Mylitta Crescent
Phyciodes mylitta
Insecta
UNCOMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- A few weeks
- Size
- Small
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Temperate grassland
- Range
- Western North America
- Movement
- Flight
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Camouflage
- Status
- Uncommon
About
A small orange-and-black checkerspot butterfly of western North America, its wings patterned with a crescent-shaped mark near the hindwing margin that gives the species its name. Caterpillars feed on thistles, making this butterfly a familiar visitor to disturbed grasslands and roadsides.
Life cycle
- 1.eggA tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
- 2.caterpillarA voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
- 3.chrysalisA chrysalis hangs sealed and still while the body remodels into a winged adult.
- 4.butterflyA winged adult with full scales and coloration, ready to fly and mate.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Lepidoptera
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Genus
- Phyciodes
- Species
- Phyciodes mylitta