Common Buckeye

Photos By George Wall

As a young boy not only did I collect stamps, coins and autographed pictures of movie stars, I also collected butterflies. The beauty of them still remains fresh in my mind; so when I’m out birding, I still watch for them. In July on a birding trip to Forest Road 300, I saw numerous Common Buckeye butterflies and I took these pictures. They looked no different than the ones I collected as a kid in Southern California.

Description: They are 1 3/8 - 2 1/4 inches in size. The upper surface of its wings is tannish-golden brown and orange. There are are 4 large circles and 4 smaller ones—all resemble eyes. These “eyes” help protect them from predators. The underside is tan with the circles showing through.

Habitat: Just about anyplace – deserts, mountains, grasslands and of course, gardens and they can be found flying all year around.

Range: Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico

Food Plants: The plants they visit are varied but include the aster family, daisy family speedwells and here in these pictures they were on (I believe) the Cutleaf Coneflower as we were up over 6,000 feet.

Life Cycle: The adults only live about 10 days.

Notes of Interest: The white around the large front wing eyespot is ultra violet reflecting.