Attributes of Asterocampa clyton

Tawny Emperor
Asterocampa clyton (Boisduval & Leconte, [1835])

Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Apaturinae
Identification: Geographically variable. Upperside is chestnut brown; forewing with 2 brown bars in the cell, no white spots, and no eyespots near the outer margin. Hindwing uppersides are orange with black submarginal spots in one form, and all black in the other form.
Wing Span: 1 5/8 - 2 3/4 inches (4.2 - 7 cm).
Life History: Males perch on trees in full sun to watch for females. Eggs are laid in large groups of 200-500 on bark or the underside of mature leaves of host plants. Caterpillars eat leaves and young ones feed gregariously. Third-stage caterpillars hibernate in groups of about 10 inside a dead curled leaf.
Flight: One brood in the north from June-August, two broods in the south from March-November.
Caterpillar Hosts: Trees of the elm family including Celtis occidentalis, C. tenuifolia, C. laevigata, C. lindheimeri, and C. reticulata.
Adult Food: Tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, carrion. Tawny Emperors almost never visit flowers.
Habitat: Densely wooded riparian areas, dry woods, open woods, cities, fencerows, parks.
Range: North Dakota south to Texas, east to New England through most of the southeastern states. Isolated populations in Florida, southwest New Mexico, and southeastern Arizona.
Conservation: Not usually of ocnservation concern.
NCGR: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management Needs: None reported.
Taxonomy Notes:

Images of Asterocampa clyton

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Asterocampa clyton - asterocampa_clyton_m_scm_mres.jpg

Asterocampa clyton - asterocampa_clyton_m_scm_mres.jpg
Asterocampa clyton - asterocampa_clyton_m_v_scm_mres.jpg

Asterocampa clyton - asterocampa_clyton_m_v_scm_mres.jpg

Asterocampa clyton - Asterocampa_clyton.jpg

Asterocampa clyton - Asterocampa_clyton.jpg
Asterocampa clyton - Asterocampa_clyton2.jpg

Asterocampa clyton - Asterocampa_clyton2.jpg

The map below displays all verified sighting records in the BAMONA database for this species. Each record is indicated with a yellow dot. The orange dots on the map provide access to information about the 400 most recently verified sightings of this species. In some instances, there are several records at the same location. Use the table view to access these records.

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By default, the fifty most recently verified sightings are below. Sort by Observation Date to see the most recent sightings, or filter the sightings by region to get a regional list.

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Observation Date Submitter Region Verified Datesort icon
June 07, 2013 CA Ivy Sebastian County, Arkansas, United States June 07, 2013 Details
May 12, 2013 garyposs Comal County, Texas, United States May 13, 2013 Details
July 26, 2008 tjantscher Mills County, Iowa, United States February 03, 2013 Details
August 31, 1983 legacy.reporter (D. Parkinson) Pima County, Arizona, United States December 01, 2012 Details
April 08, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
May 05, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Lawrence County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
June 15, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Colbert County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
August 04, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Perry County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
August 05, 2012 legacy.reporter (Patsy Harris Russo) Baldwin County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
August 26, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Perry County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
September 21, 2012 legacy.reporter (Sara Bright / Paulette Ogard) Perry County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
August 18, 2006 John Saba (John Saba) Pinal County, Arizona, United States December 01, 2012 Details
October 01, 2006 John Saba (John Saba) Pinal County, Arizona, United States December 01, 2012 Details
September 28, 2006 legacy.reporter (Richard Bailowitz) Pinal County, Arizona, United States December 01, 2012 Details
October 13, 2012 aahewetson Jack County, Texas, United States November 25, 2012 Details
October 12, 2012 Jean McLane Guadalupe County, Texas, United States November 19, 2012 Details
September 03, 2012 Pierre Howard Laurens County, Georgia, United States November 02, 2012 Details
June 12, 2011 fishwings Person County, North Carolina, United States October 31, 2012 Details
August 03, 2012 gaudettelaura@hotmail.com Windham County, Vermont, United States October 30, 2012 Details
July 11, 2012 Nathan Charnock Bradford County, Pennsylvania, United States October 24, 2012 Details
July 03, 2012 khemeon Rutland County, Vermont, United States October 08, 2012 Details
September 23, 2012 John Tribe Brevard County, Florida, United States October 04, 2012 Details
August 26, 2012 Melinda Fawver Trousdale County, Tennessee, United States August 31, 2012 Details
April 23, 2012 jeffmci9 Texas, Travis County, United States August 30, 2012 Details
August 02, 2012 curtis.lehman (James Monroe) Hancock County, West Virginia, United States August 04, 2012 Details
June 30, 2012 dfoxmi Ingham County, Michigan, United States August 03, 2012 Details
May 02, 2010 fragglecat DeWitt County, Texas, United States July 26, 2012 Details
August 30, 2011 Larry S Price Pope County, Arkansas, United States July 17, 2012 Details
July 13, 2012 mark helm Ontario, Canada July 16, 2012 Details
July 04, 2012 Jean McLane Guadalupe County, Texas, United States July 10, 2012 Details
June 11, 2012 whbauer Bexar County, Texas, United States July 01, 2012 Details
June 28, 2012 diannlynne Bexar County, Texas, United States July 01, 2012 Details
August 23, 2005 Eugene Karolinskiy St Joseph County, Indiana, United States May 31, 2012 Details
May 09, 2012 lizbethrodriguez16 Denton County, Texas, United States May 19, 2012 Details
May 15, 2012 AmberOliver Texas, Somervell County, United States May 19, 2012 Details
May 15, 2012 karla elston Erath County, Texas, United States May 19, 2012 Details
April 27, 2012 scarlettsdad Bexar County, Texas, United States May 08, 2012 Details
April 19, 2012 jkopachena Hunt County, Texas, United States April 22, 2012 Details
May 23, 2010 gardenhen Texas, Kendall County, United States April 13, 2012 Details
August 24, 2011 Marty Silver Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States April 11, 2012 Details
August 13, 2007 Jessica Womack Fannin County, Texas, United States April 02, 2012 Details
September 17, 2009 Bill Robertson Benton County, Arkansas, United States January 03, 2012 Details
October 02, 1976 legacy.reporter (J & S Werner) Cochise County, Arizona, United States January 01, 2012 Details
August 15, 1998 legacy.reporter (Dottie Case) Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States January 01, 2012 Details
August 02, 1997 legacy.reporter (Tom Gagnon) Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States January 01, 2012 Details
August 08, 1997 legacy.reporter (Tom Gagnon) Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States January 01, 2012 Details
July 18, 1999 legacy.reporter (Mark Lynch + Sheilla Carrol) Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States January 01, 2012 Details
July 20, 2000 legacy.reporter (R Laubach et al) Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States January 01, 2012 Details
July 12, 2003 legacy.reporter (S.Berk Xerces) Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States January 01, 2012 Details
July 12, 2005 legacy.reporter (Renee Laubach) Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States January 01, 2012 Details