Mount Rainier National Park Pollinator Guide 🐝 🦋

Size:

Queen 15 - 20 mm
Workers 9 - 14 mm
Male 9 - 14 mm

Flowers:

Aquilegia, Brassica, Ceanothus, Cirsium, Epilobium, Lathyrus, Lupinus, Phacelia, Rhododendron, Ribes, Rosa, Rubus, Salix, Solidago, Stachys, Symphyotrichum, Vaccinium and Vicia

Nest:

Nests built underground, presumably in rodent burrows.

Similar species:

B. flavifrons, B. mixtus, and B. melanopygus less ↑

Color: Upperside orange with black markings. Underside of hindwing with rows of metallic silver spots; postmedian spots small and black.
Wingspan: 1 3/8 - 2 1/8 inches (3.5 - 5.4 cm)
Host plants: Violets including Viola glabella and V. nephrophylla.
Adult food: Favorite nectar sources are composite flowers, including goldenrod and black-eyed susans.
Overwintering stage: third-stage caterpillars
Mate-Location system: patrolling
Flight: June-July in the north

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Boloria-selene less ↑

Color: Upperside of male forewing yellow with wide black apex. Hindwing with black border. Female yellow or white (rare) with black borders. Both sexes with small black spot in forewing cell.
Wingspan: 1 1/4 - 1 3/4 inches (3.2 - 4.4 cm)
Host plants: Partridge pea (Cassia fasciculata) and wild sensitive plant (C. nicitans) in the pea family (Fabaceae).
Adult food: Nectar from flowers in the aster family (Asteraceae) including goldenrods and asters.
Overwintering stage:
Mate-Location system:
Flight: 1-3 flights in northern part of range, from late spring to early fall.

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Pyrisitia-lisa less ↑

Color: Upperside is black with white spots near the apex; forewing with red median band, hindwing with red marginal band. The winter form is smaller and duller, summer form larger and brighter with an interrupted forewing band.
Wingspan: 1 3/4 - 3 inches (4.5 - 7.6 cm)
Host plants: Nettle (Urticaceae); Mulberry (Moraceae)
Overwintering stage: adult
Mate-Location system: perching
Flight: Two broods from March-October in the north, winters from October-March in South Texas

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Vanessa-atalanta
Scott, 1986 The Butterflies of North America less ↑

Color: Upperside is orange-brown with darker wing bases; forewing with black apex patch and white bar on leading edge; hindwing submarginal row of 5 small black spots sometimes has blue scales. Underside has a black, brown, and gray pattern with 4 small submarginal eyespots.
Wingspan: 2 - 2 7/8 inches (5.1 - 7.3 cm)
Host plants: More than 100 host plants have been noted; favorites include thistles (Asteraceae), hollyhock and mallow (Malvaceae), and various legumes (Fabaceae).
Overwintering stage: Adults hibernate only in the South and in mild winters
Mate-Location system: perching and patrolling
Flight: One to three flights in the East from May-October

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Vanessa-cardui less ↑

Color: Short projections on both wings, borders irregular. Upperside is purple-black with a wide, bright yellow border on outer margins, and a row of iridescent blue spots at the inner edge of the border.
Wingspan: 2 1/4 - 4 inches (5.7 - 10.1 cm)
Host plants: Willows including black willow (Salix nigra), weeping willow (S. babylonica), and silky willow (S. sericea); also American elm (Ulmus americana), cottonwood (Populus deltoides), aspen (P. tremuloides), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), and hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). Older caterpillars wander about and may be found on plants that they do not eat.
Overwintering stage: adults
Mate-Location system: perching
Flight: June-July

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Nymphalis-antiopa less ↑

Color: Upperside of male is bright orange with wide black borders and black veins; hindwing has a patch of scent scales. Upperside of female is orange-brown with wide black borders and blurred black veins. Both sexes have white spots on borders and apex. The Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) is a Mullerian mimic; it has similar coloration and is also distasteful.
Wingspan: 3 3/8 - 4 7/8 inches (8.6 - 12.4 cm)
Host plants: Milkweeds including common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), swamp milkweed (A. incarnata), and showy milkweed (A. speciosa); and milkweed vine in the tropics.
Adult food: Nectar from all milkweeds. Early in the season before milkweeds bloom, Monarchs visit a variety of flowers including dogbane, lilac, red clover, lantana, and thistles. In the fall adults visit composites including goldenrods, blazing stars, ironweed, and tickseed sunflower.
Overwintering stage: Adults make massive migrations from August-October
Mate-Location system:
Flight: In North America during spring and summer there may be 1-3 broods in the north and 4-6 broods in the south. May breed all year in Florida, South Texas, and southeastern California.

