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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Butterflies and Skippers (Papilionoidea) » Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae) » Crescents, Checkerspots, Anglewings, etc. (Nymphalinae) » Melitaeini » Patches, Checkerspots (Chlosyne) » Silvery Checkerspot - Hodges#4490 (Chlosyne nycteis)

Species Chlosyne nycteis - Silvery Checkerspot - Hodges#4490

Classification · Hodges Number · Other Common Names · Explanation of Names · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Crescent - Chlosyne nycteis Unknown possible crossbreed - Chlosyne nycteis - male I think it's a Harris Checkerspot,or is it Silvery?Southern Indiana.All 4 pix are of the same individual.Sorry if not great pix. - Chlosyne nycteis - female Chlosyne nycteis - Checkerspot - Chlosyne nycteis Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) - Chlosyne nycteis Chlosyne nycteis Silvery Checkerspot - Chlosyne nycteis Another Cres - Chlosyne nycteis
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Papilionoidea (Butterflies and Skippers)
Family Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Subfamily Nymphalinae (Crescents, Checkerspots, Anglewings, etc.)
Tribe Melitaeini
Genus Chlosyne (Patches, Checkerspots)
Species nycteis (Silvery Checkerspot - Hodges#4490)
Hodges Number
4490
Other Common Names
Silvery Crescent
Explanation of Names
Chlosyne nycteis (Doubleday, 1847)
Identification
Compared to similar species (such as Pearl Crescent), note large white spot/band in median of underside of hindwing, dark tip of and edge of upper forewing (1) (2).
Caterpillars are nearly black, dusted with tiny white spots. May have a broad yellow to orange stripe or two thinner stripes along each side. Branched spines,typical of this family.
Range
Southern Canada south to Georgia and Texas but absent from much of the Southeastern Coastal Plain (3)
Habitat
steamsides, moist meadows, and open moist deciduous woods (1)
Season
June-July in northern part of range; March-September in Texas (1)
Food
Larvae feed on members of the Asteraceae (daisy family) - especially Wingstem (Verbesina) and Sunflower (Helianthus), but also Aster and Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia).
Life Cycle
One flight (June-July) in northern part of range, but two or more southward. Overwinters as a third-instar larva, in a "special reddish-brown skin" (1).
See Also
Phyciodes tharos - Pearl Crescent
Chlosyne harrisii - Harris's Checkerspot
Print References
Scott, #219, p. 304, plates 1 (egg), 3 (larva), 29 (adult) (1)
Glassberg, p. 110, plate 30 (2)
Brock and Kaufman, pp. 184-185 (4)
Wagner p.127 (3)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - MPG
Butterflies of America - BOA
Works Cited
1.The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide
James A. Scott. 1992. Stanford University Press.
2.Butterflies Through Binoculars: The East
Jeffrey Glassberg. 1999. Oxford University Press.
3.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.
4.Butterflies of North America (Kaufman Focus Guides)
Jim P. Brock, Kenn Kaufman. 2003. Houghton Mifflin Co.
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Hannah Nendick-Mason, Beatriz Moisset, Mike Quinn, David Ferguson, Robert Lord Zimlich
Last updated 27 February, 2018 - 3:28pm

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