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1. The mourning cloak butterfly is a large, unique butterfly, with special markings that do not match those of any other butterfly, making it easily distinguishable.
2. These butterflies have a lifespan of 11 to 12 months, one of the longest lifespans for any butterfly.
3. It hibernates all winter in the adult phase. This is uncommon for butterflies. Most overwinter as an egg or pupa (such as the Swallowtails) or they migrate as adults (like the Monarch.) Just imagine this seemingly fragile creature surviving temperatures of -35°F and colder while just huddled in the crack of a tree branch!

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It takes approximately fifteen days for an egg to become an adult butterfly. Mourning cloaks, like all other butterflies, undergo complete metamorphosis. Egg →Larva (L1 ... L5) → Pupa → Adult. There are four stages in its life cycle.

Egg
Mourning cloak eggs are amber-yellow or pale olive-green when first laid. Upon further development, the coloration of the eggs will change, becoming lilac-pink, and darkening to almost black, as they mature prior to hatching. The eggs are generally 0.7 by 0.9 mm in size. Laid on terminal shoots of the larval food-plant, encircling the stem. Later in season, when the leaves appear, females also lay the eggs on the upper surface.

Larvae

The spiny caterpillars are striking in appearance, with black bodies and a line of eight reddish-orange dots running down the back. The prolegs are dark red. The body is covered with short hairs and black spines and white dots. The fully grown mourning cloak caterpillars attain two inches in length.

Pupae

Mourning cloak pupae are on average 0.8 inches (2.0 cm) in length, though they can reach over 1.1 inches (2.8 cm) in length. They tend to be a tan or brown gray, with two rows of sharp, red-tipped spikes protruding from the ventro-lateral side of the pupae. The chrysalis has a "beak", tubercles, and two head horns.

Adult

The mourning cloak butterflies are a part of the family Nymphalidae, called the brush-footed butterflies due to their hairy front legs.
The adult butterflies hibernate during the winter months. Typical locations of overwintering include tree cavities and on the ground underneath loose tree bark (covered by snow). They often emerge from hibernation before the snow has completely melted, making it one of the first butterflies to take wing in the spring.

The mourning cloak is a non-migratory species but some sources suggest that a portion of the North American population migrates southward.  Experiments carried out in Germany by Hubert Roer in 1962-68, documented a long-distance (one way) migration from Bonn to Greece (Chalkiditi).

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1. The monarch butterfly is one of the most recognizable and well studied butterflies on the planet.
2. Monarch butterflies are also an important food source for birds, small animals, and other insects.
3. Butterflies cannot fly If they're cold

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There are four stages in the life cycle of a butterfly. The stages include, egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The entire process is called complete metamorphosis and is one of two ways insects develop from an egg to an adult.
Egg---A monarch begins life as a single cream-colored egg attached to the underside of a milkweed leaf. The worm-like larva grows inside the egg. When it is ready, the larva chews a small hole in the egg shell and wriggles its way into the world. After a few minutes, the newly hatched larva has its first meal -- the remains of its egg. Female monarchs lay one to three eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves. This process is repeated until the female has laid hundreds of eggs.
Larva---After eating the shell, the larva begins to eat milkweed leaves. Milkweed is the only plant that monarch larvae will eat. The larva eats and grows, grows and eats. The larva grows so much that it outgrows its skin, much like outgrowing old clothes. In order for the larva to keep growing, molting must occur. The old skin splits, revealing the new skin underneath. The larva wriggles free of the too-tight skin. After freeing itself, the molted larva often eats  its old skin before moving on to more milkweed leaves. After shedding their skins, monarch larvae continue to grow and will have to molt four more times. The last molt is much different than the others. The larva crawls away from its milkweed plant, searching for a suitable place. Some larvae will travel longer distances than others. When the larva has found a suitable place, it weaves a silk mat with a "button" in the center. Once the mat and button are ready, the larva grabs the silk with its legs and hangs upside down. The front part of its body will curve to make a "J-shape." Once in the "J", the larva molts for the last time. The skin splits behind the head, and the larva wiggles while it hangs upside down to remove the old skin. This final molt is the trickiest, because the larva must shed its old skin and still hang onto the silk button. Once the larva embeds a hook-like structure at its rear end into the button, the rest of the skin can slip off.
Pupa / Chrysalis----When the skin fall off, the larva becomes a pupa. The monarch has no eyes and no antennae. It has no legs, and it cannot move. All of the major changes in body shape, size, and arrangement happen. In monarchs, this stage can last as long as a week. At the end of this stage, an adult butterfly will emerge from the chrysalis.
Adult---A newly emerged butterfly will wait two or more hours before it can fly. New wings are small and shriveled, so the butterfly pumps body fluid through its wing veins in order to make them get bigger. Then, the monarch has to wait for air to replace some of the fluid. Until this happens, the monarch cannot fly, and its wings are easily damaged. A newly emerged butterfly will wait two or more hours before it can fly. New wings are small and shriveled, so the butterfly pumps body fluid through its wing veins in order to make them get bigger. Then, the monarch has to wait for air to replace some of the fluid.

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Monarch butterflies eat nectar from flowers, just as other butterflies do. Butterfly mouthparts are made for drinking nectar.

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Monarch butterflies live in North, Central, and South America as well as Australia, some Pacific Islands, India, and Western Europe.

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The monarch butterfly is reddish-orange with black vein-like markings. There is a black border around its wings with white spots on it. Its wings look like stained glass windows! When its wings are open, they are about four inches wide. The underside of the wings is pale orange. Male monarchs have two black spots in the center of their hind wings, which females lack. These spots are scent glands that help males attract female mates. Females have thicker wing veins than males. The butterfly’s body is black with white markings.

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monarch butterfly

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Adult mourning cloaks primarily feed on sap, ripe and fallen fruits and sugary exudate from aphids.

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The mourning cloak butterflies are distributed broadly around the northern hemisphere. They are commonly found throughout all of North America and northern Eurasia.

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The mourning cloak butterfly is a large, unique butterfly, with special markings that do not match those of any other butterfly, making it easily distinguishable. It can have a wingspan up to four inches. The dorsal side of its wings are a dark maroon, or occasionally brown, with ragged pale-yellow edges. Bright, iridescent blue spots line the black demarcation between the maroon and the yellow. The ventral side of the wings has gray striations, with the same pale-yellow edges.

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Mourning Cloak butterfly

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It has transparent wings