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Danaus-plexippus less ↑

Color: Large. Upperside of male tan to orange with black scales on forewing veins; female tawny, darker than male. Underside of hindwing with wide pale submarginal band and large silver spots.
Wingspan: 2 1/2 - 4 inches (6.3 - 10.1 cm)
Host plants: Various violet species (Viola).
Overwintering stage: unfed newly hatched caterpillars
Mate-Location system: patrolling
Flight: mid-June - mid-September

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Speyeria-cybele less ↑

Color: One tail on hindwing. Upperside blue-gray with large red spot near tail. Underside of spring/fall form is dark gray, summer form is paler gray. Relatively straight postmedian line is white, bordered with orange on the inside edge.
Wingspan: 7/8 - 1 3/8 inches (2.2 - 3.5 cm)
Host plants: pea (Fabaceae) and mallow (Malvaceae) families including beans (Phaseolus), clovers (Trifolium), cotton (Gossypium), and mallow (Malva)
Adult food: Nectar from many flower species including dogbane, milkweed, mint, winter cress, goldenrod, tick trefoil, and white sweet clover.
Overwintering stage: chrysalis
Mate-Location system: perching
Flight: 2 flights from May-September in the north, 3-4 flights from February-November in the south.

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Strymon-melinus less ↑

Color: Geographically variable. Wings are brown. Upperside of forewing has 2 large yellow-ringed eyespots. Lowerside of hindwing has a variable number of small eyespots. Southern and coastal butterflies are larger and have a yellow or yellow-orange patch on the outer part of the forewing. Inland butterflies are smaller and have the yellow forewing patch reduced or absent.
Wingspan: 1 3/4 - 3 inches (4.5 - 7.6 cm)
Host plants: Purpletop (Tridens flavus) and other grasses
Overwintering stage: caterpillars hatch but do no feed, instead hibernating until spring
Mate-Location system: patrolling
Flight: late May-October, females emerge later than males

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Cercyonis-pegala less ↑

Color: Upperside of wings white; forewing with black tip. Two submarginal black spots in female, one in male. Underside of hindwing and forewing apex evenly yellow-green or gray-green. Spring and fall short-day form is smaller, less yellow, with reduced black areas.
Wingspan: 1 3/4 - 2 1/4 inches (4.5 - 5.8 cm)
Host plants: Many in the mustard family (Brassicaceae) and occasionally some in the caper family (Capparidaceae)
Adult food: Flower nectar from a very wide array of plants including mustards, dandelion, red clover, asters, and mints.
Overwintering stage: chrysalis
Mate-Location system: patrolling
Flight: many flights between April-October

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Pieris-rapae
Scott, 1986 The Butterflies of North America less ↑

Color: Upper surface of male wings bright, clear yellow with solid black edging; lower side of forewing with some dark submarginal spots; hindwing with silver cell spot rimmed with orange-pink, usually doubled. Female has 2 forms: yellow form with uneven black edging enclosing yellow spots, and a white form which is greenish-white rather than yellow. Spring and fall forms are smaller and less conspicuously marked.
Wingspan: 1 1/2 - 2 3/4 inches (3.8 - 7 cm)
Host plants: pea family (Fabaceae or Leguminosae) including alfalfa (Medicago sativa), white clover (Trifolium repens), and pea (Pisum sativum)
Overwintering stage: third stage caterpillars
Mate-Location system: patrolling
Flight: Three flights in the north from May-October, 4-5 in the south from March-November.

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Colias-philodice
Scott, 1986 The Butterflies of North America less ↑

Color: Quite variable. Upperside of male yellow with orange overlay, yellow veins, wide black border, and dark black cell spot. Female yellow or white with irregular black border surrounding light spots. Underside hindwing spot silver with 2 concentric dark rings, and a spot above it.
Wingspan: 1 3/8 - 2 3/4 inches (3.5 - 7 cm)
Host plants: pea family (Fabaceae) including alfalfa (Medicago sativa), white clover (Trifolium repens), and white sweet clover (Melilotus alba)
Overwintering stage: chrysalis
Mate-Location system: patrolling
Flight: 2-3 flights in the north from June-October, 4-5 in the south from March-November.

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Colias-eurytheme less ↑