Tawny Crescent (Phyciodes batesii) was formerly believed to have occurred in and been extirpated from Maryland, specifically from Montgomery County. Its inclusion as part of the Maryland butterfly fauna rests solely on a reference from Austin Clark in his 1932 The Butterflies of the District of Columbia and Vicinity, where he notes he collected specimens of batesii in 1925 and 1929 near Cabin John. Based on contemporary and historical observation data for Tawny Crescent, however, these data are almost certainly in error, and the specimens Clark collected have been lost. The butterflies he saw were most likely of the Northern Crescent complex (the Phyciodes cocyta group) and not batesii. Currently, the primarily northern Tawny Crescent is known in the Appalachian Chain from just a few relict populations in the mountains of North Carolina and Georgia. It still ranges widely in the north and portions of the west (Brock & Kaufman, 2003; Glassberg, 1999). (R. Borchelt, pers. comm.)
Reported to use Wavy-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum undulatum) as a larval host. May use other species as well (Allen, 1997).
There are 3 records in the project database.
| GA | AL | WA | FR | CL | MO | HO | BA | BC | HA | CE | PG | AA | CV | CH | SM | KE | QA | CN | TA | DO | WI | SO | WO |
