Painted Crescent

Phyciodes picta · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Painted Crescent
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

The painted crescent is a butterfly that belongs to the Nymphalidae family and is part of the crescents, checkerspots, and anglewings group. It occurs in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

The painted crescent is found in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 12 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah, Florida.

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

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Painted Crescent photo 3
Photo: William Harmon, CC BY
Painted Crescent photo 4
Photo: Bobby McCabe, CC BY
Painted Crescent photo 5
Photo: stevemerkley, CC BY
Painted Crescent photo 6
Photo: Wendy McCrady, CC BY

Same family (Nymphalidae)

MonarchMonarchDanaus plexippusRed AdmiralRed AdmiralVanessa atalantaPainted LadyPainted LadyVanessa carduiGulf FritillaryGulf FritillaryDione vanillaeSpeckled WoodSpeckled WoodPararge aegeriaEuropean Peacock ButterflyEuropean Peacock ButterflyAglais io

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyciodes_picta

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.