In Alabama, there are countless varieties of butterflies. Since it would be impossible to mention all the butterflies in Alabama in one article, we have decided to share with you today the most popular and interesting types of butterflies in Alabama.
Today, You’ll discover the characteristics and features of these different butterflies in Alabama.
Let’s go!
1. Painted Lady
Painted Lady is one of the popular types of butterflies in Alabama. Long-distance migrants like the painted lady cause the largest butterfly migrations in Britain and Ireland.
It spreads from the desert edges of North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia northward, colonizing continental Europe once more, and eventually reaches Britain and Ireland.
A common butterfly that frequents late-summer gardens and other floral locations could be it. The first adults often begin to deposit eggs around June.
Due to huge migrations from these deserts that occasionally flood other sections of the country, it can occasionally be fairly prevalent locally.
The female types of butterflies in Alabama lay a single egg, about the size of a pinhead, which is pale green, on the leaves of many different feeding plants.
The spiny caterpillars hatch after three to five days and are grayish-brown or purple-black with yellow lateral streaks and chrysalis-like characteristics.
2. Red Admiral
Big and agile, the red admiral butterfly is also one of the common butterflies in Alabama, sight in gardens.
Alabama may be home to several of these distinctive and recognized insects.
The red admiral is a medium-sized butterfly with dark wings, red streaks, and white markings. It is sometimes referred to as the red admirable.
Its wingspan is approximately two inches. This butterfly’s head is black with white spots at the tip.
The winter form is smaller and paler, whereas the summer form is larger and livelier with an uninterrupted forewing band.
These types of butterflies in Alabama soar swiftly and wildly. Males wait for females on ridgetops in the late afternoon.
Females lay their eggs one at a time on the tips of host plant leaves.
3. Monarch
Alabama is home to the monarch butterfly, which is the most recognizable.
The female caterpillars eat flowers and leaves while laying separate eggs beneath the host leaves.
Adults migrate thousands of kilometers south from August to October to hibernate near the California coast and central Mexico.
Several people spend the winter on the southern Gulf or Atlantic coast.
These butterflies in Alabama stop along the way to eat flower nectar, and at night they congregate at roosts.
The male’s upper side is bright orange with wide, black borders and dark veins, while the back wing has a region covered in small scales.
The upper body of females is an orange-brown color with wide, smeared black borders and veins.
4. American Lady
The American lady butterfly is one of the different types of butterflies in Alabama.
The upper surface of this species is irregularly patterned in brown, yellow, and orange.
Their forewings have a dark apical spot, a small white patch on the orange field underneath the patch, and a white bar around the periphery.
The underside of the hind wing has two noticeable eyespots that can be used to identify this butterfly.
The summer form is larger and has more vibrant colors than the winter version, which is more diminutive and subdued.
In the afternoons, males nap on hillsides or, in the absence of hills, on low vegetation. Females lay one egg at a time above the host plant’s leaves.
5. Viceroy
Viceroy butterflies and monarch types of butterflies in Alabama are commonly mistaken for each other.
With the exception of a lengthy row of white dots in the black marginal strip and a black band spanning the hindwing, the viceroy’s orange and the black upper side is quite similar to that of the Monarch (Danaus plexippus).
When there aren’t many flowers around the season’s beginning, viceroys eat aphid honeydew, carrion, manure, and decomposing fungi.
The following generations typically consume flowers more regularly, favoring hybrid species, including Canada thistle, aster, goldenrod, joe-pye weed, and shepherd’s needle.
They can be found in a variety of locations, including the edges of lakes and marshes, willow stands, valley bottoms, damp meadows, and vegetation along highways. Caterpillars emerge from their eggs.
6. Hackberry Emperor
Hackberry butterflies flutter quickly and erratically throughout Alabama.
They can be seen upside down, lying on tree trunks. Males sit on tall structures in sunny areas to watch for females.
The young caterpillars share nourishment while clusters of eggs are laid. For the winter, caterpillars gather in groups and hibernate inside rolled-up dead leaves. The top of them is a reddish-brown color.
On the forewing cell are a submarginal eyespot, a ragged row of white dots, a solid black line, and two distinct black spots.
Along with towns and forested roadside areas, hackberry butterfly habitats include woodland streams, meadows, and riverbanks.
7. Mourning Cloak
The mourning cloak is also on our list of types of butterflies in Alabama.
Adult Alabama mourning cloak butterflies that overwintered lay their eggs the following spring.
In the afternoons, the males perch in sunny apertures to wait for appropriate ladies. Around the host plant’s branches, clusters of eggs are positioned.
The caterpillars pupate and erupt as adults in June or July. The entire life of a caterpillar is spent in a social web where they all eat fragile leaves.
The adults feed briefly before going dormant until the fall, when they emerge to feed and gather energy for hibernation.
Some adults move to the South in the fall. Tree sap, especially oak tree sap, is preferred by mourning cloaks.
They consume sap by going down the trunk and working their way up. They occasionally eat flower nectar, but they also graze on it.
8. Pearl Crescent
Next to discuss on our list of types of butterflies in Alabama is the stunning butterfly known as the pearl crescent after that.
Male pearl crescents frequently have black antennal knobs.
Small black marks can be seen running across the postmedian and submarginal sections of their top region, which is orange with black borders.
Under the hind wing of pearl crescents is a white crescent with a black border. The undersides of the spring and fall broods’ (form marcia) hindwings are speckled in gray.
You can find these butterflies in Alabama in open areas, including pastures, road borders, bare lots, fields, and open pine forests.
9. Question Mark
A question mark appears if you spot a magnificent orange and black butterfly with slanted wing borders and short, tail-like extensions.
Under their wings, there are dark tones. Both the hoary and eastern comma butterflies are similar to it.
The question mark encompasses the eastern two-thirds of the country, from North Dakota through Texas and east to the Atlantic coast.
This butterfly is frequently seen in suburban areas, parks, wetlands, and damp forests.
Adults who hibernate in the winter might revive on bright, sunny days in warmer climates.
The apparent question mark created by a silver curved line and neighboring dot gives this species its name.
10. Common Wood Nymph
Did you know there are up to 45 species of common wood nymphs in the United States? This makes them a very well-liked butterfly.
The Common Wood Nymph is abundant in Alabama’s meadows, fields, and forests from May to October.
Furthermore, among other environments, you can find them in salt marshes, farms, and pastures.
These butterflies in Alabama often lay their eggs from June to the beginning of September, making it likely that they will have more than one generation in a season.
11. Common Buckeye
The common buckeye is next on our list of types of butterflies in Alabama. The upper side of the Junonia coenia (common buckeye) butterfly is brown.
On the forewing are two orange streaks and two huge black eyespots. The top eyespot is the larger of the two eyespots on the hindwing, with a magenta crescent.
Buckeyes prefer large, sunny areas like fields and clearings. When they detect motion approaching, they fly quickly while being alert and nervous.
Since it cannot survive in subfreezing temperatures, it quickly migrated northward in the spring to much of the United States and southern Canada.
As people move south in the fall, the population increases. They are found on several nectar plants, such as Hydrangea, Butterfly Bush, and Zinnia.
12. Easter Comma
Ending our list of types of butterflies in Alabama is the eastern comma (Polygonia comma).
It is found mostly in the Eastern United States, Northeastern Texas, and Southern Canada.
Its affection for hop leaves has earned it the moniker “Hop Merchant.”
It differs from the related question mark butterfly by having a silver “comma” on its back wings that resembles tree bark.
It is also smaller. It appears orange from above with deep brown patterns and markings.
The hoary and the eastern comma are similar in size and look. Examples of hosts include hop vines, elm trees, and artificial nettles. One of the favored nectar plants is the Butterfly Bush.
