Map Snapshot
123 Records
Status
Like its relative, the Hackberry Emperor, the Tawny Emperor (Asterocampa clyton) is closely tied to the presence of hackberry trees. This butterfly, like its relative, prefers sap or rotting fruit to flowers, and also habitually perches high up on tree trunks and other vertical surfaces. They are territorial and will chase away other butterflies from their airspace. This species has two broods, one flying in June and July, and another in mid-August to mid-September (Butterflies of Maryland: A Biological Summary and Checklist by Lynn Davidson & Richard Smith).
Description
Similar to Hackberry Emperor, with dark veins and pale spots on the wings. May be distinguished from Hackberry by noting the absence of submarginal eyespots on the forewing (Hackberry has one or two), and by the two solid bars within cell of forewing (Hackberry shows one broken bar).
Relationships
This species uses Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) and Dwarf Hackberry (C. tenuifolia) as larval hosts.
Seasonality Snapshot
Source: Wikipedia
| Asterocampa clyton | |
|---|---|
| |
| Dorsal view | |
| |
| Ventral view | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Asterocampa |
| Species: | A. clyton
|
| Binomial name | |
| Asterocampa clyton | |
| |
Asterocampa clyton, the tawny emperor, is a species of brush-footed butterfly. It is native to North America, especially the eastern half from Canada to northern Mexico. The tawny emperor should not be mistaken for a very similar Asterocampa butterfly, the hackberry emperor, which can be distinguished by the white spots near the tip of its forewing and the black eyespot lower along the edge of the forewing.[2]
The upperside is mostly dark brown. The forewing is an orange-brown color with pale orange-yellow spots. The underside is mainly gray brown with the forewing having some black and pale yellowish markings. The wingspan measures 2 to 2.6 inches (51 to 66 mm). A dark morph of this species is regionally common with nearly uniformly dark hind wings.
This butterfly may be seen flying near houses, gravel driveways, near water, muddy places, gardens, and woodlands. Its only host plant is hackberry trees. The adult feeds on carrion, plant sap, and dung, and rarely land on flowers.
The female lays clusters of green eggs. The larva is green with yellow, white, or greenish stripes.
References
[edit]- ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 Asterocampa clyton Tawny Emperor". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^ "hackberry emperor - Asterocampa celtis (Boisduval & Leconte)". entnemdept.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
External links
[edit]
- Species Profile
- Butterflies & Moths of North America
- Tawny Emperor, Butterflies of Canada]
- Asterocampa clyton on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
 | This article related to members of the butterfly subfamily Apaturinae is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |