Diet

• The larval food plants include a wide variety of woody and herbaceous plants.

• Adults visit flowers for nectar.

Range

• Telegonus fulgerator is a widely distributed Neotropical species occurring from Mexico and Central America through much of South America.

• It occurs in Mexico, including the Pacific lowlands, and is present in the Zihua region.

Habitat

• It inhabits tropical dry forest, tropical rainforest, woodland, forest edges, clearings and secondary vegetation.

• In the Zihua region, suitable habitat includes tropical dry forest, thorn scrub and other lowland vegetation along the Pacific coast.

• Adults are often encountered in sunny openings and along forest edges, where they perch on foliage and make rapid, darting flights.

• The species can occur across a broad range of elevations and habitat types, provided suitable host plants are present.

Description

• A medium-sized skipper with a predominantly black upper surface and conspicuous blue to blue-green scaling around the basal portions of the wings.

• The forewings have two prominent pale bands or groups of translucent spots, giving the species its common name, Two-barred Flasher.

• The pale markings range from whitish to pale blue, while the underside of the wings is typically yellowish to orange.

• The thorax is covered with bluish hairs, providing an additional feature useful for identification.

• Caterpillars are highly variable in colour and pattern, but mature larvae commonly have a dark body with contrasting yellow markings along the sides.