Diet

• Caterpillars feed on plants in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae. The larvae consume leaves, buds, and flowers.

• Adults feed on nectar from small flowering plants and may also obtain nutrients from other sources such as damp soil and decaying organic material.

Range

• The Mexican Sailor has a broad Neotropical distribution extending from Mexico through Central America and across much of tropical South America to Argentina and Paraguay.

• It occurs in Guerrero and is an common butterfly in the Zihua area, particularly in warm woodland and disturbed vegetation.

Habitat

• It inhabits tropical and subtropical forest, humid and seasonally dry woodland, scrub, grassland, and agricultural areas.

• Forest edges and sunny openings are especially suitable because they support the low-growing euphorb plants used by the caterpillars.

• Adults are often encountered in sunny spots along woodland edges, where their rapid flight can make them easy to overlook.

Description

• A relatively small to medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of approximately 40–44 mm.

• The species is strongly sexually dimorphic. Males have a striking metallic blue-green to bluish upper surface, while females are predominantly brown with contrasting white bands and patches.

• The underside of both sexes is considerably more cryptic, with brownish coloration and pale markings. Small rounded blue or bluish eyespots near the hindwing margin are characteristic.

• The forewings are somewhat triangular, while the hindwings have a gently scalloped outer margin.