Pearl
Crescent Butterfly (Phyciodes tharos)
One of God's Little Folk - From All-Creatures.org Art and Photo Journals and Galleries Directory
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"And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day" (Genesis 1:31)
On the sixth day of creation, God made them, and us!
Pearl Crescent Butterfly (Phyciodes tharos)
One of God's Little Folk
Table of Contents
(
Pearl Crescent Butterfly (Phyciodes tharos) - 01)
We had a hard time trying to specifically identify this butterfly.
The color markings are are almost identical to the northern crescent butterfly, but
according to the literature, their flight times are mid June through July, and we took
this photo in September, while the pearl crescent's flight times are from April through
November. The pearl crescent butterfly has a yellow band in the outer (lighter
color) area of the forewings; however, according to the literature, the males are orange,
as this one, and the literature goes on to say that the antennal knobs of the males are
usually black. Thus, we have qualified our identification, which in no way limits
our enjoyment of the wondrous variations in God's creation.
(
Pearl Crescent Butterfly (Phyciodes tharos) - 02)
This enlarged photo of this pearl crescent butterfly does show the
right antennal knob to be darker, indicating that this could be a male pearl crescent.
In this photo, we can also see "feather-like structures" extending out
from the thorax and sweeping back along the abdomen on top of the wings. We couldn't
find any information about these structures in the literature; perhaps one of our readers
could assist us with this. Please refer to "glf-butterfly-pcrescent2" when
writing. This butterfly also seems to be covered with pollen grains, possibly from
asters, which were in bloom and are their host plant.
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Pearl Crescent Butterfly (Phyciodes tharos) - 02a)
The actual size of the pearl crescent butterfly is about 1-1/2
inches across, plus or minus 1/4 inch. The northern pearl crescent is slightly
smaller, ranging is size from about 1 inch to about 1-1/3 inch. We also found one
piece of further confusion in the literature, which indicated that northern pearls are
slightly larger than the pearls, which is counter to the sizes indicated above. We
estimated the size of this butterfly to be slightly over an inch across its wing span.
Since there is so much evil and destruction in the world, we're
thankful to be able to put it aside for a while as we enjoy this and other members of
God's little folk, and the other wonders of God's creation. Let us work together to
preserve and restore our environment for all future generations.
Reference Sources:
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
TheButterflySite.com
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Presented here are just a few of the countless components of God's creation.
Just as we cannot have human and animal life without water and plants, neither
can we have lasting peace without love and compassion. It is our hope and
prayer that this series will motivate people to live and act in a cruelty-free
manner; that we would no longer hurt or destroy each other, the animals or our
environment.