Cercyonis pegala agawamensis (Satyridae): A new butterfly subspecies from the coastal salt marshes of the northeastern United States of America

A new subspecies of the Common Wood Nymph (Cercyonis pegala) from the New England coastline in the northeastern region of the United States is described on the basis of phenotype, behavior, habitat, seasonality, flight period, and phenology. Agawamensis is univoltine as in all pegala. The newly described subspecies occurs almost entirely in coastal salt marshes and estuarine meadows, quite atypical as understood for Cercyonis pegala.

The newly described subspecies agawamensis predominately prefers and occurs within large open salt marshes but can also be found in similar habitat along smaller tidal rivers, coastal inlets and streams. Additional key words: phenotype, behavior, habitat, seasonality, flight period, phenology, coastal salt marshes.