Pale cracker | |
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Glaucous Cracker along Mex200 south of the mouth of Rio Seco, Oaxaca, Mexico, 080331. Hamadryas glauconome. | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Nymphalidae |
Genus: | Hamadryas |
Species: | H. glauconome |
Binomial name | |
Hamadryas glauconome (H.W. Bates, 1864) | |
Synonyms | |
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Hamadryas glauconome, the pale cracker or glaucous cracker, is a species of cracker butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It was described by Henry Walter Bates in 1864 and is found in Mexico, Central America and south to Peru. It has been recorded as an unexpected vagrant in the United States in southern Florida, [1] Arizona and Texas. [2] [3]
Adults have wings mottled in grey, brown and white. They are very similar in appearance to the grey cracker (Hamadryas februa) and like them have small, submarginal eyespots on the underside of the hindwings that incorporate some orange scales; these are the only two members of the genus to have orange eyespot scales. The pale cracker differs from the grey cracker in lacking a small red bar on the forewing. [1]
The pale cracker is native to Mexico, Central America and South America as far south as Guatemala and Peru. It has been recorded as a vagrant in the United States, in southeastern Arizona (rare stray), south Texas (one sighting) and Florida. It is found in open areas with scattered trees, both moist areas and semi-arid ones. [1] [2] [3]
Adults do not visit flowers, instead feeding on rotting fruit, carrion, and mud. [1] [2] Adults are in the habit of resting on tree trunks where their mottled appearance makes them inconspicuous. On the approach of another butterfly, a male will take to the air, emitting a cracking sound; if the approaching butterfly is a male, it will respond with a crack while a female will remain silent, and this enables the male to select a partner of the opposite sex. [1] In the evening, the butterflies congregate on the trunk of one tree before flying into nearby trees and bushes to roost separately. [2]
The eggs are laid on the leaves of vines in the family Euphorbiaceae, the host plant in Guatemala being Dalechampia scandens . [1]
Papilio multicaudata, the two-tailed swallowtail, is a species of the family Papilionidae found in western North America from British Columbia to Central America.
Cracker butterflies are a Neotropical group of medium-sized brush-footed butterfly species of the genus Hamadryas. They acquired their common name due to the unusual way that males produce a "cracking" sound as part of their territorial displays. The most comprehensive work about their ecology and behavior is that of Julian Monge Najera et al. (1998). The genus was erected by Jacob Hübner in 1806.
Adelpha californica, the California sister, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. They are common in California, but can also be found in western Nevada and Oregon, as well as in northern Baja California. The upper surfaces of their wings are dark brown to black with wide cream white bands dissecting both wings and two orange patches near the tips of the forewings. The underside is variously colored with browns, blue, orange, and white. A. californica is unpalatable to predators and is part of a large mimicry complex.
The common wood-nymph is a North American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is also known as the wood-nymph, grayling, blue-eyed grayling, and the goggle eye.
Hamadryas guatemalena, the Guatemalan cracker or Guatemalan calico, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found from southern North America to central South America.
Hamadryas amphinome, the red cracker, is a species of cracker butterfly in the family Nymphalidae, native to regions of North and South America.
Hamadryas arinome, the turquoise cracker, is a species of cracker butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. The species was first described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1853. It is found from Mexico south to the Amazon basin.
Hamadryas laodamia, the starry night cracker or starry cracker, is a species of cracker butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It can be found from Mexico to the Amazon basin, but is most common in lowland forest in the Caribbean area.
Hamadryas feronia, the blue cracker or variable cracker, is a species of cracker butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the southern parts of North America and southwards to Brazil.
Anthanassa frisia, the Cuban crescentspot, Cuban checkerspot or Cuban crescent, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Subspecies tulcis is known by the common names pale-banded crescent or Tulcis crescent; it is treated as a species by some authors. The nominate subspecies is found in the West Indies and southern Florida, with strays to northern Florida. Subspecies tulcis is found from Argentina north through Central America and Mexico to southern Texas, strays to west Texas and southern Arizona. Other subspecies are resident to South America.
Marpesia is a butterfly genus in the family Nymphalidae. The species of this genus are found in the Neotropical and Nearctic realms.
Paramacera allyni, the Arizona pine satyr or pine satyr, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in North America from the mountains in south-eastern Arizona to Mexico.
Fountainea nobilis, the noble leafwing, is a species of Neotropical butterfly belonging to the family Nymphalidae, Charaxinae subfamily.
Asterocampa idyja, the cream-banded emperor, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
Hamadryas februa, the graycracker, is a species of cracker butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found from Argentina north through tropical America to Mexico. Rare strays can be found up to the lower Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas. The habitat consists of subtropical forests, forest edges and cultivated areas with trees.
Doxocopa pavon, the Pavon emperor or Pavon, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. They can be found from Paraguay in South America up to Texas in the southern United States. They are generally brown in their overall coloration, with two bands of white straddling the middle of the upper surfaces of the wings, and a patch of orange on the tips of their forewings. The upper surfaces of the wings of the males are overlaid by an iridescent blue-purple sheen. The females of the species closely resemble members of the unrelated genus Adelpha.
Marpesia zerynthia, the waiter daggerwing, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae that occurs in, and somewhat north and south of Mesoamerica.
Hamadryas iphthime, the ringless blue cracker or brownish cracker, is a species of cracker butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It was first described by Henry Walter Bates in 1864. It is found in Mexico, Central America and parts of northern South America.
Dalechampia triphylla is a vine in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to tropical South America.