North American Butterflies and Moths List

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Butterflies of North America

Butterflies of Wyoming

American Snout (Libytheana carinenta)
JPG -- species photo

American Snout (Libytheana carinenta [Cramer]) United States populations of this species were formerly referred to as Libytheana bachmanii.

Wing span: 1 3/8 - 2 inches (3.5 - 5 cm).

Identification: Labial palps long and extended forward. Tip of forewing squared off. Upperside brown, forewing with orange at base and inner margin, and white spots on outer half. Underside of hindwing mottled or smooth violet-gray.

Life history: Adults perch on branches and imitate dead leaves by holding palps and antennae downward to look like petioles. Males patrol near host plants to seek females. Eggs are laid in small groups on leaves of the host tree; caterpillars eat young leaves. Adults overwinter in the southern part of their range.

Flight: Two broods; May-June, and August. These butterflies sometimes undertake huge migrations.

Caterpillar hosts: Several species of hackberry (Celtis).

Adult food: Nectar from flowers of aster, dogbane, dogwood, goldenrod, sweet pepperbush, and others.

Habitat: Forest clearings and edges, thorn scrub, brushy fields, roadsides.

Range: Argentina north through Mexico and the West Indies to southern United States. Migrates to central California, southern Nevada, Colorado, and most of the eastern United States.

Conservation: Not usually of concern.

The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

Management needs: None reported.

References:

Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek. 1984. Butterflies east of the Great Plains. Johns 
     Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 294 pages, 54 color plates.

Opler, P. A. and V. Malikul. 1992. A field guide to eastern butterflies. Peterson 
     field guide #4. Houghton-Mifflin Co., Boston. 396 pages, 48 color plates.

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:

Ferris, C.D. and F.M. Brown. 1980. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountain States. 
     University of Oklahoma Press. Norman.

Ferris, C.D. 1971. An Annotated Checklist of the Rhopalocera [Butterflies] of 
     Wyoming. University of Wyoming Agriculture Experiment Station Science 
     Monograph 23: 1-75.   

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.
American Snout (Libytheana carinenta)
distribution map
map legend

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