Insects of Golden Gate Canyon State Park
Golden Gate Canyon State Park lies approximately 25 miles west of downtown Denver in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The park consists of 11,700 acres that lies across the boundary between the western edge of Jefferson County and the eastern edge of Gilpin County. Elevations range between ...more ↓
Red Admiral
Vanessa atalanta, the red admiral or previously, the red admirable,is a well-characterized, medium-sized butterfly with black wings, orange bands, and white spots. It has a wingspan of about 2 inches (5 cm). It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. The red admiral is widely distributed across temperate regions of ...more ↓
Painted Lady
Vanessa cardui is a well-known colourful butterfly, known as the Painted Lady, or in North America as the Cosmopolitan. This butterfly has a strange pattern of flying in a sort of screw shape.
American Lady
The American Painted Lady or American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) is a butterfly found throughout North America.
Mourning Cloak
Nymphalis antiopa, known as the Mourning Cloak in North America and the Camberwell Beauty in Britain, is a large butterfly native to Eurasia and North America. See also Anglewing butterflies.
California Tortoiseshell
The California Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family.
Green Comma
The Green Comma (Polygonia faunus) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found in North America.
Hoary Comma
The Hoary Comma (Polygonia gracilis) is a species of butterfly, common in boreal North America from Alaska, across southern Canada to New England and the Maritime Provinces and south to New Mexico from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The wings have a distinctive ragged edge.
Question Mark
The Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis) is a North American nymphalid butterfly. They live in wooded areas and city parks, or generally in areas which feature trees and free spaces. The adult butterfly has a wingspan of 4.5–7.6 cm (1.8–3.0 in). Its flight period is from May to September. "The silver mark on the underside of the hindwing is broken into two parts, a curved ...more ↓
Grey Comma
The Gray Comma or Grey Comma (Polygonia progne) is a species of Polygonia that occurs in North America.
Satyr Comma
The Satyr Comma (Polygonia satyrus) is a North American butterfly of the species nymphalid, primarily found in Western Canada, where it is locally common. It bears a resemblance to the Eastern Comma, with which it is frequently confused.
Milbert's Tortoiseshell
Aglais milberti, the fire-rim tortoiseshell or Milbert's tortoiseshell, is the only species of Aglais that occurs in North America.
Common Buckeye
The common buckeye or simply, buckeye, (Junonia coenia) is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in southern Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia and all parts of the United States except the northwest, and is especially common in the south, the California coast, and throughout Central America and Colombia. The sub-species Junonia coenia bergi is ...more ↓
Ridings' Satyr
Neominois ridingsii, or Ridings' satyr, is a species of butterfly in the Nymphalidae family. It is found from southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba south to the Guadalupe and Catron counties of New Mexico, and west to the central Sierra Nevada of California and central Oregon. The habitat consists of short-grass prairie, intermountain areas and grasslands with some ...more ↓
Alberta Arctic
The Alberta Arctic (Oeneis alberta) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found from the Canadian prairie provinces east to southern Manitoba. Isolated populations are found along the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.
Chryxus Arctic
The Chryxus Arctic (Oeneis chryxus) is a butterfly, a species of Satyrinae that occurs in North America.
Uhler's Arctic
Oeneis uhleri, Uhler's Arctic, is a species of butterfly in the Nymphalidae family. It is found in north-eastern Alaska, Yukon and the western Northwest Territories and from central Alberta south through the Rocky Mountains to northern New Mexico and east through the Canadian prairie provinces to western Minnesota. The habitat consists of slopes in dry, open bunchgrass ...more ↓
Common Alpine
The Common Alpine (Erebia epipsodea) is a member of the Satyrinae subfamily of Nymphalidae. It is found from Alaska south through the Rocky Mountains to northern New Mexico and east across the prairie provinces to southwest Manitoba.
Small Wood-Nymph
The Small Wood-nymph or Dark Wood-nymph (Cercyonis oetus) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found in Western North America.
Common Wood-Nymph
The Common Wood-nymph (Cercyonis pegala) is a North American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is also known as the Wood-nymph, Grayling,Blue-eyed Grayling, and the Goggle Eye.
Aphrodite Fritillary
The Aphrodite Fritillary (Speyeria aphrodite) is a fritillary butterfly, from North America. This orange coloured fritillary has rows of dark dots or chevrons at the wing edges and black or brown lines more proximally. The ventral side of the wings are also orange with several rows of white dots. Its wingspan is between 51 and 73 mm.
Atlantis Fritillary
The Atlantis Fritillary (Speyeria atlantis) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family of North America. It is from the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador to northern British Columbia, across northern United States south as far as Colorado and West Virginia. It resides as far north as James Bay.
