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Butterflies of North America

Butterflies of Delaware

Black Dash (Euphyes conspicua)
JPG -- species photo

Black Dash (Euphyes conspicua [W. H. Edwards])

Wing span: 1 1/4 - 1 5/8 inches (3.2 - 4.2 cm).

Identification: Upperside is black; male forewing with a heavy stigma; female wings with some pale spots. Underside of hindwing is red-brown with a curved band of yellow spots.

Life history: Males perch low on marsh vegetation.

Flight: One brood from June-August.

Caterpillar hosts: Uptight sedge (Carex stricta), and possibly others.

Adult food: Nectar from flowers including buttonbush, jewelweed, and swamp thistle.

Habitat: Boggy marshes, wet meadows, and marshy stream banks.

Range: The upper Midwest from eastern Nebraska east to southern Ontario; the central Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts south to southeast Virginia.

Conservation: Not usually required.

The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G4 - Apparently secure globally, though it might 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.



Stanford, R. E. and P. A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of western USA butterflies including 

     adjacent parts of Canada and Mexico. Denver and Fort Collins, CO. 

Author: Jane M. Struttmann

State and Regional References:


Glassberg,  J.  1993.  Butterflies Through Binoculars: A Field Guide to 

     Butterflies in the Boston-New York-Washington Region.  Oxford Univ. Press, 

     New York, N.Y.  160 pp.

     

Opler, P.A. 1998. A field guide to eastern butterflies, revised format.

     Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.     



Shapiro, A.M. 1966.  Butterflies of the Delaware Valley.  American Entomological

     Society Special Publication.  Philadelphia, PA.  79 pp. 



Woodbury, E.N.  1994.  Butterflies of Delmarva.  Delaware Nature Society, Inc.,

     Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, MD.  138 pp.  [NOTE: this book only 

     treats True Butterflies (Papilionoidea).  It does not treat Skippers

     (Hesperioidea).]

Black Dash (Euphyes conspicua)
distribution map
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