The common wood-nymph (''Cercyonis pegala'') is a North American species of

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

in the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

. It is also known as the wood-nymph, grayling, blue-eyed grayling, and the goggle eye.

Taxonomy

The following subspecies are recognized: *''Cercyonis pegala abbotti'' (Brown, 1969) *''Cercyonis pegala alope'' (Fabricius, 1793) – Texas *''Cercyonis pegala ariane'' (Boisduval, 1852) – Oregon, Utah *''Cercyonis pegala blanca'' (Emmel & Mattoon, 1972) *''Cercyonis pegala boopis'' (Behr, 1864) – British Columbia *''Cercyonis pegala damei'' (Barnes & Benjamin, 1926) *''Cercyonis pegala ino'' (Hall, 1924) – prairies *''Cercyonis pegala nephele'' (Kirby, 1837) – northern Canada and US *''Cercyonis pegala olympus'' (Edwards, 1880) *''Cercyonis pegala pegala'' (Fabricius, 1775) - eastern US *''Cercyonis pegala stephensi'' (Wright, 1905) *''Cercyonis pegala texana'' (Edwards, 1880) – Texas *''Cercyonis pegala wheeleri'' (Edwards, 1873)

Description

The common wood-nymph can vary greatly. All individuals are brown with two eyespots on each forewing – the lower one often being larger than the upper one. Some may have many, few, or no eyespots on the ventral surface of the hindwing. In the southeastern part of its range, it has a large yellow patch on both surfaces of the forewing. In the western part of its range, it may have a pale yellow patch or may be lacking one. Individuals in the Northeast also lack the yellow patch, i.e., ''C. p. nephele''. In individuals with no yellow patch, there are two pale yellow eye rings that encircle both the forewing eyespots. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

measures 5.3 to 7.3 cm (2.1 to 2.9 in). These butterflies have ears at their forewing bases that are most sensitive to low frequency sounds (less than 5 kHz). A conspicuous swelling of their forewing subcostal vein is directly connected to the ears.

Similar species

In the western part of the common wood-nymph's range, there are a few similar species. The Great Basin wood-nymph ('' Cercyonis sthenele'') and the small wood-nymph ('' Cercyonis oetus'') are smaller, and the lower forewing eyespot is smaller than the upper one. Mead's wood-nymph ('' Cercyonis meadii'') has a bright red-orange area on the ventral forewing.

Distribution and habitat

The common wood-nymph ranges from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

and

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

west to northern

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

south to northern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

southeast to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and east to northern

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The common wood-nymph is found in a variety of open habitats, such as open

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

s, woodland edges, fields,

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

wet meadow A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are Solubility, saturated for part or all of the growing season which prevents the growth of trees and brush. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of ...

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

es, and savannas.

Ecology and behaviour

Life cycle

The female common wood-nymph is the active flight partner. The female lays her eggs on or near the host plant. The egg is pale yellow, later turning to a tan color with orange or pink blotches. The caterpillar makes no shelters or nests. It is green or yellowish green with darker green stripes that run the length of the body. It has two short pinkish projections on the end of the abdomen. It has yellow spiracles and is covered in thin, white hairs. The caterpillar will reach a length of 5 cm (2 in). The common wood-nymph caterpillar is very similar to satyr caterpillars in the genera '' Hermeuptychia'', '' Cyllopsis'', and '' Neonympha''. It can be separated by its larger size and habitat. The pale green

chrysalis A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages the ...

is striped in white or pale yellow. The first

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

caterpillar hibernates.

Flight period

The common wood-nymph is found from mid-May to early October in the eastern part of its range. It is found from late June to early July in California and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. It has one brood per year throughout its entire range.

Host plants

Here is a list of host plants used by the common wood-nymph: * ''

Andropogon ''Andropogon'' (common names: beard grass, bluestem grass, broomsedge) is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to much of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as Southern Europe and various oceanic islands. Over 100 speci ...

'' sp. – beard grasses * '' Danthonia spicata'' – poverty oatgrass * '' Poa pratensis'' – Kentucky bluegrass * ''

Schizachyrium ''Schizachyrium'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words (), meaning "to split," and (), meaning "chaff." It refers to either the glume or the toothed lemmas. In the United State ...

'' sp. – bluestems * '' Tridens flavus'' – purple top

Adult food sources

The common wood-nymph feeds on

nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

, tree sap, and decaying matters. Some of the plants it nectars on include: * ''

Asclepias tuberosa ''Asclepias tuberosa'', commonly known as butterfly weed, is a species of milkweed native to eastern and southwestern North America. It is commonly known as butterfly weed because of the butterfly, butterflies that are attracted to the plant by ...

'' – butterfly weed * ''

Cirsium arvense ''Cirsium arvense'' is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native throughout Europe and western Asia, northern Africa and widely introduced elsewhere.Joint Nature Conservation Committee''Cirsium arvense'' The standa ...

'' – Canada thistle * ''

Cirsium vulgare ''Cirsium vulgare'', commonly known as spear thistle, bull thistle, or common thistle, is a species of the Asteraceae genus ''Cirsium'', native throughout most of Europe (north to 66°N, locally 68°N), Western Asia (east to the Yenisei Valley ...

'' – bull thistle * ''

Daucus carota ''Daucus carota'', whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old World ...

'' – wild carrot * '' Dipsacus sylvestris'' - teasel * ''

Monarda fistulosa ''Monarda fistulosa'', the wild bergamot or bee balm,Wild Bergamot
, Edmonton Naturalization Group ...

'' – wild bergamot * '' Pycnanthemum virginianum'' – Virginia mountain mint * ''

Rudbeckia hirta ''Rudbeckia hirta'', commonly called black-eyed Susan, is a North American flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It grows to tall with daisy-like yellow flower heads. There are numerous cultivars. It is toxic when ingested by cats, but was us ...

'' – black-eyed susan * ''

Trifolium pratense ''Trifolium pratense'' (from Latin prātum, meaning meadow), red clover, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family, Fabaceae. It is native to the Old World, but planted and naturalised in many other regions. Description ...

'' – red clover * '' Vernonia gigantea'' – tall ironweed

Image gallery

File:Common Wood-Nymph Megan McCarty02.jpg, Dorsal File:Common Wood-Nymph Megan McCarty03.jpg, Ventral File:Cercyonis_pegala.jpg File:Common_Wood_Nymph_(Cercyonis_pegala).jpg

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2674031 Cercyonis Butterflies of North America Butterflies described in 1775 Lepidoptera of the United States