Tawny emperor
Adults rarely visit flowers at all, feeding instead on tree sap, rotting fruit and animal droppings, and often land on people to sip sweat.
| Where | Riparian woods and wooded parks |
|---|---|
| Size | 38 to 70 mm wingspan |
| When | April to November |
The Tawny emperor is a medium sized, rust orange butterfly with two unbroken dark bars across the forewing's discal cell, lacking the dark, white-spotted forewing tips of the similar Hackberry emperor. Its wingspan runs from about 38 to 70 mm.
Adults rarely visit flowers, instead feeding on tree sap, rotting fruit, dung and carrion, and often land on people drawn by the salt in sweat. Caterpillars feed only on hackberry leaves, and those that hatch in autumn overwinter together in a shelter of leaves tied with silk on the tree.
Traits
Habitat
Woodland
Colour
Orange, Brown, Black
Active
Day
To people
Often lands on people to drink sweat; harmless despite the habit.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Similar size and habits, but more tan overall and marked with dark forewing tips containing white spots, unlike the rust-coloured, unbroken bars of the Tawny emperor.
Questions
Is the Tawny emperor dangerous to people?
Often lands on people to drink sweat; harmless despite the habit.
When can you see the Tawny emperor?
The Tawny emperor can be seen from April to November, by day.
Plate retouched from a museum specimen photo by Swiss Natural History Collections - SwissNatColl, CC BY 4.0, GBIF Licence
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Butterflies and moths›Brush-footed butterflies›Asterocampa
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.