Stats

Lifespan: A few weeks
Size: Small
Diet: Herbivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: North America
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

A small black-and-white checkered butterfly common across sunny fields, roadsides, and gardens throughout North America, where its caterpillars feed on mallow-family plants. Males patrol low over open ground with a fast, erratic flight and flash a faint blue-gray sheen from hair-like scales at the base of the wings.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
2.
caterpillar
A voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
3.
chrysalis
A chrysalis hangs sealed and still while the body remodels into a winged adult.
4.
butterfly
A winged adult with full scales and coloration, ready to fly and mate.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Burnsius
Species: Burnsius communis