Tithian Sailor Dynamine tithia (Hübner, 1823) | Butterflies and Moths of North America

Family: Nymphalidae

Subfamily: Biblidinae

Identification: Male is iridescent greenish blue above, while female is blue-green with white patch near lower corner of forewing. Below the hindwing is satiny white with red-brown lines.

Wing Span: 1 1/8 - 1 5/16 inches (2.9 - 3.3 cm).

Life History: Unknown.

Flight: All through the year in the tropics.

Caterpillar Hosts: Probably Deschampia species in Euphorbia family.

Adult Food: Bird droppings, sap flows, and fermenting fruit.

Habitat: Tropical forests.

Range: Columbia and Venezuela south to Argentina and Paraguay. A specimen labeled Brewster County, Texas is in the Illinois Natural Survey collection. It seems very unlikely that this butterfly could have strayed to Texas, but there is not contrary proof.

Conservation: Not required for rare stray.

NCGR: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

Management Needs: None reported.

Comments: [Texas specimen correctly identified and illustrated by Kendall & McGuire (1984: pp. 31-32); however it is a very unlikely long-distance stray and it may have been accidentally transported. The species is unknown from Mexico (de la Maza & Turrent 1985, de la Maza et al. 1989). The specimen is in Illinois Natural History Survey.]

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