''Phyciodes orseis'', the Orseis crescentspot or California crescent, is a species of

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

in the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

. It is found in western North America, particularly

northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. Formerly, The range was thought to extend along the Coast Range as far south as

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. However, they were either mislabeled or are currently

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

from these regions. The habitat consists of mountain valleys, meadows and stream canyons. Along with roughly 120 other species, they are check-listed as butterflies occurring on or near the Fremont-Winema National Forests. This checklist has been established based on observations throughout

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

and

Klamath Klamath may refer to: Ethnic groups *Klamath people, a Native American people of California and Oregon **Klamath Tribes, a federally recognized group of tribes in Oregon *Klamath language, spoken by the Klamath people Places in the United States * ...

counties in Oregon. The list is maintained by the Forest Service in order to monitor health of native ecosystems. Monitoring population levels of butterflies such as ''P. orseis'' over time provides a metric for these efforts. These pollinators play an integral role in such systems, as they are beneficial both for the flora of the region and as food sources for regional avian species. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 32–42 mm.Butterflies and Moths of North America
/ref> Adult flights occur annually, typically from mid-May to the end of June. Eggs are laid in large clusters on host plants, which are typically of the genus ''

Cirsium ''Cirsium'' is a genus of perennial and biennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known commonly as thistles. They are more precisely known as plume thistles. These differ from other thistle genera ('' Carduus'', ''Silyb ...

'' (family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

). After hatching, specimens will overwinter as a third

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...

larva.

Subspecies

*''Phyciodes orseis orseis'' *''Phyciodes orseis herlani'' Bauer, 1975 (California, Nevada: Douglas Co.)

References

External links

Species ''Phyciodes orseis'' - California Crescent
BugGuide Butterflies described in 1871 Melitaeini Butterflies of North America Taxa named by William Henry Edwards {{Nymphalinae-stub

Subspecies

See also

References

External links