Mourning cloak
Nymphalis antiopa
Butterfly
Large dark-maroon butterfly with cream wing margins whose gregarious larvae feed in communal silken nests on the foliage of deciduous trees - willows, elms, hackberry, cottonwoods and aspen, birch, and mulberry. Unusual among North American butterflies, the adult overwinters by hibernating in bark crevices and under loose bark, so it is often the first butterfly seen on warm late-winter and early-spring days. Adults rarely visit flowers; they feed instead on tree sap, fallen and rotting fruit, and aphid honeydew, which makes mature host trees and brushy edges more important to this species than a nectar border.
Conservation
NatureServe rates the species Secure (G5); it is broadly common and not listed by the IUCN, the Xerces Society, or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Supporting it is about retaining native host trees and undisturbed overwintering cover (loose bark, leaf litter, woodpiles) rather than addressing any population decline.
Plan for this species
Location-fit plant set for Chicago, IL: host and specialist plants first, then nectar, fruit, seed, foliage, and shelter plants that still fit the current and mid-century climate read.
6 essential relationships / 0 supporting plants
Host/specialist links: 6
Forage/pollination links: 0
Shelter links: 0
Relationship roles: 1
American elm
Essential / Larval host plants
Elms are a well-established larval host for the mourning cloak butterfly, whose communal caterpillars feed on the leaves; the long-lived adults are among the earliest butterflies seen in spring.
Black willow
Essential / Larval host plants
Common hackberry
Essential / Larval host plants
Eastern cottonwood
Essential / Larval host plants
European beech
Essential / Larval host plants
Mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa, Camberwell beauty in Britain) is a Holarctic butterfly whose larvae feed on the foliage of broadleaved trees including Fagus.
Fremont cottonwood
Essential / Larval host plants
Plants in the catalog
Larval host plants · 16
Elms are a well-established larval host for the mourning cloak butterfly, whose communal caterpillars feed on the leaves; the long-lived adults are among the earliest butterflies seen in spring.
Mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa, Camberwell beauty in Britain) is a Holarctic butterfly whose larvae feed on the foliage of broadleaved trees including Fagus.
The Holarctic mourning cloak (Camberwell beauty) uses a range of broadleaf trees including birch-family hosts; hornbeam is a plausible larval host within its broad woodland diet.
Nymphalis antiopa (mourning cloak) larvae feed on Prunus and related Rosaceae; plausible host where ranges overlap in North America, though P. serrulata is not a primary host.
Mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa), a Holarctic species, feeds as a larva on elm-family and other broadleaf hosts; Zelkova, a close elm-family relative planted widely in North America, is a plausible occasional larval host where the butterfly's range overlaps planted specimens, though direct documentation on Z. serrata is sparse.
Mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa, the Camberwell beauty) is a Holarctic butterfly whose larvae feed on Betula across Europe and northern Asia - a genuine, documented host association for silver birch.
Birches are a documented larval host for the mourning cloak.
Nectar plants · 3
Mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa), Holarctic in distribution, visits early-spring flowering shrubs including blackthorn in its European range for nectar on warm spring days.
Mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) is a Holarctic species present throughout the native range of C. monogyna and is a recorded hawthorn flower visitor in European literature.
Mourning cloak butterflies overwinter as adults and emerge in very early spring; they are reported nectaring at Ribes flowers across the Holarctic range the plant is grown in.
Range
Holarctic; in North America it occurs broadly from Canada south across most of the United States, though it is seen less frequently in the Deep South (Florida, Louisiana, Texas).
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife record. Use the source cards below to explore the references that informed its taxonomy, range, conservation, host plants, foraging, and habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/mourning-cloak
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
BAMONA: Mourning cloak
Species profile for overwintering adults, host trees, range, and sap/fruit feeding.
MDC Field Guide: Mourning cloak
State agency species account used for identification detail, larval and adult food, and life-cycle timing. Missouri-scoped, so it is not cited for continental range.
Wikipedia: Nymphalis antiopa
Corroborating reference for Holarctic range, larval host trees, adult hibernation, and secure status.
GBIF: Nymphalis antiopa
GBIF backbone matches the species Nymphalis antiopa exactly as an accepted taxon (key 5130682).
iNaturalist: Nymphalis antiopa
iNaturalist matches the species Nymphalis antiopa exactly (taxon 56832).