American Snout
Libytheana carinenta
Insecta
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- A few weeks
- Size
- Medium
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Temperate woodland
- Range
- The Americas
- Movement
- Flight
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Camouflage
- Status
- Common
About
The American Snout is named for its remarkably elongated labial palps that project forward like a snout — a feature unique among North American butterflies. During peak migrations, millions can gather on hackberry trees, stripping them of leaves in dramatic mass feeding events.
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
- Libytheana
- Species
- Libytheana carinenta