Attributes of Feniseca tarquinius
Harvester
Feniseca tarquinius (Fabricius, 1793)
Family: Lycaenidae
Subfamily: Miletinae
Identification: Upperside has black spots and orange-brown areas surrounded by black. Underside hindwing is orange-brown to orange-purple with small, faint white circles.
Wing Span: 1 1/8 - 1 1/4 inches (3 - 3.2 cm).
Life History: Males perch in sunlight on the edge of leaves, watching for females, then fly back and forth in the area, returning to where they started. Females lay eggs in colonies of woolly aphids and sometimes scale insects or treehoppers because caterpillars are carnivorous on these insects. For protection from ants, some caterpillars feed under a silken mat covered with aphid carcasses.
Flight: Two flights in the north from May-August; three in the south from February-September.
Caterpillar Hosts: Woolly aphids (Neoprociphilus, Pemphigus, Prociphilus, and Schizoneura) and sometimes scale insects or treehoppers; these insects suck sap from alders, witch hazel, ash, beech, hawthorn, and wild currant.
Adult Food: Adult\'s short proboscis is suited for feeding on aphid honeydew; they do not sip flower nectar.
Habitat: Deciduous or mixed woodlands along streams.
Range: Eastern United States west to Minnesota, south to central Texas and central Florida. Comments: Only North American butterfly species with carnivorous caterpillars.
Conservation: Not normally required.
NCGR: G4 - Apparently secure globally, though it might be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management Needs: None reported.
Taxonomy Notes:
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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The fifty most recently verified sightings are below. See more recently verified sightings of all species.
| Observation Date | Submitter | Region |
Verified Date |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Morris County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Ocean County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Passaic County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Sussex County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Union County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Mercer County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Essex County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Burlington County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Camden County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Cape May County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Bergen County, New Jersey, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Coos County, New Hampshire, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Montgomery County, Alabama, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Independence County, Arkansas, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Johnson County, Arkansas, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Newton County, Arkansas, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Sharp County, Arkansas, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Washington County, Arkansas, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Hartford County, Connecticut, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | New Haven County, Connecticut, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Tolland County, Connecticut, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Windham County, Connecticut, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | New Castle County, Delaware, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Sussex County, Delaware, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Alachua County, Florida, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Clay County, Florida, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Duval County, Florida, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Flagler County, Florida, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Hernando County, Florida, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Hillsborough County, Florida, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Leon County, Florida, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Liberty County, Florida, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Nassau County, Florida, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Okeechobee County, Florida, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details | |
| January 01, 1950 | legacy.reporter | Orange County, Florida, United States | December 31, 2004 | Details |









