Hackberry-specialist
Guides
Asterocampa clyton
tawny emperor
Asterocampa clyton, the tawny emperor, is a brush-footed butterfly native to eastern North America. Adults are distinguished from the similar hackberry emperor by orange-brown forewings with pale orange-yellow spots and the absence of white forewing spots and a lower black eyespot. The species exhibits a dark morph with nearly uniformly dark hindwings in some regions. Adults rarely visit flowers, instead feeding on carrion, plant sap, and dung. The sole larval host is hackberry (Celtis spp.).
Asterocampa clyton flora
Florida Tawny Emperor
Asterocampa clyton flora is a subspecies of the tawny emperor butterfly, commonly known as the Florida Tawny Emperor. It is endemic to Florida and is distinguished from other subspecies by subtle differences in wing pattern and coloration. Like other members of the genus, adults are known to feed on sap flows, rotting fruit, and animal dung rather than flower nectar. The subspecies is associated with forested habitats where its larval host plants, hackberries (Celtis spp.), occur.
Doxocopa pavon
Pavon Emperor, Pavon
Doxocopa pavon is a sexually dimorphic butterfly in the emperor butterfly subfamily Apaturinae, with males displaying iridescent blue-purple upper wing surfaces and females exhibiting mimicry of unrelated Adelpha species. The species ranges from South America through Mexico, with occasional vagrancy into southern Texas. Larvae feed exclusively on hackberry species (Celtis), while adults are nectar-feeders that also engage in mud-puddling and rotting material feeding.