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Common Buckeye
Junonia coenia
Photo: Pete Dixon
UNC Asheville, Glenn’s Creek Greenway
Keep your eye out for eyespots as you travel down WT Weaver Boulevard. The Common Buckeye is located near its intersection with Barnard Avenue. Parking for the Greenway is available nearby. Thanks to Dr. Matt Bertone of NCSU for providing the photo for the giant wings.
Sarah Frances Brodie Lesense
by her daughter Liz Lesesne
Robert J. Parr
by his daughter Suzanne Wodek
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Meet the Butterfly
The Common Buckeye is named for its striking eyespots, which resemble a male deer's eyes.
Eyespots may deter predators by making a butterfly look like a larger animal. A hungry bird may be startled or confused by the conspicuous markings.
Common Buckeyes are brown with two orange bars and two eyespots on top of each forewing. A creamy white band often meets the larger eyespot.
They have two more eyespots and an orange band on each hindwing.
Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Seasonal Variations
The underside of the wings varies in color.
In the background is a Buckeye that emerged in summer. Its underside is brownish tan.
In the inset image, you’ll see an autumn-emergent buckeye with its deep rosy brown undersides.
Inset photo: David Kastner
Background: Pete Dixon
A Hard Act to Follow
Buckeyes have a distinctive, erratic flight pattern, alternating between short, rapid flights and gliding.
This makes it hard for predators to predict their next move!
Photo: Thomas Elliott/Pexels
Buckeyes belong to the “brushfooted” butterfly family (Nymphalidae), along with the Gulf Fritillary and Monarch.
Their front two legs are small and fuzzy. You can see them folded below this Buckeye’s compound eye.
The curly “tongue” is called the proboscis and acts as a straw when a butterfly sips nectar.
As they sip nectar, adult butterflies carry pollen from flower to flower on their wings and body.
Photo: Sam Fraser-Smith, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Common Buckeyes have an average wingspan of 2 inches, the size of the short edge of a business card.
Photo: Pete Weiler
Distribution
In Western North Carolina, Buckeyes produce multiple generations annually, emerging from May to October.
They migrate south in the fall to overwinter and reproduce. Their offspring fly north to breed the following year.
Illustration: Lauren Gingery
Life Cycle
With a brief adult lifespan of 6-20 days, male Buckeyes are territorial and feisty! They guard areas of bare ground or low nectar plants, waiting to mate with females.
In the photo below, the female (on right) is larger than the male.
Photo: Pete Dixon
Caterpillar Host Plants
Common Buckeyes lay a single green egg on the upper side of the leaves of many local native species.
Native perennials include Woodland Stonecrop, Appalachian and Foxglove Beardtongue, White and Blue Vervain, and Wild Petunia. Native annuals include Canada Toadflax, American Speedwell, and False Foxglove.
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Woodland stonecrop
Sedum ternatum
Succulent ground cover that hosts Buckeye and Variegated Fritillary caterpillars. It is tolerant of shade, rabbits, and deer.
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Appalachian Beardtongue
Penstemon canescens
The leaves of Penstemon provide food for Buckeye caterpillars, but the nectar of the flowers is out of reach for their butterflies’ tongues.
Stonecrop photo: Cbaile19, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Beardtongue photo: homeredwardprice, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Adventurous Eaters
Most butterflies and moths are highly selective about caterpillar host plants, usually relying on a few specific natives. But Buckeyes aren’t terribly picky.
Whether native or nonnative, the plantain family is a favorite of Buckeyes, including both gorgeous snapdragons and the European plantain that lawn enthusiasts hate and herbalists love.
Buckeye caterpillar spines look scary but they’re harmless.
Thanks to its diet of plants loaded with toxic iridoid glycoside chemicals, the caterpillar tastes disgusting to predators.
Photo: Jacy Lucier, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
When a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, its three pairs of true legs develop into adult legs, while its prolegs completely disappear.
Photo: Judy Gallagher
Have You Seen a Buckeye Chrysalis?
A wing and eyespot are visible on both of these chrysalises.
The dark mass above is the last skin shed by the caterpillar before transforming.
Buckeyes expel the toxins they consumed as caterpillars when they emerge from the chrysalis. That may be a way of protecting themselves while their wings are “inflating” and drying, the time when they are most vulnerable to being eaten.
Chrysalis photos: David Kastner
Color Your Own Buckeye Butterfly
Download a free coloring page below.
How You Can Help
Common buckeyes are not threatened, but you can still help reverse decline by taking action:
Add caterpillar host plants like Woodland Stonecrop, Appalachian and Foxglove Beardtongue, White and Blue Vervain, and Wild Petunia. Snapdragons are also a great food for Buckeyes!
Include flowers in your garden for nectaring adults.
Remove exotic invasive plants that displace native species.
Avoid pesticide use.
Leave the leaves and stems for overwintering chrysalises.
Learn more about Pollinator Gardening Principles and create a certified pollinator habitat in your yard.
Photo: Common buckeye on rattlesnake master, Dr. Thomas G. Barnes, USFWS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Common buckeye, partial rosa form, David Kastner
Thank You
Many people and organizations made this Butterfly Trail possible. See the full list.
For the Common Buckeye Butterfly, we’d like to give a special thanks to:
UNC Asheville for hosting this Trail station!
UNCA NEMA lab, and especially Lauren Gingery, for their illustration support
Dr. Matt Bertone, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, NC State University for taking photos of their butterfly specimens for the freestanding wings
University of North Carolina at Asheville for hosting the station
Amy Landers at Landers Creative for webpage design
Jill Jacobs at Spriggly’s Beescaping for interpretive sign design
Nina Veteto at Blue Ridge Botanic for the coloring page
And these incredible photographers:
David Kastner
Pete Dixon
Judy Gallagher