Butterflies and Moths of North America

collecting and sharing data about Lepidoptera

Dusky Emperor
Asterocampa idyja (Geyer, [1828])


Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Apaturinae
Identification: Upperside is brown; forewing is hooked. Male forewing with white spots near the tip, and usually a band of yellow spots across the center of the wing. Hindwing has 6 dark submarginal eyespots. Female spots are duller, more diffuse; forewing is broader and not as hooked as in the male. Both sexes have another form in which the colors are paler.
Wing Span: Not reported.
Life History: Males perch to await females.
Flight: October in Arizona.
Caterpillar Hosts: Hackberry species (Celtis) in the elm family (Ulmaceae).
Adult Food: Rotting fruit and occasionally flower nectar from Lantana, Ageratum, and Tournefortia.
Habitat: Woodlands and their edges.
Range: Cuba and the Isle of Pines, Mexico, Guatemala; rare on Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. A rare stray to southeastern Arizona.
Conservation: Not necessary for a rare stray.
NCGR:
Management Needs: None reported.
Comments: NULL
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