Crescent Metalmark (Apodemia phyciocoides Barnes & Benjamin)
Wing span: Not reported.
Identification: Upperside checkered with orange and brown. Underside orange with wide white bands.
Life history: Not reported.
Flight: Several flights in Mexico from April-September.
Caterpillar hosts: Not reported.
Adult food: Nectar from flowers of Eriogonum abertianum and Aloysia species.
Habitat: Near cottonwood-willow woodlands.
Range: Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico north to the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona.
Conservation: Extirpated in the United States. Original report may have been erroneous.
The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G1 - Critically imperiled globally because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer occurrences, or very few remaining individuals), or because of some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable to extinction. (Critically endangered throughout its range).
Management needs: None reported.
References:
Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calif. 583 pages, 64 color plates. Tilden, J. W. 1986. A field guide to western butterflies. Houghton-Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass. 370 pages, 23 color plates.
Author: Jane M. Struttmann
State and Regional References:
Neck, R.W. 1996. A Field Guide to Butterflies of Texas. Gulf Publishing Co., Houston, Texas. Opler, Paul A. 1999. Peterson Field Guide to Western Butterflies, revised edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass. Stanford, R.E. and P.A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western USA Butterflies. Privately published, Denver, Colo. Tilden, J.W. and A.C. Smith. 1986. A Field Guide to Western Butterflies. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass. Tveten, J. and Tveten, G. 1996. Butterflies of Houston & Southeast Texas. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin, TX. 292 pp.