Windwolf
Crex Meadows Butterflies... The True Brushfoots
True Brushfoot Butterflies
Common Buckeye
Junonia coenia
Picture taken June 20, 2007
| Kingdom | Animalia | (Animals) |
| Phylum | Arthropoda | (Arthropods) |
| Superclass | Hexapoda | (Hexapods) |
| Class | Insecta | (Insects) |
| Subclass | Pterygota | (Winged Insects) |
| Order | Lepidoptera | (Butterflies and Moths) |
| Superfamily | Papilionoidea | (Butterflies) |
| Family | Nymphalidae | (Brushfooted Butterflies) |
| Subfamily | Nymphalinae | (Crescents, Checkerspots, Anglewings, etc.) |
| Genus | Junonia | |
| Species | coenia | (Common Buckeye) |
Picture taken June 12, 2007
Wing span: 1 5/8 - 2 3/4 inches (4.2 - 7 cm).
Caterpillar hosts: Plants from the snapdragon family including snapdragon (Antirrhinum), toadflax (Linaria), and Gerardia; the plantain family including plantains (Plantago); and the acanthus family including ruellia (Ruellia nodiflora).
Females lay eggs singly on leaf buds or on upperside of host plant leaves.
Habitat: Open, sunny areas with low vegetation and some bare ground.
This specie of butterfly I have spotted several times in the meadows this year. Of all the times, this is the only picture I was able to get with its wings closed.
Later in the season, the size of these butterflies seemed to become smaller, not only in Crex Meadows but in other locations where I encountered them. I do not know if this was an effect of the dry summer. All locations in 2007 where I observed this butterfly later in the season, were affected by lower rainfalls.