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Common Wood-Nymph |
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| Cercyonis pegala nephele (W. Kirby, 1837) Cercyonis pegala alope (Fabricius, 1793) |
| Status: Common to abundant resident |
| Flight Period(s): There is one flight whichs peaks in late June/early July. Nebraska records range from 10 June – 19 September. |
| Range: This species inhabits most of the United States and southern Canada with the exception of southern portions of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. It is found statewide in Nebraska. |
| Larval Hostplant(s): Various grasses including members of the following genera: Andropogon, Tridens, Avena, Stipa, and Poa |
| Overwinter: As unfed caterpillars |
| Commentary/Habitat: Adults are residents of prairies, open woodlands and woodland margins. This is an extremely variable butterfly. In Nebraska its appearance ranges from uniformly dark in northern portions of the state to specimens with extensive expanses of yellow adjacent to the eyespots on the forewing from the southern portions of the state. Females tend to be larger and more colored with yellow. Specimens from any given population are likely to be highly variable within these parameters. It follows that numerous subspecies have been described for this butterfly, not all of which are currently in favor. Under the various taxonomies dark northern Nebraska specimens could be considered as subspecies nephele or olympus, while southern Nebraska populations could be considered as pegala, alope or texanus. |
| Similar Species: Mead’s and Small Wood-Nymphs |