Coronis Fritillary
Speyeria coronis, the Coronis fritillary, is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family of North America. It is common from Baja California to Washington and east to Colorado and western South Dakota and once reported in Alberta.
Edwards' Fritillary
The Edwards' Fritillary (Speyeria edwardsii) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family of North America. It is common from Alberta west to Manitoba and south as far as northern New Mexico.
Northwestern Fritillary
The Northwestern Fritillary (Speyeria hesperis) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada, as far east as Manitoba and the Dakotas.
Regal Fritillary
The regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) is a striking nymphalid butterfly found among some of the remaining tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies in the east-central United States. This prairie-specialist butterfly has a characteristic deep orange color and unmistakable dark hindwings with two bands of spots (Brock 2003). On the female, both bands of spots are white. However, on the ...more ↓
Mormon Fritillary
Speyeria Mormonia, commonly known as the Mormon Fritillary, is a North American butterfly belonging to the family Nymphalidae. It is highly diverse, having differentiated into several subspecies which occupy a wide geographic range. Furthermore, S. mormonia exhibit extreme protandry, or the emergence of male adults before female adults; this has several consequences on ...more ↓
Zerene Fritillary
Speyeria zerene, the zerene fritillary, is a species of butterfly found in the western portions of the United States and Canada.
Arctic Fritillary
The Arctic Fritillary or Purplish Fritillary (Boloria chariclea) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found in the northern part of the Palearctic ecozone and the Nearctic ecozone.
Silver-bordered Fritillary
The small pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria selene), called the silver-bordered fritillary in North America, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. The small pearl-bordered fritillary is found across Europe and North America, consuming exclusively violets in its larval stages. This species is well known to live in wet grassland habitats, where its larval food source, ...more ↓
Variegated Fritillary
The Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Even though the Variegated Fritillary has some very different characteristics from the Speyeria Fritillaries, it is still closely related to them. Some of the differences are: Variegated Fritillaries have 2–3 broods per year vs. one per year in Speyeria; ...more ↓
Gulf Fritillary
The Gulf Fritillary or Passion Butterfly (Agraulis vanillae) is a bright orange butterfly of the family Nymphalidae and subfamily Heliconiinae. It was formerly classified in a separate family, the Heliconiidae or longwing butterflies, and like other longwings this species does have long, rather narrow wings in comparison with other butterflies. It is not closely related ...more ↓
Zebra Longwing
The Zebra Longwing or Zebra Heliconian (Heliconius charithonia) is a species of butterfly belonging to the subfamily Heliconiinae of the Nymphalidae.
Monarch
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names depending on region include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black veined brown. It may be the most familiar North American butterfly, and is considered an iconic pollinator species. Its ...more ↓
Colorado Hairstreak
The Colorado Hairstreak Butterfly (Hypaurotis crysalus) is a montane butterfly native to oak scrubland in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It was designated the state insect of Colorado in 1996.
Gray Hairstreak
The Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus), is one of the most common hairstreaks in North America, ranging over nearly the entire continent. It occurs also throughout Central America and in northern South America.
Acadian Hairstreak
The Acadian Hairstreak (Satyrium acadica) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from British Columbia east to Nova Scotia and south to Idaho, Colorado, the northern Midwest, Maryland, and New Jersey.
Behr's Hairstreak
The Behr's Hairstreak (Satyrium behrii) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in western North America from western Texas north and west through New Mexico, Arizona and southern California to British Columbia.
California Hairstreak
The California Hairstreak (Satyrium californica) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from British Columbia south to southern California and east to Colorado.
Striped Hairstreak
The Striped Hairstreak (Satyrium liparops) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in North America, from the Rocky Mountains south from southern Canada to Colorado, east to Maine and south to Florida.
Hedgerow Hairstreak
The Hedgerow Hairstreak (Satyrium saepium) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in western North America, from British Columbia south through California into Baja California and east through northern Arizona to northern New Mexico, Colorado and Montana.
Coral Hairstreak
The Coral Hairstreak (Satyrium titus) is a North American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.
Western Green Hairstreak
Callophrys affinis, the western green hairstreak or immaculate green hairstreak, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in western Canada and the western United States.
Brown Elfin
Callophrys augustinus, the brown elfin, is butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from Newfoundland north and west through the northern United States and the prairie provinces to Alaska. To the south it ranges in Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia and northern Alabama, further south through the western mountains to northern Baja California in Mexico. ...more ↓
Western Pine Elfin
The western pine elfin (Callophrys eryphon) is a North American butterfly that ranges from British Columbia east to Maine and south to southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Males are brown and females are orange-brown, with both having bold patterned hind wings. The top of the wings have dark bars with a lighter chevron shaped margin. The body is 19–32 mm in length and ...more ↓
Juniper Hairstreak
Callophrys gryneus, the juniper hairstreak or olive hairstreak, is a butterfly native to North America. It belongs in the family Lycaenidae.
