Bug FAQAmerican Snout
Libytheana carinenta · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae
Also called: Snout Butterfly
Source: Wikipedia
American Snout butterflies have black-brown wings with white and orange patches and a squared-off hook tip on the forewing. They hide upside-down under twigs, blend with dead leaves, and migrate from June to October, often after drought and rain. Caterpillars eat hackberry (Celtis) leaves, which can lead to noticeable damage on these trees.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Wings are dark with white and orange markings, and the forewing tip is squared and hook-shaped.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They often hang upside down under a twig, making them hard to see.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed on hackberry trees (Celtis species) where eggs are laid singly.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Large migrations attract newspaper attention in Texas and Mexico. Migrations happen from June to October and are linked to drought followed by summer rains.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Migrations occur from June through October.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
They occur throughout North and South America.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
They have long mouthparts and antennae that look like a dead leaf stem.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 44 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Arizona, Illinois, Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Are they a problem for gardens or trees?
Their caterpillars feed on hackberry trees and can cause noticeable leaf loss.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Nymphalidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_snout
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.