''Feniseca tarquinius'', the harvester, is a

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 ...

of the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family (biology), family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of ...

, and the only member of the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus ''Feniseca''. It is found in eastern North America. This butterfly is the only

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...

(i.e.,

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

) butterfly in North America (there are a handful of carnivorous moths, for example '' Fulgoraecia exigua''). The larvae feed on various aphids, such as '' Neoprociphilus'', ''

Pemphigus Pemphigus ( or ) is a rare group of blistering autoimmune diseases that affect the skin and mucous membranes. The name is derived from the Greek root ''pemphix'', meaning "blister". In pemphigus, autoantibody, autoantibodies form against de ...

'', '' Prociphilus'', and '' Schizoneura''. It is found in early spring until fall and is generally scarce. It lives in wooded areas near streams close to

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

s. 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 ...

is 23–32 mm. Another butterfly which is possibly carnivorous is '' Celastrina serotina''. It feeds on galls on

black cherry ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub in the r ...

and possibly also on the eriophid mites that make the galls.Pavulaan, H. ''Celastrina serotina'' (Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae): a New Butterfly Species from the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada.
/ref>

References

External links

Harvester
Butterflies and Moths of North America

at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera
Bugguide.net. Species ''Feniseca tarquinius'' - Harvester - Hodges#4249
Miletinae Butterflies of North America Taxa named by Augustus Radcliffe Grote Monotypic butterfly genera Lycaenidae genera {{Miletinae-stub