Hackberry Butterfly – Asterocampa celtis

Hackberry Butterfly – Asterocampa celtis
Live butterflies photographed at Ogle County, Illinois
Family Nymphalidae / Subfamily: Apaturinae
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Hackberry butterflies are fast and erratic fliers, and frequently rest upside down on tree trunks. Males perch on tall objects in sunny areas to watch for females. Eggs are laid in clusters, and the caterpillars feed communally. Caterpillars overwinter in groups gathered inside dead rolled leaves.

Flight: Two broods from May-October.

Host Plants: Hackberry (Celtis species) and sugarberry (Celtis laevigata).
Adult Food: Sap, rotting fruit, dung, carrion. Will take moisture at wet spots along roads and streams.
Habitat: Along wooded streams, forest glades and river edges, wooded roadsides, towns.
Range: Resident in most of the eastern United States, central Plains states, and northern Mexico.
Hackberry Butterfly
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Order Lepidoptera, which contains both butterflies and moths, includes at least 125,000 known species including 12,000 in North America. Butterflies are revered for their brightly colored wings and pleasing association with fair weather and flowers.
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