Bug Encyclopedia
Search and identify bugs & insects — beetles, butterflies, moths, ants, bees, spiders and more — with size, habitat, danger, behavior, and how to tell them apart.
Purple Emperor
A large, elusive woodland butterfly whose males flash an iridescent purple sheen in sunlight, spending most of their time high in the treetop canopy rather than visiting flowers.
butterfly
Red-spotted Purple
A large, iridescent blue-black butterfly lacking tails, notable for closely mimicking the unpalatable Pipevine Swallowtail, with rows of red-orange spots visible along the underside wing margins.
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Tawny Emperor
A warm orange-brown woodland butterfly, close relative of the Hackberry Emperor, best distinguished by its lack of a forewing eyespot and its habit of feeding on sap and dung rather than flowers.
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Hackberry Emperor
A brown-and-cream butterfly closely tied to hackberry trees, notable for its bold eyespots and habit of landing on people, cars, and other unusual surfaces rather than flowers.
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White Admiral
A large, dark butterfly crossed by a bold white band on both wings, the northern form of the same species that produces the iridescent blue Red-spotted Purple farther south.
butterfly
West Virginia White
A delicate, pure-white spring butterfly of eastern hardwood forests with faint gray veining on the underside, flying only for a few weeks each year before its short-lived toothwort host plants fade.
butterfly