Texan Crescent (Anthanassa texana) lives in desert scrub across Southwestern North America. It feeds on nectar and pollen.
Fascinating facts about the Texan Crescent
- From the Guatemala, the Texan crescent spreads northward across Mexico to southern California, then sweeps east through the southern United States reaching northern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Occasionally, adventurous strays wander as far as Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, South Dakota, and central Nevada.
- The Texan crescent doesn't wait for a single season, it squeezes several generations into a single year, each adult sipping flower nectar for energy. Meanwhile, its caterpillars munch on low-growing Acanthaceae leaves such as Diciliptera brachiata, Jacobinia carnea, Beloperone, Siphonoglossa, and Ruellia species.
- A single Texan crescent butterfly can stretch its wings anywhere between 32 mm and 48 mm, about the length of a small paperclip to a matchstick. deserts, dry gulches, open areas, streamsides, road edges, and city parks, habitats it calls home.
- In southern Florida and Arizona, adult Texan crescents take to the air from March through November. Yet in southern Texas and the tropics they never stop, staying on wing year round.
- Two recognized subspecies split the Texan crescent's range: Anthanassa texana texana occupies Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska and Mexico, while Anthanassa texana seminole, described by Skinner in 1911, lives in Florida and Georgia.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
At a glance
RangeSouthwestern North America
HabitatDesert scrub
DietNectar and pollen
About the Texan Crescent
In the sun-drenched landscapes of North America, the Texan Crescent butterfly dances on delicate wings, its intricate patterns of orange and black a mesmerizing spectacle as it flits from flower to flower. With a gentle, effortless flutter, it navigates the warm air currents, its slender body a blur of motion as it searches for the sweet nectar that sustains it. As it alights upon a vibrant bloom, its wings beat at a hypnotic pace, a whirlwind of color and life that embodies the very essence of this captivating creature.
Hear the Texan Crescent, and 4,400+ more
Real recorded sounds, 11 nature games and a free Daily 5, 1v1 quiz duels, conservation wins and a safe Kids mode. Free on Feravox.
More insects and spiders to discover
