Phyciodes batesii

Tawny Crescent
Conservation status
Ottawa, Ontario
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Tribe:	Melitaeini
Genus:	Phyciodes
Species:	P. batesii
Binomial name
Phyciodes batesii (Reakirt, 1865)
Subspecies
P. b. batesii P. b. lakota (Scott, 1994) P. b. anasazi (Scott, 1994) P. b. apsaalooke (Scott, 1994) P. b. maconensis (Gatrelle, 1998)

The Tawny Crescent (Phyciodes batesii) is a species of Nymphalidae 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 antennal knobs. The wingspan is from 25 to 38 mm.^[1]

Life cycle

Adults fly once a year between May and July. There is sometimes a partial second brood in Michigan. During this time the females lay their eggs in groups on the host plants. The third-instar caterpillars hibernate.

Larval foods

• Aster undulatus

Adult foods

• Flower nectar

Similar species

• Phyciodes cocyta – Northern Crescent
• Phyciodes tharos – Pearl Crescent

References

1. Tawny Crescent, Butterflies of Canada

• "Species Phyciodes batesii - Tawny Crescent". Retrieved 2008-11-18.
• "Phyciodes". Retrieved 2008-11-18.
• "Tawny Crescent Species Detail". Retrieved 2008-11-18.