The Northern Cloudywing’s home range is most of Canada and the U.S.

    Their preferred habitats are roadsides, open woodlands, forest clearings, fields and hayfields.
  They readily take nectar for nourishment, but are seldom seen near gardens.
   Males like to perch near the ground, or on the tops of tall grasses or shrubs.
   Once they select a place to perch, they will stay there for several days, leaving only to drive out competing males or to court passing females.
   Males can often be seen grouping at road sides stream edges and sipping minerals and moisture from wet spots.
   Cloudywing larva prefer to feed on plants of the bean or pea family.
   Adult Cloudywings take nectar from a variety of flowers, with Northern Leatherflower (Clematis viorna), tick-trefoils (Desmodium) and the bush-clovers (Lespedeza) being some of their favorites.
   (Adults prefer flowers with blue, pink, purple, or white corollas.)
    Males of the Northern Cloudywing differ from the other closely-related species (Southern Cloudywing and Confused Cloudywing)  by having a costal fold that encloses scent scales and is located on the upper side of the forewing. These scales release pheromones. (Pheromones attract females of the same species.)

   * The Northern Cloudywing is the most widely distributed Thorybes Skipper in North America.