Bug FAQTexan Crescent
Anthanassa texana · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae
Also called: Texas Crescent
The Texan crescent butterfly has a wingspan of about 3 to 5 cm and belongs to the Nymphalidae family. It lives in deserts, dry gulches, open areas, near streams, along roads, and in city parks across the southern United States, Mexico, and into Central America.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Anthanassa texana, called the Texan crescent, is a butterfly in the Nymphalidae family.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Its wingspan ranges from 32 to 48 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults feed on flower nectar. Larvae eat leaves of low-growing plants in the Acanthaceae family.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
There are several generations each year.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
In southern Texas and tropical areas they can be seen year-round.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 14 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, 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
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Nymphalidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthanassa_texana
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.