Moss's Elfin
The Moss's Elfin (also Stonecrop Elfin and Schryver's Elfin) (Callophrys mossii) is a butterfly native to North America that belongs in the family Lycaenidae. It is found from British Columbia south to southern California and east to Wyoming and Colorado in isolated populations. The habitat consists of rocky outcrops, woody canyons and cliffs.
Hoary Elfin
The Hoary Elfin (Callophrys polios) is butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It has a very local distribution from Maine south to New Jersey and in the Appalachian Mountains to Virginia, west across the Great Lakes states and the southern prairie provinces and north to Alaska. Along the Pacific Coast it is found to northern California and in the Rocky Mountains south to northern ...more ↓
Sheridan's Hairstreak
Callophrys sheridanii, the Sheridan's hairstreak and Sheridan's green hairstreak, is a butterfly in the Lycaenidae family. It is found in North America along the south coast of British Columbia and parts of Nevada, Arizona, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, and New Mexico. In 2009, this species was adopted as the U.S. state butterfly for Wyoming.
Thicket Hairstreak
The Thicket Hairstreak (Callophrys spinetorum) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It was described by Hewitson in 1867. It is found from British Columbia through the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico and Mexico and through California to Baja California. The habitat consists of pinyon-juniper forests, mixed woodlands, and coniferous forests.
Great Purple Hairstreak
The Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus), also called the Great Blue Hairstreak, is a common gossamer-winged butterfly species in parts of the United States. It is actually a Neotropical species; its North American range only includes the warm-temperate and subtropical parts of that continent, and it ranges southwards almost to the Isthmus of Panama. The type ...more ↓
Gray Copper
The Grey Copper or Great Copper (Lycaena dione) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from the southern Prairie Provinces of Canada and western Ontario south to Texas and east to Illinois and Missouri. There is a disjunct population in southern British Columbia.
Edith's Copper
Lycaena editha, known generally as the Edith's copper or great gray copper, is a species of copper in the family of butterflies known as Lycaenidae. It is found in North America.
Ruddy Copper
Lycaena rubidus, the ruddy copper, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in the western mountains of North America.
Bronze Copper
Lycaena hyllus, the bronze copper, is a butterfly of the lycaenids family found in North America.
Echo Azure
Celastrina echo, known generally as the echo azure or western azure, is a species of blue in the family of butterflies known as Lycaenidae. It is found in North America.
Lucia Azure
Celastrina lucia, the lucia azure, northern azure, eastern spring azure or northern spring azure, is a species of butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found eastern North America, ranging from the Maritimes south through the Appalachian Mountains to West Virginia.
Silvery Blue
Glaucopsyche lygdamus, the silvery blue, is a small butterfly native to North America. Its upperside is a light blue in males and a dull grayish blue in females. The underside is gray with a single row of round spots of differing sizes depending upon the region.
Arrowhead Blue
The Arrowhead Blue (Glaucopsyche piasus) is a western North American butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is a locally common butterfly that favors prairie, open woodland, and woodland edges and trails.
Rocky Mountain Dotted Blue
The Rocky Mountain Dotted Blue (Euphilotes ancilla) is a species of butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from Washington south to California and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan south through rockies and high plains to Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and northwestern New Mexico
Dotted Blue
Euphilotes enoptes, the dotted blue, is a species of blue in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America.
Western Pygmy-Blue
The Western Pygmy Blue (Brephidium exilis or Brephidium exile) is one of the smallest butterflies in the world and is the smallest in North America. It has reached Hawaii. It has a wingspread of about half an inch.
Marine Blue
The Marine Blue or Striped Blue (Leptotes marina) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in from South America through Mexico up to Southern Texas, Arizona and California.
Western Tailed-Blue
The Western Tailed-blue (Cupido amyntula) is a member of the Lycaenidae family and is seen across western North America as far norther as Alaska. The upperside of the male butterfly is blue while the female has a darker brown band on the outer side of the wing. The underside is riddle with black spots, with a wingspan of 2.2 to 2.9 cm. The larvae feed on Thermopsis, ...more ↓
Reakirt's Blue
Hemiargus isola, the Reakirt's blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Central America and the extreme southern U.S. Hemiargus isola migrates regularly throughout most of the U.S. almost to the Canada–United States border, and very rarely into the southern prairies.
