White Peacock
Anartia jatrophae
Description 2-2 3/8" (51-60 mm). FW tip extends slightly, rounded; HW bluntly tailed. Above and below, white, blending to buff and orange in margins, overlaid with complex pattern of brown and orange scrawls and small black eyespots.
Life Cycle Egg pale yellow. Caterpillar black and spiny with silver spots. Chrysalis green, darkening with age; smooth.
Host plants are ruellia (Ruellia occidentalis) and water hyssop (Bacopa monniera).
Flight Year-round except in cold weather.
Habitat Swampy places, watersides, shorelines, and disturbed ground.
Range S. Florida and S. Texas, straying occasionally as far north as Kansas and Massachusetts; also much of the American Tropics.
Discussion Much more limited to the Tropics than its relative the Buckeye, the White Peacock also invades the North. However, it is neither as strong a flier nor as hardy as the Buckeye, and remains a rarity outside its southern strongholds.
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