Thanks for visiting Mississippi butterflies, where residents enjoy large numbers of butterflies flying around the lowlands and in residential areas for most parts of the year.
The Master Gardeners at the Lee County Extension Office invite residents to check out their butterfly garden. They remind visitors
A Butterfly Garden needs both nectar plants for the adult butterfly to feed on and host plants for caterpillars. Butterflies will only lay their eggs on the host plant that each variety’s caterpillars will eat.
A variety of grasses, plants, shrubs and yes, even tress is all one needs to host butterflies throughout the year. For example, the Pawpaw, an easy to grow fruit tree is also the host plant for the Zebra Swallowtail. Plant one in the yard and you get both fruit and butterflies. It’s a great deal.
This introduction to Mississippi butterflies provides general information tips. Additional pictures, videos and ID tips for additional species can be found by pressing the green butterflies button.
Mississippi Butterflies: Whites and Yellows
When it comes to Mississippi butterfly identification, wing color and patterns usually rank as the top two identification guides. Knowing that the butterfly families can often be identified by wing color also makes for easy identification.
The video at the top of the page shows an Orange-barred sulphur on Turk’s Cap. It’s one of approximately one dozen yellow butterflies in the state.
The Sleepy Orange, pictured, shows a yellow to brown color wing from the side view. If the top wing was raised a bit, it’s bright yellow color would be a nice contrast.
Finally the Southern Dogface has a bright yellow wing color. The side view in the picture also highlights the wing shape and and slight circles in the middle of the lower wing. Their larvae consume leaves from a variety of plants in the pea family, including clover. It’s no wonder they are found in residential areas around the state who have clover growing in the yard.
Dainty Sulfur
The Great Southern White, pictured, is probably the most common of the white species, apart from the ever present Cabbage White. The following list documents the remainder of Mississippi’s species.
Cabbage White Butterfly
Blues, Hairtreaks and Coppers
Identifying the butterflies commonly called blues, hairstreaks and coppers can be a bit confusing because the names do not necessarily match the wing color.
For example, a few of Mississippi blue butterflies actually show brown patterned wings at rest. The first picture shows the Ceraunus blue. Note the one colorful spot on the edge of the bottom wing. Males have a distinct blue color on the top of their wings.
A similar wing color pattern also holds for the Marine blue, that shows two colorful spots on the edge of the bottom wing.
Those clues, along with differences in wing patterns rank as better ID clues than relying on wing color alone.
Dusky-blue Groundstreak
Banded Hairstreak
Edwards’ Hairstreak
King’s Hairstreak
Oak Hairstreak
Striped Hairstreak
Coral Hairstreak
Brush Foot Butterflies
Orange wings define many of the brush foot butterflies. They tend to be the largest species in most areas and their showy colors catch the eye. The picture shows a pair of very common Queen butterflies. The top view and side view of the butterflies make for pretty good identification tools.
The picture shows a Pearl Crescent butterfly. Crescents rank among the smallest of the brush footed species. Look for them flying low to the ground.
Phaon Crescent
The Common Buckeye
The Mourning Cloak
Goatweed Leafwing
Eastern Comma
Side view Eastern Comma
Question Mark
Gulf Fritillary
Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar
Queen butterfly
Soldier butterfly
Queen caterpillar
Four different butterflies in the Vanessa genus visit gardens across the United States. Three of them go by the common name, lady. This is the American Lady
Side American Lady
Painted Lady butterfly
Painted Lady caterpillar.
Painted Lady side
Red-spotted Purple Admiral
Viceroy butterfly
Common Wood Nymph
Carolina Satyr
Northern Pearly Eye
Southern Pearly Eye
Gemmed Satyr
The presence of ten Wood Nymphs and Satyrs provides a bit of diversity in the Mississippi brush foot category. Going against the wing color trend, most have brown wings and can be identified by their wing spots.
Mississippi Butterflies: Swallowtails
When talking about Mississippi swallowtail butterflies, the Spicebush Swallowtail gets top billing as the official state butterfly. It’s also the most common swallowtail species. Northern Spicebush is a perennial shrub that can grow in sun or partial shade. It’s the host plant and a great no fuss no bother shrub for the yard.
Five of Mississippi’s swallowtail species have dark colored wings, making identification a bit complex. When wing colors and patterns fail to end the identification process, looking at the abdomen can help. For example, the Palamedes Swallowtail, pictured, can be most easily identified by the yellow abdomen with black stripes
- Pipevine Swallowtail
- Zebra Swallowtail
- Black Swallowtail
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
- Spicebush Swallowtail
- Palamedes Swallowtail
- Giant Swallowtail
Skipper Butterflies
Whirabout
Firey Skipper
Southern Skipperling