How do butterflies get their names?

Have you ever wondered why certain butterflies have such unusual names? In looking through my field guide, here are a few that seem to defy explanation: Broken Silverdrop, Creole Pearly-Eye, California Sister, Fatal Metalmark, Hoary Elfin, Southern Dogface, Cobweb Skipper, Mexican Eighty-Eight, Painted Lady, Mourning Cloak, Frosted Flasher and Blue-Eyed Sailor. Where do these names come from?

Well, some are named after what the caterpillars eat. For example, the Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar eats the leaves of the Spicebush plant. A Cabbage White eats leaves of the cabbage plant and those of the same "family".

Some are named for their behavior. For example the large family of "Skippers" are small and for the most part, non-descript. When in flight, they tend to skip from flower to flower.

Some are named for their appearance. The Painted Lady derived its name from ladies of the evening in Victorian times, who painted their cheeks with rouge and their lips with bright lipstick. The undersides of the Painted Lady's wings have bright pink spots that reminded people of these ladies. The Zebra Longwing has elongated wings with zebra-like black and white stripes running across them. The Baltimore Checkerspot is a beautiful butterfly with orange and black checkered markings, named after Lord Baltimore, whose colors were orange and black. A Mourning Cloak has beautiful almost-black wings with a fringe of off-white around the perimeter. It resembles a cloak that may have been worn by someone in mourning.