These beautiful butterflies are all over the place right now …you just need to look up. From August through September you will notice these white butterflies flying around the tops of pine trees, looking for mates. They range from British Columbia east to Alberta, south through Rocky Mountain states and California to Mexico. The females are much more noticeably “veined” than the males and usually have orange-red edges to the wings. While the adults will feed on flower nectar, the caterpillars feed on ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and true fir trees. Unfortunately, if you look closely you will notice that this individual lost her antennae, perhaps to a bird or another animal.
Photos by: Kelly Dix on 8/9/21 near Stevensville, MT
