Common wood-nymph

Description

The common wood-nymph (Cercyonis pegala) is a North American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is also known as the wood-nymph, grayling, blue-eyed grayling, and the goggle eye. The common wood-nymph can vary greatly. All individuals are brown with two eyespots on each forewing – the lower one often being larger than the upper one. Some may have many, few, or no eyespots on the ventral surface of the hindwing. In the southeastern part of its range, it has a large yellow patch on both surfaces of the forewing. In the western part of its range, it may have a pale yellow patch or may be lacking one. Individuals in the Northeast also lack the yellow patch, i.e., C. p. nephele. In individuals with no yellow patch, there are two pale yellow eye rings that encircle both the forewing eyespots. The wingspan measures 5.3 to 7.3 cm (2.1 to 2.9 in). Cercyonis is a genus of butterflies of the subfamily Satyrinae in the family Nymphalidae found in North America. They are commonly called wood-nymphs or wood nymphs.