Red Rim Butterfly (Biblis hyperia)
Pricing: Dead (spread, as pictured): $20-$30
Geographic Range: Mexico to Paraguay and the West Indies
View: Top View Size: Wingspan: 5-6.5 cm
Image Copyright 2003
Barbara Strnadova
Biblis hyperia is commonly called the Red Rim as well as the Crimson-banded Black. It is a butterfly of shady roadsides and humid thorn-scrub forests where it can be found cruising lazily among the shadows. Flight season is March-November. Common throughout its range, Biblis hyperia often strays over the Mexican border into southern Texas but it seems to have been unable to establish a breeding population there. It's host plant is Pine Nettle (Tragia volubilis) upon which are laid off-white, grooved eggs that are protected by long hairs. Caterpillars are spiny, colored a gray-brown with green warts. They are thickened in the middle with a light-colored band on the seventh segment and a head armed with horns. The adults are attracted to rotting fruit and feed on the fermenting juices.