Texan Crescent (Anthanassa texana)
|
|
One of the most commonly seen butterflies in the Garden, the Texan Crescent is a small, almost black insect with white and orange dots on its wings. They fly quickly but frequently land and so are easy to see up close.
In the side view, shown below, it looks like the Texan crescent only has four legs (two on each side). Crescents are members of a family called the Brush-footed Butterflies. The first pair of legs are modified into small fuzzy appendages used as chemoreceptors and are held up close to the body.
|
The larvae of the Texan crescent can sometimes be found in large numbers, but they disperse as they get bigger and need more food. The caterpillar shown below is almost full-grown and shows the characteristic black body with tan sides and many black spines. The larvae feed on plants of the Asteraceae family, such as sunflowers and asters.
|
class: Insecta / order: Lepidoptera / family: Nymphalidae / genus: Anthanassa / species: texana
| site by larvalbug |
