Identifying Idaho's Wildlife
Pg. 10

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A dichotomous key uses a series of questions that can be answered yes or no.  From the response, you can determine what question you will need to go to next until you have worked your way down to an individual species.  Our dichotomous key would look like this:

1.  Is the butterfly orange in color?

If yes, go to question 2

If no, go to question 6

2. Do the wings have spots?

If yes, go to question 3	If no, the you have a Hedgerow Hairstreak

3.Does the front wing have only two spots?

If yes, then you have a Common Wood-Nymph	If no, go to question 4

4.  Does the hind wings have one spot?

If yes, then you have a Queen	If no, go to  question 5

5.  Are the spots dark in color?

If yes, then you have a Frigga Fritillary	If yes, then you have a Mormon Metalmark

6.   Is the wings brown with a single white spot on the front wings?

If yes, then you have a Silver-Spotted Skipper	If no, go to question 7

7.  Are the wings mostly white with orange tips on the front wings?

If yes, then you have a Sara Orangetip	If yes, then you have a Two-Tailed Swallowtail