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Species of butterfly
Mestra dorcas
Female M. d. dorcas ,
Jamaica
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Nymphalidae
Genus:
Mestra
Hübner , [1825]
Species:
M. dorcas
Binomial name
Mestra dorcas
Synonyms
Genus synonymy
Cystineura Boisduval, [1836]
Species synonymy
Papilio dorcas Fabricius, 1775
Mestra bogotana C. & R. Felder, 1867
Mestra amymone
Papilio mardania Cramer, 1779
Papilio hersilia Fabricius, 1777
Cystineura cana Erichson, [1849]
Cystineura bogotana C. & R. Felder, 1867
Cystineura floridana Strecker, 1900
Cystineura cowiana Butler, 1902
Mestra hypermestra Hübner, [1825]
Cystineura tocantina Bates, 1865
Cystineura amymone Ménétriés, 1857
Cystineura aurantia Weeks, 1902
Cystineura apicalis burchelli Moulton, 1908
Cysteneura hypermnestra sordida Hayward, 1931
Cystineura latimargo Hall, 1929
Mestra is a genus of
nymphalid
butterfly . It contains the single species Mestra dorcas , the Jamaican mestra , which is found from southern North America to South America and possibly Mestra cana , the St Lucia mestra, found in the
Lesser Antilles (though this may be a misidentification).
[1]
The
wingspan is 35–50 mm. Adults are on wing year round in southern Texas, but it is most numerous from June to November. They have been recorded feeding on the nectar of
Lantana flowers.
[2]
The larvae feed on
Tragia neptifolia (which may be a misspelling of
Tragia nepetifolia ).
Subspecies
Listed alphabetically:
[1]
M. d. amymone (Ménétriés, 1857) (Louisiana to southern Texas and in Nicaragua, Costa Rica) – Amymone
M. d. apicalis (Staudinger, 1886) (Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil: São Paulo, Goiás, Pará)
M. d. dorcas Hübner, [1825] (Jamaica)
M. d. hersilia (Fabricius, 1777) (Guyana, Colombia, St. Lucia, Trinidad)
M. d. hypermestra Hübner, [1825] (Brazil: Pará, Paraguay)
M. d. latimargo (Hall, 1929) (Ecuador)
M. d. semifulva (C. & R. Felder, 1867) (Colombia)
References
^
a
b
Mestra at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
^
[1] , Butterflies and Moths of North America