Field Guide

Butterflies and Moths

Showing 41 - 50 of 50 results
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.
image of a Clouded Sulphur on a wildflower
Clouded Sulphur
Colias philodice
The clouded sulphur is one of our most common butterflies, flying low over fields and lawns, from late March into December.
photo of a Cloudless Sulphur nectaring on a thistle
Cloudless Sulphur
Phoebis sennae
The cloudless sulphur is the large, clear-yellow butterfly you see flying rapidly to the southward in late summer and fall: They’re migrating!
Photo of an Orange Sulphur taking nectar from a flower
Orange Sulphur (Alfalfa Butterfly)
Colias eurytheme
One of the most common butterflies in Missouri, the orange sulphur often gathers in numbers in moist places.
Photo of a southern dogface taking nectar on a pale purple coneflower
Southern Dogface
Zerene cesonia (formerly Colias cesonia)
The southern dogface has a dog’s head pictured on its yellow forewings. It repopulates our state each year from the south.
Image of a silver-spotted skipper
Silver-Spotted Skipper
Epargyreus clarus
In a large, global family of several thousand species, the silver-spotted skipper is one of the easiest to identify in our state.
Baltimore checkerspot, perched, with wings folded
Baltimore Checkerspot
Euphydryas phaeton ozarkae
The Baltimore checkerspot is unforgettable. In Missouri it is locally abundant in the eastern Ozarks, but rare elsewhere.
Common buckeye butterfly nectaring on a flower, wings spread
Common Buckeye
Junonia coenia
The common buckeye is one of Missouri’s prettiest butterflies, but it doesn’t overwinter here. Instead, migrants arrive in late spring and early summer.
Photo of a common wood-nymph butterfly
Common Wood Nymph
Cercyonis pegala
Common wood nymphs vary by region. Some have a yellow area on the forewing containing two eyespots. Others may have the yellow area reduced to a yellow circle around each eyespot.
Forage looper moth perched on a brick wall, viewed from side
Moths
More than 12,000 species in North America north of Mexico
Learn about moths as a group. What makes a moth a moth? How are moths different from butterflies? What are the major groups of moths?
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.