''Cercyonis oetus'', the small wood-nymph or dark wood-nymph, is a

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 ...

of 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."''Cercyonis'' Scudder, 1875"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' 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 32–45 mm. Adults are on wing from June to August in one generation. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e feed on various grasses.

Subspecies

There are four recognized

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

: *''Cercyonis oetus oetus'' *''Cercyonis oetus charon'' (Edwards, 1872) *''Cercyonis oetus silvestris'' (Edwards, 1861) *''Cercyonis oetus pallescens'' T. & J. Emmel, 1971

References

External links

Small Wood Nymph
Butterflies and Moths of North America
Small Wood-Nymph
Butterflies of Canada Cercyonis Butterflies of North America Butterflies described in 1869 Taxa named by Jean Baptiste Boisduval {{Satyrini-stub