''Greta morgane'', the thick-tipped greta, is a day active ithomiine butterfly from the subfamily

Ithomiinae Ithomiini is a butterfly tribe in the nymphalid subfamily Danainae. It is sometimes referred to as the tribe of clearwing butterflies or glasswing butterflies. Some authors consider the group to be a subfamily (Ithomiinae). These butterflies are ...

."''Greta'' Hemming, 1934"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' The length of the wings of this clearwing butterfly range from 56 to 58 mm. It is a common butterfly in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, Middle-America, and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. It has been recorded in 2004 as a stray in south

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The caterpillar uses plants from the deadly nightshade family (

Solanaceae The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orn ...

) as hosts. Therefore, the ''Greta morgane'' has body fluids which are nauseating for birds, making them unattractive prey.

References

Further reading