A PORTLAND PARKS POCKET GUIDE COMMON WOOD NYMPH ISABELLA TIGER MOTH BUTTERFLY OR MOTH? Cercyonis pegala Wingspan: 13/4 - 3” Pyrrharctia isabella Butterflies and moths are both members of the insect order Lepidoptera, Wingspan: 13/4 - 21/2” which means “scaly wings.” They both live as caterpillars and undergo These very common butterflies are complete metamorphosis to become winged adults. Though similar, some usually found in open, grassy areas You probably know this moth important differences distinguish them: where they are tempting targets better in its larval state: the fuzzy black- club-like tips tapered; sometimes feathery 15 for hungry birds. As a defense, and-orange woolly bear caterpillar. The cater- ANTENNAE they flash their prominent forewing pillars find dark, sheltered places to hibernate BUTTERFLY MOTH Butterflies “eye spots” to make a bird think it during the winter and emerge in spring to spin and Moths has disturbed a reptile. Males hunt their cocoons. Adult moths are orange and wings PORTLAND for mates with a flight that dips in have sparse black spotting. Paler hindwings may to expect in caterpillar and out of the vegetation. Caterpillars have a rosy tint in females. ACTIVE hatch in the late summer, but hibernate during day usually at night until spring. RED-SHOULDERED CTENUCHA MOTH WINGS Ctenucha rubroscapus Wingspan: 1 1/4 - 11/2” resting wings held resting wings upright or open folded over back Pronounced “ten-OOCH-ah,” this boldly colored COLOR CINNABAR MOTH often bright often drab Tyria jacobaeae Wingspan: 11/4 - 13/4” moth is strictly a species of low elevations. Look for reddish-orange head and “shoulders,” metallic This European species was released in blue abdomen, and smoky black forewings with Butterflies are important pollinators Oregon to help control tansy white tips. You may find it in wet meadows and Bring back the pollinators! for many kinds of plants. Here are two ways you can help pollinators thrive: ragwort, an exotic noxious weed. marshes where its caterpillars feed on grasses. The moth’s caterpillars feed on Grow pollinator-friendly flowers, trees, and shrubs with over- the leaves of the ragwort, which lapping bloom times to support pollinators from spring through fall. are highly toxic to livestock and deer. MORNING GLORY PLUME MOTH Emmelina monodactlya Wingspan: 3/4 - 11/8” Bright coloration lets predators know that Avoid insecticides as they can be especially harmful to butterflies the caterpillars taste bad as a result of feeding on Instead of having membranes connected by a and other pollinators. poisonous plants. Adult moths, with their bold network of tubular veins, the wings of this black and red coloring, are easy to identify. unusual moth consist of feathery plumes. The plumes are hidden when the moth is For more information: at rest, making it resemble a “T.” Look for www.bringbackthepollinators.org it in waste areas, gardens, and near homes. www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/ee caterpillar Brochure design, illustrations, and icons by Matt Strieby, Newleaf Design. Butterfly and moth descriptions written by Matt Strieby. ANISE You might spot this small WOODLAND SKIPPER PAINTED LADY CABBAGE WHITE butterfly in a woodland, field, Ochlodes sylvanoides Wingspan: 1 - 11/4” Vanessa cardui Wingspan: 2 - 27/8” Pieris rapae Wingspan: 11/2 - 21/4” SWALLOWTAIL or garden, perched on a flower Papilio zelicaon and sipping nectar. Upper sides Look for this showy butterfly in open Often mistaken for a moth, these Wingspan: 21/2-3” are orange with toothed brown areas like fields and gardens. They European imports are the white borders along wing margins. are strongly patterned overall with butterflies you often see flutter- Males have elongated black spots orange and black and have prominent ing about in your garden. Uppersides (stigmas) on their forewings. Under- white markings on their forewings. Cardui have black forewing spots: one spot on caterpillar sides are orangish to yellowish-brown means “of thistles,” a reference to the plants each wing in males and two in females. Their with lighter spots. on which their spiny caterpillars feed. In larvae can be serious garden pests. Look for yellow wings with prominent black margins and red “eye spots” some years, Painted Ladies migrate north near the tails. The black “pupils” are centered in the spots and not connected by the billions from warmer areas in the to the hindwing margins. A swallowtail’s characteristic hindwing tails SPRING AZURE southern U.S. MYLITTA CRESCENT are a defense against a bird looking for its next meal: they detach easily if Celastrina ladon Wingspan: 7/8 - 1” Phyciodes mylitta Wingspan: 11/8 - 11/2” grabbed by a beak. Anise Swallowtails can be found in many open areas like You may find these common butterflies in the Equally at home in both rural and urban vacant lots and fields as well as along roads and in gardens. woods, flocking around wet spots along settings, you will find this common caterpillar paths. The tops are iridescent blue and butterfly in meadows, fields, vacant females have black along the forewing lots, and parks. Females have bold WESTERN TIGER SWALLOWTAIL RED ADMIRAL black and orange patterning with margins. Undersides are pale bluish-gray Vanessa atalanta Wingspan: 13/4 - 3” Papilio rutulus with distinctive “chevron” markings along white “scallops” along the wing Wingspan: 21/2 - 31/2” the wing edges. Azures are among the first This butterfly is found margins. The similar-looking males are butterflies to appear in spring. throughout the northern more delicately patterned. Large size and distinctive hemisphere but is not common “tiger stripes” on the locally. To spot one, look in moist forewings make this butterfly EASTERN TAILED-BLUE OCHRE RINGLET Cupido comyntas* Wingspan: 7/8 - 11/8” areas: along streams and in shady Coenonympha tullia Wingspan: 11/4 - 11/2” stand out. Look for these stately woods, as well as in parks, gardens, Look for narrow tails trailing from each insects in wooded areas near and other well-watered areas. The Look for this common yellowish-orange hindwing and orange spots along the streams as well as in suburbs and upperside is dark brown to black with butterfly in grassy, open areas like hindwing margins. Males are iridescent parks. Caterpillars feed primarily on red-orange bands. White marks on fields and meadows. Undersides of blue with black wing margins; the smaller willow and cottonwood leaves and have the forewings are similar to those of the forewings are browinish-orange or females are darker and turn brown during conspicuous yellow and black spots that the Painted Lady. Adult Red Admirals ochre. Butterflies east of the Cascade summer. Most common in the eastern mimic snake eyes. hibernate during winter in mild Range have prominent underwing eye spots U.S., they can also be found here in climates like Portland’s. that local ringlets lack. Males patrol the tops of grasses caterpillar open, sunny places. caterpillar in a bobbing flight, looking for mates. *The similar Western Tailed-blue (C. amyntula) is larger and has paler undersides.