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Moth Survey

HACKBERRY EMPEROR (Asterocampa celtis)

Identification
Males are smaller than females with more pointed, triangular wings. Forewing is dark with many white dots on the leading edge and has a single, bold eyespot at the midpoint of the outer margin. Hindwing is brown or gray-brown above and is lined with black eyespots. Highly variable underneath with a mix of grays, browns, whites, and black. There is an irregular row of eyespots on the underside of the outer hindwing that is often centered in iridescent blue or green.

Massachusetts Butterfly Club photographs

Kaufman's Butterflies of North America, page 222
Glassberg's Butterflies Through Binoculars, plate 40

Habitat in Vermont
Floodplain forests

Host Plant
American Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)

Adult Food Preferences
Tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, carrion; almost never visits
flowers. Sometimes on mud.

U.S. Distribution

VBS Distribution

VBS Flight Period



Notes
Like it’s congener, finding this butterfly entails knowing its host plant – Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). In Vermont, Hackberry grows in the Champlain Valley and Connecticut
River Valley, with some migration “inland” along major rivers (like the Winooski). Look for warty bark and acuminate (tapering to a sharp point), elm-like leaves. Hackberry
Emperor is a fast and erratic flier and can rest upside down on tree trunks.

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