Starr County Butterflies
Phaon Crescent (Phyciodes phaon) Life History
Egg mass, 7-12-10
Ready to eclose, 7-15-10
Hatchlings on day one, 7-16-10
7-19-10
7-21-10
7-25-10
Mature caterpillar, 7-26-10
A caterpillar ready to pupate, 7-27-10
Chrysalis (different from left), 7-27-10
Fresh Phaon Crescent, dorsal, 7-31-10
Fresh Phaon Crescent, ventral, 7-31-10
Egg mass, 7-12-10
Ready to eclose, 7-15-10
Hatchlings on day one, 7-16-10
7-19-10
7-21-10
7-25-10
Mature caterpillar, 7-26-10
A caterpillar ready to pupate, 7-27-10
Chrysalis (different from left), 7-27-10
Fresh Phaon Crescent, dorsal, 7-31-10
Fresh Phaon Crescent, ventral, 7-31-10
As memory serves (this writing is 6 months after the event), I collected these eggs after observing a female Phaon Crescent deposit them on Frog fruit, Phyla nodiflora. The eggs eclosed 4 days later, and I soon had a large number of caterpillars. Every so often I would release about half of them to the flower bed, so that in the end I only raised a half-dozen to maturity. The caterpillars took 10-12 days to pupate, and the adults emerged 4-5 days later.
Face of Phaon Crescent
caterpillar
A comparison of various crescent caterpillars may be seen here.
Phaon Crescent Page