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About This Quiz
Butterflies are conspicuous and often brilliantly colored insects. They are a symbol of beauty and a favorite for photographers. Take this quiz to see how many butterflies you can name from an image.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Banded Peacock
In order to ward of enemies, the Banded Peacock will make a hissing sound. Males will even run females from their territory when mating season is over.
Tailed Copper
Western Brown Elfin
Willow Hairstreak
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Sonoran Blue
Ruddy Copper
Arctic Skipper
Although not found in the Arctic, you can find this butterfly in the far north of Canada and the U.S. They spread their wings open in order to attract a female, but sit with their wings closed when they are resting.
Moss Elfin
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Mariposa Copper
Variable Checkespot
Satyr Anglewing
Columbian Skipper
The Columbian Skipper was discovered in 1872. Its habitat ranges from Oregon through California.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Small Wodd-Nymph
Common Checkered Skipper
Even though its name indicates that it is common, The Common Checkered Skipper is unique to Wisconsin. Yet, even in its habitat it is rarely seen. This could be because of its close resemblance to other skippers, it may be mistaken as another species..
West Coast Lady
Zerene Fritillary
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Common Sooty-Wing
Found in Ohio, the Common Sooty-Wing is a skipper. Skippers are distinctive due to their club-like antennas.
Gulf Fritillary
Lorquin's Admiral
Milbert's Tortoiseshell
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Edith's Checkerspot
Dreamy Dusky-Wing
The Dreamy Dusky-Wing differs slightly from the the Sleepy Dusty-Wing as it has a single whit spot on the edge of its wings. The Dreamy also matures later in the year, after the sleepy has been worn.
Faun
Great Basin Wood Nymph
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Buckeye
Umber Skipper
Tecumseh Skipper
Nevada Cloudy-Wing
A group of butterflies is often called a flutter. There are over 20,000 species around the world.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Eighty-Eight
The colors that you see on a butterfly are the result of the scales that cover its wings. The wing itself is actually clear.
Propertius Dusky-Wing
Silver-Spotted Skipper
Two-Banded Skipper
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Tilden's Skipper
Northern Cloudy-Wing
Funereal Dusky-Wing
Zebra Swallowtail
Many butterflies have sensors on their feet for tasting. This is how they know if a surface is safe to lay eggs on.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Mournful Dusky-Wing
Orange Barred Sulphur
Butterflies have an exoskeleton, meaning their skeleton is on the outside of the bodies. This skeleton prevents water evaporation and keeps their bodies hydrated .
Artic Skipper
Common Sooty-Wing
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Great Purple Hairstreak
Butterflies have vision greater than humans and can see ultraviolet light. Over 6,000 tiny lenses make up their eyes.
Eastern Tailed Blue
Gray Blue
Two-Tailed Swallowtail
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Which butterfly is shown here?
California Dog-Face
Indra Swallowtail
Melissa Blue
Butterflies are exceptionally clean and efficient. Adult butterflies use up all the energy they intake and never put out any waste.
East Slope Marble
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Pine White
Boisduval's Blue
Boisduval is named for the French botanist who discovered it in 1852. Boisduval studied, among other things, butterflies.
Stella Orange-Tip
Yellow Sulphur
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Spicebush swallowtail
When swallowtails caterpillars sense danger, they stink up the place. They have a gland that excretes a terrible odor to ward off enemies and keep them from being eaten.
California Dog-Face
Gray-Veined White
Cloudless Sulphur
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Mormon Metal-Mark
Thoosa Orange-Tip
Small Marble
Pygmy Blue
With a wingspan of only 1.2 to 2 cm, the Pygmy Blue butterfly is the smallest butterfly in the U.S. As caterpillars, Pygmy Blue butterflies form a symbiotic relationship with ants, providing them with nectar for food while the ants provide protection.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Malachite
The Malachite weaves a green chrysalis with pink spots. This green is also reflected in its wings after transformation.
Verdi Sandhill Skipper
Dainty Sulphur
Becker's White
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Pipevine Swallowtail
Atlantis Fritillary
Because of their close resemblance, fritillaries often mistaken for monarchs. However, they do not make the long migration to Mexico.
