Early-spring form is smaller and lighter colored. Females lay single green eggs on lower leaves of host plant. Caterpillars live and feed on the underside of these leaves, then pupate and hibernate there. Young plants are preferred. Breeds in moist low woodlands near swamps and rivers.
Adults fly to nectar plants in open fields and brushy areas.
Rare in northern part of range. G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery. Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek. Butterflies east of the Great Plains. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.