The goatweed butterfly is an attractive, fascinating and widespread species that is not often observed by the general public because of its cryptic coloration and somewhat spotty distribution within its range. Both larvae and adults are cryptically colored.
Adults play dead when handled.
This species provides dramatic examples of adaptive coloration and behavior to escape predators in both the larval and adult stages. The goatweed butterfly is widely distributed throughout the southern Midwest and South ranging from West Virginia to Kansas and south to Texas and Central Florida. The wingspread of goatweed butterflies is 6.0 to 7.6 cm with males being slightly smaller than females. The upper surface of the wings of adult goatweed butterflies exhibit sexual dimorphism in both shape and color. The wings of males are more or less uniformly orange brown with a dark margin.