Mead's Wood Nymph (Cercyonis meadii [W. H. Edwards])
Wing span: 1 3/8 - 1 3/4 inches (3.5 - 4.5 cm).
Identification: Upperside is chocolate-brown. Forewing has a reddish patch which surrounds eyespots; upper eyespot is usually the largest. Underside of forewing is mostly reddish; hindwing is mottled brown and white with only a few small eyespots.
Life history: Males patrol all day to find females. Eggs are laid singly on the host plant. Caterpillars hatch and then go into hibernation, not feeding until the following spring.
Flight: One brood from late July-early September.
Caterpillar hosts: Grasses.
Adult food: Flower nectar.
Habitat: Juniper-pinyon woodland and dry, open pine forest.
Range: Eastern Montana, western North Dakota, eastern Wyoming, and central Colorado south to central Utah, central Arizona, southeast New Mexico, west Texas, and northwest Chihuahua, Mexico.
