Items15The creator’s order
  1. 1Monarch butterflyMonarch butterflyBlack veins divide the monarch’s orange wings into long panels. Caterpillars eat milkweed leaves, including common milkweed in parts of the East and showy milkweed in parts of the West. Swamp milkweed is another host where it grows in naturally damp ground.0
  2. 2Papilio glaucusPapilio glaucusAn eastern tiger swallowtail usually shows black stripes on yellow wings, though some females are dark. The caterpillars use leaves of trees such as tulip poplar and wild black cherry. Watch the trees as well as the flowers when adults visit an eastern garden.0
  3. 3Papilio polyxenesPapilio polyxenesThe black swallowtail has a row of yellow marks along the margins of dark wings and some blue near the hindwing tails. Its caterpillars can feed on dill, parsley, and carrot leaves, making an herb or vegetable bed a likely place to spot them.0
  4. 4Vanessa carduiVanessa carduiPainted ladies have orange markings on dark wings and several small eyespots under the hindwing. Caterpillars can live on many plants, including native thistles and some mallows. A leaf loosely drawn together with silk can conceal a developing caterpillar.0
  5. 5Vanessa atalantaVanessa atalantaA red-orange band cuts across each dark forewing of the red admiral. Caterpillars use plants in the nettle family, including wood nettle and false nettle. Check those leaves for feeding damage and small folds that can hide a caterpillar.0
  6. 6Nymphalis antiopaNymphalis antiopaThe mourning cloak’s dark wings are edged with a pale border and a row of blue dots. Its caterpillars feed together in groups when young and use trees such as black willow, American elm, and paper birch.0
  7. 7Junonia coeniaJunonia coeniaThe common buckeye’s oversized eyespots stand out when it opens its wings on bare ground. Its caterpillars use low plants, including some plantains, frogfruits, and false foxgloves. The plants can be easy to overlook beneath the flowers that attract adults.0
  8. 8Gulf fritillaryGulf fritillaryLook beneath the orange wings for bright silvery spots. Gulf fritillary caterpillars feed on passionflower vines, including maypop in much of the Southeast. Eggs and caterpillars on the fresh growth tell you the vine is serving as a nursery.0
  9. 9Epargyreus clarusEpargyreus clarusThe silver-spotted skipper is brown with an irregular pale patch under the hindwing. Caterpillars use woody members of the pea family. These include false indigos in the genus Amorpha and honey locust, depending on the region.0
  10. 10Phoebis sennaePhoebis sennaeThe cloudless sulphur crosses sunny spaces in a flash of yellow. Caterpillars use plants in the pea family, especially sennas and relatives such as partridge pea. They may look greener on leaves and yellower when feeding among flowers.0