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

Great Basin wood-nymph
Cercyonis sthenele paulus, male

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
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

Description

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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

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Subspecies

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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

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

Larval host plants

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

References

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  1. ^ a b "Cercyonis sthenele". explorer.natureserve.org.
  2. ^ [1] Butterflies of America
  3. ^ Brock, Jim P.; Kaufman, Kenn (2003). Butterflies of North America. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-15312-8.
  4. ^ a b c d "Great Basin Wood-nymph". Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility. 2002. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  5. ^ "Cercyonis Scudder, 1875" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  6. ^ "ITIS Report: Cercyonis sthenele sthenele (Boisduval, 1852)". ITIS. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  7. ^ "Cercyonis sthenele sthenele. NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 10 July 2023.