Band-celled Sister
Adelpha fessonia
Description 2-2 1/2" (51-64 mm). FW tip drawn out to a blunt point. Grayish-brown above with chestnut and chocolate-colored bars, large orange patch on FW costa near tip and small patch at HW outer angle (tornus), distinct complete white band crosses both wings above. Orange and white repeated below, along with blue-gray and russet patches and bars.
Similar Species California Sister larger, has broken white bar, lacks drawn-out wing tip. Laure male has blue reflections, much more orange on FW. Laure and Pavon females have clipped-looking FW tips and paler orange, and lack blue-gray or russet beneath.
Life Cycle Unreported. Caterpillar found on Rondia, a member of the bedstraw family (Rubiaceae) in Costa Rica.
Flight Late summer and autumn in U.S.; probably year-round in Tropics.
Habitat Subtropical woodlands, river bottomlands, and tropical dry forests.
Range Southernmost Texas south to Costa Rica.
Discussion The Band-celled Sister is a member of a large Latin American group of butterflies, which are mostly rather similar in appearance. Vegetated irrigation ditches in the Rio Grande Valley near Pharr, Texas, are usually good spots to search for this species in the United States. Males perch and patrol in forests or along river edges. They take nectar from small white or greenish flowers of tropical shrubs, such as cordias and caseanas, and probably also drink tree sap and rotting fruit.
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