Mourning cloak
Nymphalis antiopa
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.