Nymphalidae : Nymphalinae
Phyciodes tharos (Drury, 1773)
Pearl Crescent
Phyciodes tharos (Drury, 1773)
Pearl Crescent
Description and Similar Species: Wingspan 30-34mm. Sexes similar but female slightly larger. The closest confusion species is Phaon Crescent Phyciodes phaon with which it sometimes flies, but P. tharos lacks the pale bar on the forewing shown by P. phaon.
Range: From Mexico in the south, throughout the USA to Canada. Seems to be recently established in western Cuba (2023). There has been one previous record in the Caribbean from the Bahamas which lie just to the north of Cuba (Rindge, 1952).
Status: Two females were first found (two miles apart) and photographed on 26 June 2023 at Escaleras de Jaruco, Jaruco municipality in Mayabeque province, western Cuba. They were observed on a moist evergreen forest roadside. (Álvarez et al. 2024) TROP. LEPID. RES., 34(1): 63-65.
Nectar Plants: Bidens pilosa, Phyla nodifera and Acmella sp.
Larval Foodplants: Unknown in Cuba but in the USA is known to feed on Symphyotrichum species (formerly Aster, Asteraceae) in (Scott, 1986).
Range: From Mexico in the south, throughout the USA to Canada. Seems to be recently established in western Cuba (2023). There has been one previous record in the Caribbean from the Bahamas which lie just to the north of Cuba (Rindge, 1952).
Status: Two females were first found (two miles apart) and photographed on 26 June 2023 at Escaleras de Jaruco, Jaruco municipality in Mayabeque province, western Cuba. They were observed on a moist evergreen forest roadside. (Álvarez et al. 2024) TROP. LEPID. RES., 34(1): 63-65.
Nectar Plants: Bidens pilosa, Phyla nodifera and Acmella sp.
Larval Foodplants: Unknown in Cuba but in the USA is known to feed on Symphyotrichum species (formerly Aster, Asteraceae) in (Scott, 1986).
