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.
