California tortoiseshell
The California tortoiseshell is an orange butterfly with black spots and a wide black edge. Its wings have ragged edges, and underneath they are dark brown, like a dead leaf. In some years there are so many that they fly in huge clouds.
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Fun facts
In 2004 a swarm of these butterflies flew along the Sierra Nevada mountains that was about 70 kilometres long.
Hikers in Lassen Volcanic National Park have sometimes walked into whole clouds of them.
In years with lots of butterflies, ravens catch many of them to eat.
Its caterpillar is black with white spots and hairs, and has seven spines on each body section.
Most asked questions about California tortoiseshell
?Why are there so many California tortoiseshells some years?
Their numbers can suddenly explode in some years, and then huge swarms fly through the mountains.
?What does the California tortoiseshell caterpillar eat?
Leaves of Ceanothus bushes, also called wild lilac.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Nymphalis californica
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- California tortoiseshell (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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