California tortoiseshell

Weight

Not recorded

Length

Not recorded

Wingspan

5 cm – 5.95 cm

Lifespan

Not recorded

Main food

Not recorded

Habitat

Not recorded

Young per litter or clutch

Not recorded

On the wing

January to October

Generations a year

Two

Larval food plants

Rhamnaceae family

Conservation status

Not recorded

Countries on record

Not recorded

Not recorded

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

1. kingdomAnimalia
2. phylumArthropoda
3. classInsecta
4. orderLepidoptera
5. familyNymphalidae
6. genusNymphalis
7. SpeciesNymphalis californica (Boisduval, 1852)

Synonyms Vanessa californica

Catalogue of Life

LC, Least Concern

Mourning cloak

Nymphalis antiopa

Nymphalidae

L

Large tortoiseshell

Nymphalis polychloros

NymphalidaeNo free photo yet

S

Scarce tortoiseshell

Nymphalis xanthomelas

NymphalidaeNo free photo yet

N

Nymphalis comma

NymphalidaeNo free photo yet

N

Nymphalis faunus

NymphalidaeNo free photo yet

N

Nymphalis interrogationis

NymphalidaeNo free photo yet

CompareCalifornia tortoiseshell vs Mourning cloakCalifornia tortoiseshell vs Large tortoiseshellCalifornia tortoiseshell vs Scarce tortoiseshellCalifornia tortoiseshell vs Nymphalis comma

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@misc{california_tortoiseshell_2026,
  title = {California tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/california-tortoiseshell},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}