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

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

of the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest 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 the known butterfly ...

, 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 "unispec ...

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 food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other ...

(i.e.,

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

) butterfly in North America (there are a handful of carnivorous moths, for example ''

Fulgoraecia exigua ''Epipyrops exigua'' or ''Fulgoraecia exigua'', the planthopper parasite moth, is a moth in the Epipyropidae family. It was described by Henry Edwards in 1882. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from New Jersey and Pennsy ...

''). 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 "pustule". In pemphigus, autoantibodies form against desmoglein, whi ...

'', ''

Prociphilus ''Prociphilus'' is an aphid genus of the subfamily Eriosomatinae, which cause the plants they attack to produce galls. The aphids reside and feed within the gall. There are around 50 species in this genus. The appearance of ''Prociphilus oriens ...

'', 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 comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

s. The

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

is 23–32 mm. Another butterfly which is possibly carnivorous is ''

Celastrina serotina ''Celastrina serotina'', the cherry gall azure, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found across North America as far north as the treeline. Its flight time is between mid-May and mid-June in eastern Ontario after the spring azure an ...

''. 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 of the ...

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