''Phyciodes batesii'', the tawny crescent, 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 ...
that occurs in North America.
Description
The upperside is dark brown with orange and the forewing has a pale postmedian band with submarginal bands. The female's black submarginal band has dots. Both sexes have black and white antenna knobs. The wingspan is from 25 to 38 mm.
Tawny Crescent
Butterflies of Canada
Life cycle
Adults fly once a year between May and July. There is sometimes a partial second brood in Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. During this time the females lay their eggs in groups on the host plants. The 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 ...
caterpillars hibernate.
Larval foods
* ''Aster
Aster or ASTER may refer to:
Biology
* ''Aster'' (genus), a genus of flowering plants
** List of ''Aster'' synonyms, other genera formerly included in ''Aster'' and still called asters in English
* Aster (cell biology), a cellular structure shap ...
undulatus''
Adult foods
* Flower nectar
Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...
Similar species
*'' Phyciodes cocyta'' – northern crescent
*''Phyciodes tharos
''Phyciodes'', the crescents or crescent spots (like some related genera) is a genus of butterflies of the subfamily Nymphalinae in the family Nymphalidae.
Species
In alphabetical order:"''Phyciodes''_Hübner,_[1819]"at_Markku_Savela's_''Lepi ...
'' – pearl crescent
References
*
"''Phyciodes'' Hübner, [1819]"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
*
Butterflies of North America
Melitaeini
Taxa named by Tryon Reakirt
Butterflies described in 1865
{{nymphalinae-stub