Welcome to Catnapin's

Insect Gallery

Crescent & Checkerspot Brush-footed Butterflies

order Lepidoptera - family Nymphalidae - subfamily Nymphalinae

Sipping Heath Aster

Graphic Crescent (Vesta Crescent) Phyciodes graphica

Photo taken in Taylor County, November 2006

(Nolan, Shackelford, Coke, Runnels, Coleman, Brown)

Butterfly: 7/8"-1 1/2" wide.  Eat nectar.

Caterpillar: Eat Hairy tubetongue (Siphonoglossa pilosella) in the acanthus family.

Pupa: x

1) on Rayless Green-thread      3) on Texas Frogfruit

Phaon Crescent Phyciodes phaon

Photo taken in Taylor County, June 2005, November 2006

(Coleman, Brown)

Butterfly: 1" - 1 1/2" wide.  Eat nectar.

Caterpillar: Eats Frogfruit

Pupa: x

Other Crescent Brush-foots in My Area

Painted Crescent Phyciodes picta

1 - 1 1/2 inches.  Upperside is dark with yellowish spots. Below, forewing apex and all of hindwing are yellow-cream with pale or absent markings.

(Coke)

Texan Crescent Phyciodes texana

1 1/4 - 1 7/8 inches.  Outer margin is indented below tip of forewing. Upperside is black with small white spots and some rusty red near wing bases. Hindwing with median band of cream-colored spots.

(Coleman)

Pearl Crescent Phyciodes tharos

1 1/4 - 1 3/4 inches.  Quite variable. Males usually have black antennal knobs. Upperside is orange with black borders; postmedian and submarginal areas are crossed by fine black marks. Underside of hindwing has a dark marginal patch containing a light-colored crescent. Spring and fall broods (form marcia) have a gray mottled hindwing below.

(Taylor, Nolan, Jones, Runnels, Coleman)

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Other Checkerspot Brush-foots in My Area

Silvery Checkerspot Chlosyne nycteis

1 3/8 - 2 inches. Upperside is pale yellow-orange with dark borders and markings. Hindwing above and below has some white-centered submarginal spots; hindwing below is pale with a large white crescent at the margin.

(Jones)

Tiny Checkerspot Dymasia dymas

7/8 - 1 3/8 inches.  Upperside is light brownish orange with narrow dark markings; wings may have dark borders. Female often larger and lighter colored. Underside has a black terminal line and white marginal spots that are flat on the outer edge.

(Taylor, Coke)

Elada Checkerspot Texola elada

7/8 - 1 1/4 inches.  Dark brown with rows of small brownish orange spots. Underside of hindwing has a median band of two or three rows of white spots, and a red-orange marginal band.

(Shackelford)

Fulvia Checkerspot Thessalia fulvia

1 1/4 - 1 15/16 inches.  Variable. Male upperside is dark orange to blackish with wide dark veins and light bands; female is lighter orange. Underside of hindwing is cream with black veins; black submarginal and postmedian bands contain white spots.

(Nolan)