Northern Crescent

Notes:

Life History: All day long, males patrol near the host plants for receptive females. Eggs are laid in bunches of about 40 on the underside of host plant leaves. Caterpillars eat leaves, and young ones live and feed communally. Third-stage caterpillars hibernate. Flight: One brood from June-July, perhaps two broods in southern Canada. Caterpillar Hosts: Asters, in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Adult Food: Nectar from flowers of dogbane, fleabane, and white clover. Habitat: Moist open areas in rocky places, wooded streams, marsh edges, and shale barrens. Range: Newfoundland and northern New England west across the Great Lake states and southern Canada to British Columbia; south in the western mountains to Utah, southeast Arizona, and southern New Mexico; south in the Appalachians to Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.