Diet

• Caterpillars: Feed primarily on vines of the spurge family. Eggs are laid singly along the stems and leaf stalks of the host plant.

• Adults: Do not normally visit flowers. They obtain nutrients from rotting fruit, tree sap, carrion, and mud.

Range

• The Glaucous Cracker occurs from Mexico through Central America to Costa Rica, with its principal range extending through much of Mexico.

• It occurs in the Zihua area; the species is associated with the warm, open woodland and tropical vegetation characteristic of the region.

Habitat

• Found in open tropical woodland, forest edges, dry forest, and semi-arid areas with scattered trees.

• It can tolerate relatively dry conditions and is often encountered in habitats that combine open ground with enough mature trees for adults to use as perches.

• Adults characteristically perch head downward on tree trunks with their wings spread flat, where their mottled coloration provides remarkable camouflage.

Description

• A medium-sized cracker with a wingspan of approximately 70–86 mm.

• The upper wings are intricately mottled gray, brown, cream, and whitish, producing an excellent bark-like camouflage pattern.

• A particularly useful characteristic is the pale, chalky-white area on the outer portion of the forewing, especially well developed in many males. In southern populations it can form a broad, relatively continuous patch, while farther north in Mexico it tends to become more broken and mottled.

• Unlike the very similar Gray Cracker (Hamadryas februa), the forewing cell bar of H. glauconome is generally narrower and lacks the conspicuous red coloration found in H. februa.

• The hindwing underside has a row of small eyespots containing orange scales, another useful feature distinguishing it from many other crackers.

• The sexes are broadly similar, although males generally show the strongest development of the pale forewing patch.