Animal
Mourning cloak
Nymphalis antiopa
A large (3–4 inch wingspan) butterfly with deep maroon-purple wings edged in cream-yellow and lined with blue spots — striking and distinctive in flight. Notable for being one of the very few North American butterflies that overwinters as an adult, hidden in tree-bark crevices or under loose bark. On warm winter days mourning cloaks may emerge briefly to fly — sometimes the year's first butterfly seen on Staten Island, in February or March. Long-lived for a butterfly: 10–12 months as adults.
Scientific
Nymphalis antiopa is a large butterfly with a 3–4 inch wingspan. Deep maroon-purple-black wings with a cream-yellow border and a row of blue spots inside the border. Distinctive in field — among the larger and more memorable native butterflies.
Notable life cycle: one of the few North American butterfly species that overwinters as an adult. Most butterflies overwinter as eggs, larvae, or pupae; mourning cloaks find sheltered crevices (under loose bark, in hollow trees, in unheated buildings) and enter freeze-tolerant dormancy. They emerge on warm days even in winter, then return to dormancy when cold returns.
This means mourning cloaks have an exceptionally long adult lifespan — 10–12 months — versus the ~2-week adult lifespan typical of most North American butterflies. Adult activity is bimodal: late winter / early spring (overwintered adults) and late summer (newly-emerged adults that overwinter to next spring).
Larvae feed on willows, elms, hackberry, poplars, and other native trees. Adults feed primarily on tree sap and rotting fruit; less interested in flower nectar than most butterflies.
On Staten Island
Year-round on the borough. Among the first butterflies seen in late winter — sometimes flying on a 50°F February day. Greenbelt, [[mount-loretto-unique-area|Mount Loretto]], [[conference-house-park|Conference House Park]], and any borough site with mature trees and abundant deadwood support populations. The species’ overwintering strategy makes it a useful example of how borough wildlife survives the cold season.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Member of: [[animal]]
- Contained by: [[staten-island]]
Sources
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Lepidopterists’ Society species accounts
- Long-term Nymphalis overwintering-adult ecology literature
Rooted in life.
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