Red Rim (Biblis hyperia [Cramer])
Wing span: 2 - 3 inches (5.1 - 7.6 cm).
Identification: Upperside is brown-black; hindwing has a red submarginal band and a scalloped outer edge.
Life history: Eggs are laid singly or in small clusters on shoots of young host plants. Caterpillars make a perch with dung pellets and silk.
Flight: February and July-November in South Texas, March-November in Mexico and Central America.
Caterpillar hosts: Noseburn (Tragia volubilis) in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae).
Adult food: Rotting fruit and other non-floral resources.
Habitat: Open subtropical forests.
Range: Paraguay north through Central America to Mexico and the West Indies. Periodic resident in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas; strays to central Texas.
