Phaon Crescent

The Phaon Crescent (Phyciodes phaon) butterfly is a common sight in Florida yards and roadsides. The adult butterflies can be found wherever this is a large patch of Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) to be found. The diminutive flowers on the Frogfruit provide nectar for the tiny adult  butterflies and the foliage is a host for their larvae. Phaon Crescents are closely related to the slightly larger Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) butterfly but the Phaon Crescent is only found across the southern portions of North America and along the Eastern seaboard.

Photo by Melanie Long

Phaon crescents lay their eggs in clusters on the undersides of host plant leaves. The clusters may sometimes even be stacked on top of each other.

Photo by Melanie Long

The eggs and newly-hatched larvae are unbelievably tiny. This microscope image (30x) shows then next to the point of a pin for size comparison.

Young caterpillars are gregarious and will feed together for the first part of their lives. It's not uncommon to find a wiggling mass of larvae all together on one small leaf.

The tiny newly-emerged larvae eat only the surface of the leaves, avoiding the tougher fibrous material that is harder to digest. This microscope video shows several new caterpillars feeding on frogfruit.

Phaon Crescent larvae top out at less than an inch in length. The one shown below is about done eating and growing, and will be ready to pupate soon.

Phaon chrysalids show two distinct color variations for the species which help them to better camouflage in the wild. The lighter color chrysalis was tucked in between some dried Frogfruit leaves that were nearly an identical color to the chrysalis. The second chrysalis was positioned low on a stem near to the muddy soil.

What's in a Name? The Genus Phyciodes is commonly known as Crescents and lists 18 species found in North and South America. Most species are highly spotted, variable in pattern and some are sexually dimorphic which means that males and females may have different markings or colors. The name Phyciodes may derive from the Greek word “phykos” which means painted or covered with cosmetics.

As for the species epithet, in Greek mythology Phaon was an old and ugly boatman who ferried Aphrodite a far distance and would accept no payment from the goddess. In exchange for his services, Aphrodite presented Phaon with an ointment that gave him back his youth and made him beautiful.