The Common Buckeye (below) is often our companion on dusty trails and is fond of of Sugarloaf basking on the warm ground. She lays her Spot and identify some of the many eggs on purple owl’s clover, common lippia, butterflies of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. and other plants.

The Mylitta Crescent (above) is a small, cheerfully colored, orange with fine black lines and pale yellow crescents along the edge of the hind wings. It lays its eggs on thistles.

This brochure covers only the most commonly photographed butterflies that Butterflies provide a gateway into the have been uploaded to natural world. Watching butterflies the iNaturalist.org website. You can sharpens your observation skills and helps contribute as a community scientist by develop your appreciation for their natural uploading a picture of any wild plant, , beauty and the plants that they fungus, or other living thing. iNaturalist’s pollinate. Butterflies are the best known community and image recognition software family of moths because of their bright will help you identify it. Every observation colors, large size, and active days. becomes part of a growing record of Earth’s The Painted Lady (above) lays her eggs on biodiversity providing data that contributes You may see different butterflies at over 300 plants including thistle, mallow, to our greater understanding of the complex Sugarloaf than you do at home. Butterflies nettles, and asters. Painted Ladies migrate web of life. iNaturalist is free and available on have a very special relationship to their and are the most widespread species of iOS, Android, and at iNaturalist.org host plants. These are the plants on which butterfly found on the planet. It takes six they lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch, generations of the Painted Lady to migrate tiny caterpillars from Mexico to Canada and back. Years emerge, eat the of heavy rainfall may create a bumper crop Pamphlet by A. Weishaar plant, and grow. The of thistles in Mexico then the butterfly’s and Dr. Dan Levitis. Photos caterpillars can only used by permission of John population booms. You may see hundreds grow by eating its Hibbard, Dr. Dan Levitis, host plants. of butterflies migrating north in a single and A. Weishaar. day looking for fresh, new thistles. Our most commonly seen and to shed its skin or is just in its tender, new skin. The Acmon Blue photographed butterfly at Sugarloaf is the Caterpillars that are obviously eating or resting (right) is a small, Variable Checkerspot (below). She lays her should not be disturbed as they can fall from blue butterfly eggs on at least 13 native host plants. their host plant. with some orange on its hindwings. If you are lucky enough to get close to a It is a little bigger butterfly, please look closely, but do not than the Silvery touch. Touching butterflies can remove the 3 Blues and lays eggs on a variety of scales from their wings. Scales are believed plants, including buckwheats and to protect butterflies by helping them to clovers. break free from spider webs by leaving only some scales behind. Scales also give the butterfly much of its color.

Observe what the butterfly is doing. Is it nectaring? Nectaring is when a butterfly sips through its proboscis— which is like a long, flexible straw. Is it The Pipevine Swallowtail (above) is a large, basking? Basking is when a butterfly sits dark butterfly that may appear black to dark still in the sun to brown depending on the lighting. The males warm itself. have a flash of blue or teal that can be seen when the sunlight is reflected off the top of When you see a their hindwings and orange spots on the caterpillar on a underside. These butterflies lay their eggs on plant, please do the California Pipevine plant. A large butterfly regularly seen here is the not touch it or California Sister (above). The Sister is a A commonly seen remove it. A very strong flyer and is frequently seen perched still caterpillar may butterfly at on oaks. Oak trees provide food for their Sugarloaf is the be in the delicate caterpillars. Another butterfly behavior instar phase where Silvery Blue (right). you may observe are butterflies on scat These small it is getting ready extracting minerals as shown in the photo butterflies are above. Can you tell which butterfly famous puddlers. survived a bite? You will find the males congregating If you have the opportunity to take a in muddy areas sipping minerals from the mud photo, here are a few tips: do not let your or wet sand. The females lay their eggs on shadow fall on the butterfly, move slowly Checkerspot caterpillar lupines and peas. taking your photos from far away and and chrysalis gradually moving closer in.