Prairies

Although native prairie comprises less than 1% of total Illinois landscape today, one can find a number of butterflies in prairie areas. Keep in mind that many of these areas are protected so you will only want to take photos of the butterflies encountered in these areas.

 

Some of the butterfly families you will encounter include:

 

+ brush footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae)

 

+ swallowtails (family Papilionidae)

 

+ blues (family Lycaenidae)

 

Open the accordion panel below to learn more about these families of butterflies.