Mourning Cloak

Naming

Other older names for this species include Grand Surprise and White Petticoat. A powerful flier, this species is sometimes found in areas far from its usual range during migration.

Distribution

The mourning cloak butterflies are distributed broadly around the world. They are commonly found in North America and northern Eurasia, as well as in Mexico. Mourning cloak butterflies are prevalent throughout North America. They can usually be found in hardwood forests, though they have been found in virtually all habitats.

They may also be found as far as the northern part of South America, though they are typically not seen as frequently in southern states such as Florida, Louisiana, or Texas. They are occasionally seen in the more temperate places in Asia, and a few have even been seen in Japan. However, the mourning cloaks tend to be found predominantly in cold, mountainous areas.

Status

Mourning cloak butterflies are protected by law in Switzerland and Austria, though they generally have an increasing trend regarding population density in Finland. They also assume "safe" status in the Czech Republic. In general, the mourning cloak butterflies find areas that have experienced fuel breaks to be more inviting, presumably because the fuel breaks increase the amount of open space and clearings available to the butterflies, which is a more ideal habitat for these butterflies to live in.

Reproduction

Mourning cloak eggs are first laid a pale yellow. These eggs can also be a pale olive-green bordering yellow. Upon further development, the eggs will become red, and finally black, throughout their maturation prior to hatching. The eggs are generally 0.7 by 0.9 mm in size.

The caterpillars are just as striking, with black bodies and a line of red dots running down the back, and dark red legs. The body is covered with black spines, white dots converging on the ends of all the spines. The mourning cloak caterpillars can grow to be up to two inches in length.

Food

The caterpillars will begin to eat the leaves of the primary host plants upon hatching. They eat a larger variety of primary host plants, such as willow and black willow, American Elm, hackberry, hawthorns, wild rose, and poplar. Upon hatching, Mourning Cloaks are insatiable throughout their development as caterpillars.

Defense

An anti-predation mechanism the mourning cloaks have employed as adult butterflies is camouflage. To do this, the butterflies fold their wings back when attached to trees as their folded wings will provide camouflage against the dark backdrop of the trees.

An additional anti-predation tactic used by the mourning cloaks is to join together with other butterflies in a perch and fly menacingly towards their attackers—most often birds or other butterflies.

Further defense mechanisms include loud clicks when the mourning cloak flies away from a predator.

To protect themselves from the cold weather of their habitats, mourning cloaks will find areas under direct sunlight. This behavior, in conjunction with their darkly-colored wings, allow for maximum heat absorption.

Newly hatched mourning cloak caterpillars can display selfish behavior, such as siblicide, by eating non-hatched eggs. The larvae also group together for the duration of their development, preventing some predation by numbers. The larvae and pupae can also respond to disturbances by twitching simultaneously – this may be performed as a defense mechanism.

Migration

Mourning cloak butterflies are seen throughout the year because they do not participate in long-distance migration. Instead of migrating, there is evidence that mourning cloak butterflies exhibit overwintering. This one location is where the butterflies will hibernate during the winter. Typical locations of overwintering include tree cavities and underneath loose tree bark. This process is advantageous for the butterflies because they are able to immediately start mating in the spring, rather than having to migrate back prior to mating. They are often one of the first butterflies seen in the spring.

Cultural

The poem "Unconscious came a beauty" by May Swenson mentions the Mourning Cloak – a butterfly that makes her pause and think, while writing. The poem is also a word-picture or iconograph – the lines are laid out to look like a butterfly. In the Doomspell Trilogy by Cliff McNish, Camberwell Beauties are the main icon of the baby Yemi. They act as his protectors and guides and Yemi's magic enlarges them to the size of cats.