides and Yemi's magic enlarges them to the size of cats.
References [edit]
- "Nymphalis antiopa". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 8 February 2006.
- Asher, Jim. The Atlas of Butterflies of Britain and Ireland, Oxford University Press.
- Bretherton, R.F.; Emmet, A.M. (1990). NYMPHALIS ANTIOPA (Rottemburg). Pages 206–209 in Emmet, A.M., J. Heath et al. (Eds.) The Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland Vol. 7 Part 1 (Hesperiidae to Nymphalidae). Harley Books, Colchester, UK. 370p.
- Darby, Gene (1958). What is a Butterfly. Chicago: Benefic Press. p. 32.
- Thomas, Jeremy, and Richard Lewington. The Butterflies of Britain and Ireland, Dorling Kindersley.
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