Cercyonis sthenele
Cercyonis sthenele, the Great Basin wood-nymph, is a North American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
Description
It is dark brown with two eyespots on the forewing with the upper larger than the lower.The wingspan measures. Its flight period is from late June to late August. It is found in arid woodland, especially pinyon-juniper, chaparral and brushland habitats.
Similar species
- Common wood-nymph – larger, eyespots similar in size
- Small wood-nymph – lacks lower eyespot in males, lower eyespot is closer to margin than upper eyespot in females
Subspecies
The following subspecies are recognised:- C. s. behrii
- C. s. hypoleuca Hawks and J. Emmel, 1998
- C. s. masoni Cross, 1937
- C. s. paulus
- C. s. silvestris Edwards, 1861
- C. s. sineocellata Austin and J. Emmel in T. Emmel, 1998
- C. s. sthenele - nominate subspecies endemic to San Francisco Peninsula, now extinct