Verdi Sandhill Skipper
Small Marble
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Pale Swallowtail
East Slope Marble
Willow Hairstreak
California Crescent
When flying, most butterflies move their wings in a figure eight pattern. Butterfly wings range in size from 1/8 inch to 12 inches.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Purplish Copper
Shasta Blue
Fiery Skipper
Skippers have better eyesight than other species of butterflies. They also have stronger wing muscles.
European Cabbage
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Callippe Fritillary
The male Callippe Fritillary will sit, wait, and watch for a female. When they find a mate and reproduce, the females lay eggs one at a time in a group near violets so the caterpillars may feed once hatched.
Western Tiger Swallowtail
Cloudless Sulphur
Tailed Copper
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Snowy Copper
Juniper Hairstreak
Chalcedon Checkerspot
Anna Blue
After breaking away, the first thing a caterpillar eats is the egg shell from which it lived. Once it becomes a butterfly, it only eats liquid nectar with its long tongue.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Pygmy Blue
West Coast Lady
Edith's Checkerspot
The metamorphosis that a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly usually only takes about 10-15 days -- appropriately balanced as their life span is only one month to a year.
Small Wood-Nymph
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Zephyr Anglewing
Eufala Skipper
Butterflies transform in a chrysalis, while moths use a cocoon. Even then, not all moths use a cocoon.Some burrow into the ground or under heavy brush.
American Painted Lady
Western Meadow Fritillary
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Egleis Fritillary
Top speed a butterfly can fly is 12 mph. Moths can go up to 25 mph. They can't fly at all if their body temperature falls under 86 degrees.
Ox-Eyed Satyr
Queen
Mourning Cloak
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Leto Fritillary
Ivallda Artic
California Sister
Male butterflies sometimes feed in mud puddles to acquire nutrients they do not otherwise get from flowers. Groups that gather around puddles are called "puddle clubs."
Lorquin's Admiral
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Great Basin Ringlet
Hoffmann's Checkerspot
Hydspe Fritillary
Funereal Dusky-Wing
It was previously thought -- and backed by scientists -- that butterflies could not hear. But in 1912 it was discovered that they had ears.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Great Basin Wood Nymph
The proboscis, a tube-like tongue, is used to absorb liquid (mostly nectar) rather than suck it up. Some moths, however, do not have mouths and as adults do not eat anything but survive off the nutrients they ate as a caterpillar.
Red Admiral
Nevada Silverspot
Desert Tailed Copper
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Moss' Elfin
Edith's Copper
Some Egyptian art as old as 3,500 years is seen depicting butterflies. And is some places the butterfly's behavior and color is seen as a sign of something; such as the Wollybear -- some believe that if the black bands are wide, then it will be a cold winter.
Mountain-Mahogany Hairstreak
Mylitta Crescent
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Red Admiral
California Tortoiseshell
Bordered Patch
Field Skipper
Skippers are named for their quick darting action. They are also some of the fastest species of butterflies.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Buckeye
Yuma Skipper
Arrowhead Blue
Butterflies' lives are categorized into four stages: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysilis), and adult (butterfly.) During the larva stage, the caterpillars go through multiple stages of molting as they grow.
Behr's Parnassian
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Ulysses
Butterflies are arthropods. This means their body is segmented. They have paired parts on each side of their bodies (such as wings or legs), and they are symmetrical.
Thicket Hairstreak
Clodius Parnassian
Dainty Sulphur
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Mormon Metal-Mark
Leopard Lacewing
Unlike a moth, a butterfly's wings are not connected. When they are sunbathing, their wings may be open, but usually when they are sitting around, they are vertical above their bodies.
Checkered White
Queen
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Painted Lady
Chalcedon Checkerspot
Nevada Skipper
Red Pierrot
Though a colorful species, butterflies generally tend to have dark colors at least on the upper side of their wings. This is because butterflies are cold blooded and need to raise their temperature by basking in the sun.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Gray Blue
When nectar is not available, butterflies may feed on rotting or fermented fruit. This common of species is found in the rainforest.
Grinnell's Duskywing
Sandhill Skipper
Arctic Skipper
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Fufala Skipper
Mourning Cloak
Female butterflies are quite fickle. If the conditions are not exactly right, such as finding the right plants to lay their eggs on, they may choose not to lay their eggs at all.
