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Michigan's Insects

Michigan's insects

The Karner Blue butterfly

Karner Blue butterfly

Karner blues are small butterflies about the size of a nickel. Males have a vibrant, silvery blue color on the upper surface of their wings. The upper surfaces of the females' wings are blue close to the body, fading to grayish-brown towards the edges. The wing undersides of both sexes is light gray to grayish-brown with rows of small black spots. A single row of metallic blue-green, orange, and black spots rims the outer edges of the underside of each wing, but is most distinct on the hind wings.

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The Mitchell’s Satyr butterfly

Mitchell's Satyr butterfly

The Mitchell's satyr (Neonympha mitchellii mitchellii, pronounced say-ter) is one of the world's rarest butterflies, found only in Michigan and Indiana. Mitchell's satyr is a dark, chocolate brown, medium-sized butterfly with a wing span that ranges from 1.5 to 1.75 inches (3.8 to 4.4 centimeters). The undersides of the wings contain a row of four to five black, yellow-ringed eyespots, with the central three eyespots on the hindwing being the largest. Two orange bands encircle the eyespots.

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close-up photo of a monarch butterfly on a flower

Monarch butterfly

Monarch butterflies are of the most recognizable and beloved butterfly in North and Central America. Millions of monarchs migrate across the United States; spending their summers in Michigan and winters in Mexico. Despite the small size of monarch butterflies and other insects, they play a very large role in human's lives. Insects travel to flowering plants, drinking nectar and transporting pollen. This results in a pollination service that is responsible for 1/3 of the world's food source.

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MSU Bug House Program logo

MSU entomology information

The Michigan State University Department of Entomology provides a variety of resources through their Bug House. More information can be found on the Bug House website.

Visit the Bug House page