''Diaethria anna'', also known as Anna's eighty-eight, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

in wet tropical forests in Middle America. On rare occasions, it can be found as a stray in south

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Its upperside is dark brown with a metallic bluish-green band on the forewings. The underside of the forewings are red, which is followed by a wide, black band and then white tips; the underside of the hindwings is white, with lines that approximate a black-outlined " 88", giving the species its common name. Its markings occasionally appear more like of " 98" or " 89". The caterpillars feed on tropical plants in the families

Ulmaceae The Ulmaceae () are a family of flowering plants that includes the elms (genus ''Ulmus''), and the zelkovas (genus ''Zelkova''). Members of the family are widely distributed throughout the north temperate zone, and have a scattered distribution ...

and Sapindaceae. Adults feed on rotting fruit and dung. Subspecies are: * ''Diaethria anna anna'' * ''Diaethria anna salvadorensis''

References

Species Detail: Anna's Eighty-eight. Butterflies and Moths of North America
Biblidinae Butterflies described in 1844 Butterflies of North America Nymphalidae of South America {{Biblidinae-stub