Arctic Blue
The Arctic Blue or Glandon Blue (Agriades glandon) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. In North America it is found from Alaska east to Newfoundland, south through the mountains to Washington, northern Arizona, and northern New Mexico. In Europe, it is found in mountainous areas like the Pyrenees and Alps, as well as the far north. It is also found in parts of ...more ↓
Boisduval's Blue
Aricia icarioides, or Boisduval's blue, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family found in North America.
Lupine Blue
Aricia lupini, the lupine blue, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from south-western Canada, south through much of mountainous and intermountain western United States and high plains to northern Mexico.
Melissa Blue
The Melissa blue (Plebejus melissa) is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in western North America, from Canada to Mexico. The Karner blue (Plebejus melissa samuelis) is a subspecies of the Melissa blue, and was described by the novelist/lepidopterist Vladimir Nabokov.
Southern Dogface
The Southern Dogface, Colias cesonia, is a North American butterfly in the family Pieridae, subfamily Coliadinae (until recently the species was sometimes placed in the related genus Colias instead of Zerenia).
Little Yellow
The Little Yellow, Little Sulphur, or Little Sulfur (Eurema lisa) is a species of Coliadinae that occurs in Central America and the southern part of North America.
Lyside Sulphur
Kricogonia lyside, commonly known as the Lyside Sulphur or Guayacan Sulphur, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Pieridae. In seasons with heavy monsoons, this butterfly is seen in massive migrations which are frequent in Texas but more rare in the southwest. It is also an occasional resident in southern Florida.
Large Orange Sulphur
The Orange Giant Sulphur or Large Orange Sulphur (Phoebis agarithe) is a butterfly in the Pieridae family. It is found from Peru north to southern Texas and peninsular Florida. Rare strays can be found up to Colorado, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and New Jersey. The habitat consists of open, tropical lowlands including gardens, pastures, road edges, trails and parks.
Cloudless Sulphur
The Cloudless Sulphur or Cloudless Giant Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) is a midsized butterfly in the family Pieridae found in the New World. There are several similar species such as the Yellow Angled-sulphur (Anteos maerula), which has angled wings, or other sulphurs, which are much smaller.
Mexican Yellow
The Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana, sometimes called the Wolf-Face Sulphur) is a North and South American butterfly in the family Pieridae. It occurs mainly in Mexico but occasionally is found in central and southwestern USA and rarely in Canada.
Dainty Sulphur
The Dainty Sulphur or Dwarf Yellow (Nathalis iole) is a North American butterfly in the family Pieridae.
Queen Alexandra’s Sulphur
Colias alexandra, the Queen Alexandra's sulphur, Alexandra sulphur, or ultraviolet sulfur, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae found in western North America. Its range includes Alaska to the Northwest Territories and south to Arizona and New Mexico.
Orange Sulphur
The Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme), also known as the Alfalfa Butterfly and in its larval stage as Alfalfa Caterpillar, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae, where it belongs to the lowland group of "clouded yellows and sulphurs" subfamily Coliadinae. It is found throughout North America from southern Canada to Mexico, but is absent from the central and ...more ↓
Clouded Sulphur
Colias philodice, the common sulphur or clouded sulphur, is a North American butterfly in the family Pieridae, subfamily Coliadinae.
Sleepy Orange
The Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe) is a North American butterfly in the family Pieridae.
Julia Orangetip
Anthocharis julia, the southern Rocky Mountain orangetip, is a butterfly found in the southern Rocky Mountains on the eastern side of the range.
Large Marble
Large Marble or Creamy Marblewing (Euchloe ausonides) is a species of butterfly that occurs in North America.
Olympia Marble
Euchloe olympia, the Olympia marble, is a butterfly in the Pieridae family. Its range is southern Canada and the midwest, down into the southwestern United States.
Pine White
The Pine White (Neophasia menapia) is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in western USA and in southern British Columbia.
Margined White
The Margined White (Pieris marginalis) is a butterfly found in the Yukon, Western Canada and the Rocky Mountains of North America.
Cabbage White
Pieris rapae, the small white, is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is also known as the small cabbage white and in New Zealand, simply as white butterfly. The names "cabbage butterfly" and "cabbage white" can also refer to the large white. The butterfly can be distinguished by the white color with small ...more ↓
Western White
Pontia occidentalis, the western white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in Western North America.
Checkered White
The Checkered White (Pontia protodice), also called Southern Cabbage Butterfly, is a common North American butterfly in the family Pieridae. Its green larva is a type of cabbage worm.
Spring White
Pontia sisymbrii, the spring white, California white, or Colorado white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in mountainous areas of western Canada and the United States.
Smoky Arches
The Smoky Arches (Drasteria fumosa) is a moth of the Erebidae family. It is found from California east to Utah and Texas.
