{"id":150157,"date":"2025-07-09T04:18:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T09:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=150157"},"modified":"2025-08-21T15:15:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T20:15:44","slug":"resting-pearl-crescent-butterfly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/07\/09\/resting-pearl-crescent-butterfly\/","title":{"rendered":"Resting Pearl Crescent Butterfly"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was walking along one of the side roads at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, eyes peeled for frogs and dragonflies, when a delicate sight caught my attention: a Pearl Crescent butterfly perched gracefully on Johnson Grass.<\/p>\n

\"RestingResting Pearl Crescent butterfly in Oklahoma \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f9, 1\/1000, ISO 800, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Pearl Crescents are common butterflies across most of the U.S., except for the west coast, and they show up in all kinds of open spots like road edges, pastures, old fields, and forest edges just like where I found this one.<\/p>\n

Pearl Crescent butterfly patterns can vary a bit, which makes them a little more fun to figure out. The upperside is orange with black borders and fine black markings.<\/p>\n

If you get a look at the underside of the hindwing, there\u2019s usually a dark patch near the edge with a pale crescent shape inside. That\u2019s where the name comes from.<\/p>\n

Pearl Crescent butterflies<\/span><\/a> nectar at a bunch of different wildflowers including swamp milkweed, dogbane, asters, and more.<\/p>\n

Males cruise through open areas looking for females, and once the eggs are laid on the underside of aster leaves, the caterpillars hatch and feed together for a while. When cold weather hits, the young caterpillars hunker down and wait out the winter.<\/p>\n

Sometimes nature hands you something quiet and worth stopping for, right when and where you least expect it.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pearl Crescent butterfly patterns can vary quite a bit, which makes them a little more fun to figure out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13973,16569,13974],"tags":[14190,13984,6041,6042,15100,16573,14044,16570,16571,16572,4156,2315],"class_list":["post-150157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oklahoma","category-pearl-crescent-butterflies","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forest","tag-bottomlands","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-crescent","tag-crescents","tag-johnson-grass","tag-pearl-crescent","tag-pearl-crescent-butterfly","tag-phyciodes-tharos","tag-resting","tag-summer-3"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/pearl-crescent-adult-butterfly-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-1426.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-D3T","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":153170,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/08\/22\/cooperative-pearl-crescent-butterfly-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":150157,"position":0},"title":"Cooperative Pearl Crescent Butterfly At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"While walking one of the side roads at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge yesterday, I found a cooperative resting Pearl Crescent butterfly.","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Pearl Crescent butterfly at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pearl-crescent-butterfly-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-7223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pearl-crescent-butterfly-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-7223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pearl-crescent-butterfly-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-7223.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pearl-crescent-butterfly-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-7223.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":128836,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/21\/butterfly-photos-from-tishomingo-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":150157,"position":1},"title":"Butterfly Photos From Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I wanted to share a few more things with wings: a set of butterfly photos I took recently at Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Orange Sulphur butterfly on a coneflower, Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/orange-sulphur-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1537.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/orange-sulphur-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1537.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/orange-sulphur-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1537.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/orange-sulphur-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1537.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":154262,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/09\/05\/resting-viceroy-butterfly-in-oklahoma\/","url_meta":{"origin":150157,"position":2},"title":"Resting Viceroy Butterfly In Oklahoma","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw plenty of butterflies on my most recent trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. One of my favorites was this lovely, resting Viceroy butterfly.","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting Viceroy butterfly at Sequoyah NWR, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/viceroy-butterfly-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-7489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/viceroy-butterfly-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-7489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/viceroy-butterfly-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-7489.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/viceroy-butterfly-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-7489.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":158419,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/09\/29\/resting-hackberry-emperor-butterfly-in-oklahoma\/","url_meta":{"origin":150157,"position":3},"title":"Resting Hackberry Emperor Butterfly In Oklahoma","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Late last week I was glad to have a resting Hackberry Emperor butterfly in my viewfinder for a few moments at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Hackberry Emperor Butterflies"","block_context":{"text":"Hackberry Emperor Butterflies","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/hackberry-emperor-butterflies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hackberry Emperor butterfly resting on a leaf, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/hackberry-emperor-butterfly-fall-mia-mcpherson-8982.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/hackberry-emperor-butterfly-fall-mia-mcpherson-8982.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/hackberry-emperor-butterfly-fall-mia-mcpherson-8982.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/hackberry-emperor-butterfly-fall-mia-mcpherson-8982.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":132509,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/08\/16\/more-new-butterflies-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":150157,"position":4},"title":"More New Butterflies At Sequoyah NWR!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, when I shared the pale young Raccoon, I mentioned that I also photographed some butterflies at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. Here they are!","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pipevine Swallowtail next to the Arkansas River, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pipevine-swallowtail-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-1350.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pipevine-swallowtail-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-1350.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pipevine-swallowtail-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-1350.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pipevine-swallowtail-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-1350.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":136405,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/07\/question-mark-butterfly-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":150157,"position":5},"title":"Question Mark Butterfly At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been meaning to share this Question Mark butterfly I photographed at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge since last month. Today is as good a day as any.","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Question Mark butterfly, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/question-mark-butterfly-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3980.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/question-mark-butterfly-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3980.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/question-mark-butterfly-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3980.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/question-mark-butterfly-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3980.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}