Mourning Cloak Butterfly
The mourning cloak butterfly is a beautiful butterfly with dark brown wings edged in yellow. Their name comes from an appearance of wearing a mourning cloak over a bright dress, and the name is the same in many different languages. They are believed to be the longest-lived butterflies in North America, with some living up to a year.
Found throughout North America and northern Eurasia, they are usually in hardwood forests in cold mountainous areas - but have been found as far as northern South America and Japan. They have a variety of anti-predation tactics, including camouflage, playing dead, and joining together with other butterflies to fly menacingly at their attacker. In their cold habitats, they retain heat by staying under direct sunlight with their dark plumage.
Morning cloak butterflies have also been our partners in research into epigenetics and how the environment affects certain butterfly phenotypic characteristics.
What do you love about this particular creature?
What do they reveal to you about God and our faith?
The mourning cloak butterfly is the state insect of Montana, a claim to a special relationship validated by the state. You are reading about it from the Province 1 EcoRegion, where it is a key species in your ecosystem.
We all call it the mourning cloak butterfly, when that name likely came from Germany or Scandinavia. What starts as a small relationship between you and a butterfly you see broadens into a worldwide ecosystem. Walking out in the woods, seeing one small butterfly, I am reminded of God’s love for each and every one of us. Specifically, thinking about the butterfly in the grand scheme of things, I am reminded that God’s love encompasses the entire world.
We are called to take God’s love for each one of us and bring it to meet God’s love in the world, from the tiny butterfly to intercontinental ecosystems.
Author - Elizabeth Zipf
Elizabeth Zipf is a veterinarian living in central MA.
O God, having shown us how far your love goes in saving the lost and forgotten, mercifully grant that we might join you in the work of reuniting with all creatures; through Jesus Christ the Wisdom of Creation, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
Creation Collect (Proper 19 Year C) from Season of Creation, A Celebration Guide for Episcopal Parishes