''Tithorea tarricina'', the tarricina longwing, variable presonian, or cream-spotted tigerwing, is a species of butterfly belonging to the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

Description

''Tithorea tarricina'' has a wingspan reaching about , with a forewing of about . The pattern of the wings is quite variable. Usually the dorsal sides of the forewings are black with white spots, while the hindwings are orange with black margins. The underside are similar, with many small white spots along the black margins. The antennae are black. The

chrysalides A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

are completely golden.

Distribution

This rare species is present 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 ...

and in Central and South America.

Habitat

''Tithorea tarricina'' can be found at the edges of forested areas in lowlands and mountain slopes, at an elevation up to above sea level. The host plants are in the genus '' Prestonia'' (mainly '' P. longifolia'' and '' P. portabellensis'' – family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of ...

Subspecies

The following subspecies are recognised:"''Tithorea'' Doubleday, [1847]"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' *''T. t. bonita'' Haensch, 1903 (Ecuador, Peru) *''T. t. duenna'' Bates, 1864 (Mexico to Guatemala) *''T. t. franciscoi'' Brown, 1977 (Venezuela) *''T. t. hecalesina'' C. & R. Felder, 1865 (Colombia) *''T. t. lecromi'' Vitale & Rodriguez, 2004 (Colombia) *''T. t. parola'' Godman & Salvin, 1898 (Colombia) *''T. t. pinthias'' Godman & Salvin, 1878 (Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua) *''T. t. tagarma'' Hewitson, 1874 (Bolivia, Peru) *''T. t. tarricina'' Hewitson, 1858 (Colombia)

References

BioLib

Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory

External links

Remain Gardens
Ithomiini Nymphalidae of South America Butterflies described in 1858 {{Danainae-stub