Diet

• Adults: Feed primarily on flower nectar and fermenting or decaying fruit. They may also visit other nutrient-rich sources, particularly males, which sometimes gather at moist ground or animal dung.

• Flowers reported as adult food sources include Lantana, Cordia, Croton and Baccharis.

• Caterpillars: Feed on plants in the Rubiaceae.

Range

• Adelpha fessonia, commonly called the Band-celled Sister or Mexican Sister, occurs from Mexico south through Central America to western Panama.

• In Mexico, it is relatively widespread. Around Zihua, Adelpha fessonia would likely be considered occasional to locally common, particularly in suitable dry-forest and forest-edge habitat.

Habitat

• Adelpha fessonia is associated with deciduous and semi-deciduous forest, particularly forest edges, clearings and trails.

• Adults frequently perch in sunlit gaps and along forest margins, with males often establishing perches from which they chase passing butterflies.

• Around Zihua, suitable habitat includes tropical deciduous forest, forest edges, sunny clearings, dry hillsides, streamside trails and areas of secondary vegetation.

Size

• Adelpha fessonia is a medium-sized brush-footed butterfly, with a wingspan of approximately 56–70 mm.

• The upper wings are predominantly dark brown, with a conspicuous orange patch near the forewing tip.

• A broad white median/postdiscal band crosses both the forewings and hindwings, reaching the leading edge of the forewing. This unbroken white band is an important identification feature.

• The underside is considerably more cryptic, with brown, reddish and pale markings that help the butterfly blend into vegetation when resting.