Size: Up to 1 inch wingspan

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Key ID features:  Male above, dark overall, with orange and light orange spots surrounded by black, HW with submarginal band of small black dots circled with orange.  Male HW below cream, tan and brown bands and patches, and inconspicuous marginal crescent below midpoint. Female with larger orange and yellow spots, with a near rectangular pale orange vertical bar in FW cell, at leading margin. Female below white with brown patches and irregular red-brown lines, bright submarginal white crescent with brown on both sides.

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Similar species: Female Northern Crescent lacks light bar in cell at leading edge of FW above. California Crescent has slight indent in FW margin.

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Host plant: Aster species, including western showy aster (Eurybia conspicua) and Cascade aster (Eucephalus ledophyllus).

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Habitat: Mountain meadows, seeps, roadsides, forest edges, lowland prairies.   

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Range: Willamette Vallley, Cascade Range, Siskiyou and Klamath Mtns, Steens Mtn, Ochocos, Wallowa Mtns and Blue Mtns.

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Season: Mid-May to late September

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Abundance: Common 

 

Conservation Status: Secure