Field Guide

Butterflies and Moths

Showing 31 - 40 of 54 results
Imperial moth resting with wings out to sides
Imperial Moth
Eacles imperialis
The beautiful imperial moth is impossible to confuse with any other species in Missouri: the wings are yellow with spots and speckles of pink, orange, or rusty pale purple. Wingspan can be 5½ inches.
image of a Banded Tussock Moth
Banded Tussock Moth
Halysidota tessellaris
Adult banded tussock moths have a distinctive checkered pattern on the wings. The fuzzy, dirty gray caterpillars are more familiar, with their pencils or tussocks of longer, black and white hairs.
Ornate bella moth resting on a thoroughwort flower cluster, Meadowood Farm SRMA, Mason Neck, Virginia, August 31, 2015
Ornate Bella Moth
Utetheisa ornatrix
The ornate bella moth, also called the calico moth and rattlebox moth, is one of Missouri’s most attractive moths. The colors, however, are a warning to predators that this moth is toxic if eaten. Even spiders reject them.
Photo of an unidentified grass skipper
Skippers
About 275 species in North America north of Mexico
At first glance, skippers look halfway between butterflies and moths. They are commonly seen darting among the flowers they visit on hot summer days.
Several regal fritillaries feeding on butterfly weed
Butterflies and Skippers
More than 700 species in North America north of Mexico
Learn about butterflies and skippers as a group. What makes a butterfly a butterfly? How are they different from moths? What are the major groups of butterflies?
Great Spangled Fritillary, Wings Spread, nectaring on milkweed flowers
Great Spangled Fritillary
Speyeria cybele
The great spangled fritillary is common and easily recognized. This glorious butterfly is often seen in city yards and gardens as it seeks flowers.
Photo of a silvery checkerspot, Wings Folded
Silvery Checkerspot
Chlosyne nycteis
Black and orange above, paler below, the silvery checkerspot has a telltale wide white crescent in a brownish patch along the edge of the hindwing underside.
Photo of a Black Swallowtail, Male, Wings Spread
Black Swallowtail (Parsnip Swallowtail)
Papilio polyxenes
Most gardeners meet the black swallowtail sooner or later, because parsley, carrot, fennel, and dill are favorite food plants of the caterpillars.
Photo of a Spicebush Swallowtail, Male, Wings Spread
Spicebush Swallowtail
Pterourus troilus
Spicebush swallowtails are beautiful large black butterflies with beautiful iridescent blue-green on the hindwings. The caterpillars eat the leaves of sassafras and spicebush.
Photo of a Cabbage White
Cabbage White
Pieris rapae
A common butterfly in Missouri, the cabbage white was introduced in the 1800s from Europe and became a crop pest.
See Also
image of Caddisfly on leaf
Caddisflies
About 1,500 species in North America north of Mexico
Adult caddisflies are mothlike. Their larvae are aquatic and build portable, protective cases out of local materials, including grains of sand, bits of leaves and twigs, and other debris.
Photo of eastern dobsonfly
Eastern Dobsonfly
Corydalus cornutus
Adult eastern dobsonflies are huge and mothlike, with large wings and a weak, fluttery flight. The fiercely predaceous aquatic larvae, called hellgrammites, are well-known to anglers, who often use them as bait.

About Butterflies and Moths in Missouri

Butterflies, skippers, and moths belong to an insect order called the Lepidoptera — the "scale-winged" insects. These living jewels have tiny, overlapping scales that cover their wings like shingles. The scales, whether muted or colorful, seem dusty if they rub off on your fingers. Many butterflies and moths are associated with particular types of food plants, which their caterpillars must eat in order to survive.