Field Crescent
Green Comma
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Blue Morpho
According to one Native American legend, if you catch a butterfly, make a wish, then let the butterfly go, your wish will come true. Because butterflies do not make noise, they cannot tell your secret to anyone. Your granted wish is a gift from the butterfly and the heavens for its freedom.
Crown Fritillary
Great Basin Fritillary
Northeastern California Crescent
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Which butterfly is shown here?
The Farmer
Ox-Eyed Satyr
Painted Lady
Blue Pansy
The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 movie starring Ashton Kutcher as Evan. In this movie, Evan finds a way to travel back to the past. In doing this, he finds that he can change things that happen, which then affect his future. He finds himself in different realities and must learn how to escape.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Tecumseh Skipper
Common Sooty-Wing
Dotted Blue
The butterfly effect is known as an element in chaos theory where a very tiny change within a larger component will have huge effects. Some will say "when a butterfly flaps its wings...." to someone when contemplating outcomes or sometimes talking about the weather.
Yellow Sulphur
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Small Marble
Thoosa Orange-Tip
Imported Cabbageworm
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Swallowtails are recognizable by the shape of their hind wings. The tips of their hind wings are forked, or form a sort of falling teardrop shape.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Goliath Birdwing
In Japanese legend, the butterfly represents a soul. If one sees a butterfly in the home, the person whose soul that butterfly inhabits will soon be a visitor. Other Japanese legends have the butterfly as representative, not of the living, but of the dead.
Sara Orange-Tip
Spring Azure
Echo Blue
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Sooty Gossamer-Wing
Lorquin's Admiral
During metamorphosis, a caterpillar does not simply grow butterfly wings. Rather the entire caterpillar digests itself and breaks down into a liquid. Some cells survive and begin to grow again into butterfly form.
Tailed Copper
Milbert's Tortoiseshell
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Montana Crescent
Painted Lady
Queen
Northern Checkerspot
Some scientists say that moths remember what they learned as caterpillars. Even though they break down into a liquid during metamorphosis, they often retain some of the same bodily systems.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Calippe Fritillary
Edith's Checkerspot
Great Copper
There are some small differences between moths and butterflies. Moths have "fuzzy" antenna, whereas butterfly's is smooth. Moths also have thicker, furrier bodies. Butterflies are slender. Moths are nocturnal, but you will see butterflies in the day.
Feather River Crescent
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Monarch
Monarchs travel more than 2,000 miles during migration. They lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves. In recent years, efforts have been made to stop the decrease in this species
Mylitta Crescent
Bramble Hairstreak
Melissa Blue
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Zerene Fritillary
Large Marble
If you want to attract butterflies to your garden, you may want to cultivate plants such as lavender, goldenrod, hollyhock, and marigold. Nectar plants and bright colors are attractive to butterflies.
Anna Blue
Umber Skipper
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Pine White
The pine white is named so because needle plants serve as its host, and it is white. Pine whites are attracted to thistle plants.
Monarch
Dreamy Dusky-Wing
Sachem
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Lindsey's Skipper
Sonoran Skipper
California Hairstreak
Van Gogh painted "Butterflies and Poppies" in 1889. You will find this painting at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Bordered Patch
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Sara Orange-Tip
"Madame Butterfly" was a short story written my John Luther Long in 1898. It was later turned into an opera that first performed in 1904 with little success. After some revisions, and an added act, the opera's fame soon elevated.
Leanira checkerspot
Egleis Fritillary
Ivallda Arctic
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Persius Dusky-Wing
Roadside Skipper
Monarch
Dainty Sulphur
The culinary term "to butterfly" means to split a piece of meat in two, but not quite all the way through, then flattening it out. This creates the symmetry that a butterfly has.
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Which butterfly is shown here?
Hydaspe Fritillary
Blue Copper
People often use the term "butterflies in the stomach" to express a fluttery sensation caused by nervousness and anxiety, sometimes associated with "love." Papillon is the latin word for butterfly and is sometimes still used.
Nevada Silverspot
Satyr Anglewing
You Got:
/50
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