Pearl Crescent
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| Phyciodes tharos Drury, 1773 |
Phyciodes tharos is the Pearl Crescent butterfly. It is found in all parts of the United States except the west coast, and throughout Mexico. Its habitat is open areas such as pastures, road edges, vacant lots, fields, open pine woods. Their pattern is 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. The species has several broods throughout the year, from April-November in the North, and throughout the year in the Deep South and Mexico.
Adults find nectar from a great variety of flowers including dogbane, swamp milkweed, shepherd's needle, asters, and winter cress. Males patrol open areas for females. The eggs are laid in small batches on the underside of host plant leaves. Caterpillars eat the leaves and are gregarious when young. Hibernation is by third-stage caterpillars.
[edit] References
- Jim P. Brock, Kenn Kaufman (2003). Butterflies of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-15312-8.
- Jeffrey Glassberg (1999). Butterflies through Binoculars : The East A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Eastern North America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-510668-7.
- James A. Scott (1986). The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2013-4.
- Pearl Crescent on Bugguide.net
