Biology:Cercyonis sthenele

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Short description: Species of butterfly


Great Basin wood-nymph
Cercyonis sthenele paulus male.jpg
Cercyonis sthenele paulus, male

Secure (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Cercyonis
Species:
C. sthenele
Binomial name
Cercyonis sthenele
(Boisduval, 1852)
Synonyms
  • Satyrus sthenele Boisduval, 1852[2]
  • Minois sthenele

Cercyonis sthenele, the Great Basin wood-nymph, is a North American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.

Description

It is dark brown with two eyespots on the forewing with the upper larger than the lower.[3]

The wingspan measures 39–44 mm (1.5–1.7 in). Its flight period is from late June to late August.[4] It is found in arid woodland, especially pinyon-juniper, chaparral and brushland habitats.[1]

Similar species

  • Common wood-nymph (Cercyonis pegala) – larger, eyespots similar in size
  • Small wood-nymph (Cercyonis oetus) – lacks lower eyespot in males, lower eyespot is closer to margin than upper eyespot in females[4]

Subspecies

The following subspecies are recognised:[5]

  • C. s. behrii (F. Grinnell, 1905)
  • C. s. hypoleuca Hawks and J. Emmel, 1998
  • C. s. masoni Cross, 1937
  • C. s. paulus (Edwards, 1879)
  • C. s. silvestris Edwards, 1861
  • C. s. sineocellata Austin and J. Emmel in T. Emmel, 1998
  • C. s. sthenele (Boisduval, 1852) - nominate subspecies endemic to San Francisco Peninsula, now extinct[6][7]

Distribution

C. sthenele ranges over much of the western United States and reaches to southern British Columbia, Canada.[4]

Larval host plants

Larvae feed on various species of grass. The first instar hibernates.[4]

References

Wikidata ☰ Q338175 entry