Vesta Crescent (Phyciodes vesta [W. H. Edwards])
Wing span: 7/8 - 1 1/2 inches (2.2 - 3.8 cm).
Identification: Orange above with markings of fine black lines. Below, forewing has a series of postmedian and submarginal orange circles on a dark background.
Life history: Males patrol for females all day in low areas. Females lay eggs in clumps on leaves of host plant; caterpillars eat leaves.
Flight: Many broods from April-September in the north, February-December in South Texas, all year in Mexico.
Caterpillar hosts: Hairy tubetongue (Siphonoglossa pilosella) in the acanthus family.
Adult food: Flower nectar.
Habitat: Thorn and mesquite woodlands, desert, prairie, road edges, dry streambeds.
Range: Guatemala north through Mexico to southeast Arizona and central Texas. Temporary colonist to Arkansas, Colorado, and Nebraska.
