August 22, 2026
On a warm, sunny afternoon in early April, when it felt like spring might be settling in for good, I went looking for Mourning Cloak butterflies. This is a butterfly with dark, reddish-brown wings that has a lacy-looking, yellow-gold edge. The wings reminded someone long ago of the traditional garments worn for mourning, and the name ‘Mourning Cloak’ stuck—but only in North America. In Britain, this butterfly is called a Camberwell Beauty, a name that originated from its discovery in Camberwell, South London in 1748.
I spotted my very first “winter” mourning cloak a few years ago in late March while there was still snow on the ground! The temperature had climbed to a balmy 65-degrees, but I still didn’t expect to see a butterfly floating languidly over a pile of snow! It seemed incongruous! Prior to that late winter day, I had no idea that some butterflies, like the Mourning Cloak, overwinter here in Michigan as adults.
Butterflies that overwinter as adults tuck themselves away in tree cavities, leaf litter, cracks in rocks, loose bark, and the crevices of unheated buildings in order to survive. When they emerge on a warm spring-like day, they feed on tree sap, particularly oak and maple sap, to regain their strength. If the cold temperatures resume, which they inevitably do, overwintering adult butterflies head back to their hiding places and wait for warmer weather.
Butterflies that don’t overwinter as adults spend the winter as a chrysalis, a caterpillar, or an egg. Other butterflies, like the monarchs, migrate south to find more hospitable accommodations.
When I ventured out in early April looking for a Mourning Cloak butterfly, I was pleasantly surprised to find several of them darting about! I also found a few Eastern Commas, and a tiny Spring Azure butterfly! Spring Azures don’t overwinter as adults like the Mourning Cloaks and the Eastern Commas, but spend the cold winter months as a chrysalis. In late winter or early spring, they emerge as adults, find a mate, lay eggs, and die within just a few days. I was lucky to find this one!
After finding these three butterflies so early in the season, I was hopeful that I would find even more butterflies in May. I went to a variety of nature preserves over the course of a month and did find more butterflies than I did in April, but most of them were very, very small and not particularly colorful. I LOVE finding the bigger, flashier butterflies like monarchs, fritillaries, and swallowtails, especially when they land on bright orange butterfly weed, pink swamp milkweed, lavender bee balm, yellow salsify, or the beautiful magenta-colored ironweed. It makes for a stunning picture.
The collection of butterflies I ended up with in May included a Hobomok Skipper, a Little Wood Satyr, a Peck’s Skipper, a Pepper and Salt Skipper, a Silver-spotted Skipper, a Zabulon Skipper, a Wild Indigo Duskywing, a Red-spotted Admiral, a Viceroy, an Eastern Comma, and several Pearl Crescents.
In June, I saw my first Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and my first Spangled Fritillary of the season, plus two small butterflies that were different from the ones I had seen in May: a tiny Eastern-tailed Blue, and a little Essex Skipper. They both have wingspans of about an inch!
July was my very best month for chasing butterflies! There were enough swallowtails, fritillaries, Monarchs, Viceroys, and Red-spotted Admirals to keep me happy, and there were a few I hadn’t yet seen this summer: an American Lady, an Appalachian Brown, a Coral Hairstreak, a Little Glassywing Skipper, a Northern Broken-Dash, a Northern Pearly-eye, a Tawny Emperor, and an Orange Sulphur. Whew!
August didn’t bring me any new butterflies, but I continued to enjoy the swallowtails, monarchs, and viceroys as they fluttered through the various fields of fading summer flowers where I love to ramble.
If you want to help overwintering insects like Mourning Cloaks and Eastern Commas, you can start by not cleaning up your yard too early in the spring! Leave all that leaf litter beneath your trees and in your gardens. It’s likely to contain overwintering caterpillars, eggs, or adult butterflies. You can also set up a fruit feeding station in the spring with overripe bananas, cantaloupe, or rotting fruit that will provide sustenance for the Mourning Cloaks and other butterflies that have been overwintering.
To continue enjoying these wonderful butterflies as well as other creatures, we all need to assume responsibility for maintaining as many natural areas as we can, including our own yards, and refrain from the widespread use of insecticides!
Habitat loss and the use of insecticides are killing the creatures we love—not just the ones we don’t love!
What saves them, saves us.
(Written August 2025)
(Written August 2025)
