Northern Crescent - Croissant nordique - Phyciodes cocyta
There are a couple of butterflies - the Northern and the Pearl Crescent - whose flying seasons and territories overlap, and whose descriptions always include that each is very hard to distinguish from the other.
They are small - this one is resting on a part of a small clover flower - and quite brilliantly colourful. I am staking my identification on the orange at the end of the ‘antennal clubs’, which tends, in the eastern part of Canada, to be restricted to the Northern Crescent.
The Northern Crescent is a brushfoot butterfly, like Monarchs, Mourning Cloaks, and White Admirals. This family name refers to the presence of atrophied legs at the front of the butterfly, often covered in hair (whence ‘brush’). As a consequence, these butterflies walk on four legs instead of six, and that four leg description is sometimes used. In this image, the atrophied ‘brushfeet’ are visible below the eye of the Northern Crescent, tucked close to the body.
This image was taken in a field in Lanark County, where I watched a lot of butterfly species off and on over the span of a month. There is something irreducibly delightful about being able to watch and photograph these beautiful, tiny creatures.
Northern Crescent - Croissant nordique - Phyciodes cocyta
There are a couple of butterflies - the Northern and the Pearl Crescent - whose flying seasons and territories overlap, and whose descriptions always include that each is very hard to distinguish from the other.
They are small - this one is resting on a part of a small clover flower - and quite brilliantly colourful. I am staking my identification on the orange at the end of the ‘antennal clubs’, which tends, in the eastern part of Canada, to be restricted to the Northern Crescent.
The Northern Crescent is a brushfoot butterfly, like Monarchs, Mourning Cloaks, and White Admirals. This family name refers to the presence of atrophied legs at the front of the butterfly, often covered in hair (whence ‘brush’). As a consequence, these butterflies walk on four legs instead of six, and that four leg description is sometimes used. In this image, the atrophied ‘brushfeet’ are visible below the eye of the Northern Crescent, tucked close to the body.
This image was taken in a field in Lanark County, where I watched a lot of butterfly species off and on over the span of a month. There is something irreducibly delightful about being able to watch and photograph these beautiful, tiny creatures.