Diet

• Caterpillars feed primarily on plants in the acanthus family (Acanthaceae).

• Important host plants include Ruellia, Justicia and Blechum.

• Eggs are laid singly on young leaves, and the caterpillars feed and rest on the undersides of the leaves.

• Adults feed on rotting fruit, tree sap, bird droppings and flower nectar. They also visit damp soil and sand for dissolved minerals.

Range

• Siproeta stelenes is widely distributed from southern Texas and Florida through Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean to northern and central South America, including Brazil.

• It occurs in Guerrero and is found in the Zihua area.

Habitat

• It inhabits tropical and subtropical forest, including evergreen and semi-deciduous forest, forest edges, riparian vegetation, orchards, clearings and secondary growth.

• Adults frequently perch on shrubs in forest openings and patrol slowly through the vegetation.

• In the Zihua area it is well suited to tropical woodland, stream margins and partially shaded clearings where Ruellia, Justicia and related plants grow.

Description

• A large, striking brush-footed butterfly with a wingspan of approximately 83–101 mm.

• The upper surface is dark brown to almost black, dramatically marked with large translucent green to yellow-green patches. The colour resembles the mineral malachite and gives the species its common name.

• The underside is predominantly brown and olive-green, with additional pale and silvery markings that provide camouflage among leaves.

• The wings are broad, with a relatively straight outer margin and a distinctive angular shape that separates S. stelenes from the superficially similar Philaethria dido.

• Caterpillars are dark, spiny and prominently marked with reddish-orange spots. The green chrysalis has sharp, golden projections.

• Adults may roost communally beneath leaves of low shrubs, and males often perch conspicuously while slowly patrolling for females.