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Grades level iconsGrades 3–4
Genre information iconInformational, Narrative, Poetry, STEM
Resource type iconWriting

Mourning Cloak Butterfly

Ciaran, 826NYC
A creative field guide to a Mourning Cloak butterfly who lives in New York City.

Lives with: Weeping willow & Trichoderma
Latin name: Nymphalis antiopa

Description
These butterflies have dark wings. They grow to be around two inches long. When they are caterpillars, they are dark brown too.

Lifespan
Mourning Cloak butterflies live ten months. Girl butterflies die after laying their eggs.

Temperature
Mourning Cloak butterflies hibernate in the winter and mate in the spring.

Interesting facts
They spread their wings toward the sun to get warmer before flying.

Habitat
The Mourning Cloak butterfly lives in dark-barked trees in Europe, Asia, and North America.

Diet
They eat tree sap.

Predators
They are eaten by birds and reptiles.

 

I’m a Mourning Cloak butterfly

and I am sad like the colors
brown and blue. I am king of
happy, too, because I can fly. I
fly through the sky from tree
to tree in New York City.

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