''Anthanassa frisia'', the Cuban crescentspot, Cuban checkerspot or Cuban crescent, is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

of 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 ha ...

. Subspecies ''tulcis'' is known by the common names pale-banded crescent or Tulcis crescent; it is treated as a species by some authors.

Subspecies

*''Anthanassa frisia frisia'' (West Indies, Florida) *''Anthanassa frisia hermas'' (Brazil (Pernambuco, Bahia, São Paulo, Mato Grosso), Paraguay, northern Argentina, Ecuador) *''Anthanassa frisia taeniata'' (Ecuador, western Peru) *''Anthanassa frisia dubia'' (coasts of Venezuela and Colombia) *''Anthanassa frisia tulcis'' (Texas, Arizona, Mexico, Guatemala to Panama)

Description

The wingspan of subspecies ''frisia'' is 32–45 mm. Adults are on wing most of the year in southern Florida and throughout the year in the tropics. Subspecies ''tulcis'' has a wingspan of 32–35 mm. Adults are on wing from May to November in southern Texas.

Distribution

The nominate subspecies is found in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and southern

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, with strays to northern Florida. Subspecies ''tulcis'' is found from

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

north through

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to southern

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, strays to west Texas and southern

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. Other subspecies are resident to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Ecology

Larvae of subspecies ''frisia'' feed on '' Beloperone guttata'', while ''tulcis'' larvae have been recorded on '' Dicliptera'' species. Other recorded food plants include ''

Ruellia ''Ruellia'' is a genus of flowering plants commonly known as ruellias or wild petunias. They are not closely related to petunias (''Petunia'') although both genera belong to the same euasterids I, euasterid clade. The genus was named in honor of ...

'' species. Adults feed on flower nectar.

Gallery

Pale-banded crescent (Anthanassa tulcis) male.jpg, ''A. f. tulcis'', or ''A. tulcis'', male,

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Pale-banded crescent (Anthanassa tulcis) female Belize.jpg, ''A. f. tulcis'', female,

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

Tulcis Crescent (Anthanassa tulcis) ventral.jpg, ''A. f. tulcis'' Cuban checkerspot (Anthanassa frisia frisia) 2.JPG, ''A. f. frisia'',

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Cuban crescentspot (Anthanassa frisia hermas).JPG, ''A. f. hermas'',

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

External links

Cuban crescent at Butterflies and Moths of North AmericaTulcis crescent at Butterflies and Moths of North America
Melitaeini Nymphalidae of South America Butterflies described in 1832 Taxa named by Felipe Poey {{Nymphalinae-stub Butterflies of Cuba Butterflies of Central America Lepidoptera of the United States Lepidoptera of Mexico