Family: Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies view all from this family

Description Caterpillar, to 1 1/2" (38 mm), dark brown with rust-colored stripes, and 6 rows of branching black spines (2 on head are long and curve backward). Host plants are passion flowers (Passiflora incarnata and other species). Chrysalis, to 1 1/8" (28 mm), long, curved; mottled brown and warty, resembling a dried-up leaf.

Habitat Subtropical forest edges, city gardens, canyons; open, sunny areas with abundant flowers.

Range San Francisco Bay to Baja California; resident throughout southern U.S. into Mexico, emigrating northward into Great Basin, Rockies, and Midwest, Great Lakes and mid-Atlantic states.