Athanassa texana texana

Texan Crescent

Athanassa texana texana is considered a rare stray to our state, with decades-old records in the eastern deserts such as the Providence Mountains. With few people investigating the Mojave Preserve and environs, it's possible this butterfly makes its way there more often than we think. It can be common in parts of Arizona, where it may fly all year "weather permitting" in the southern part of the state, and up the western border, according to Stewart, Brodkin and Brodkin in Butterflies of Arizona: A Photographic Guide, p. 158. The host plant is species of Dicliptera, which is in the Acanthus family. James Scott, in his 1986 field guide, mentions Dicliptera brachiata (not in CA or AZ), Jacobinia carnea (a non-native), and Ruella carolinensis (not in CA or AZ), and says that in the lab larvae will eat Beloperone guttata (only in Texas and Florida) and Siphonoglossa. Dicliptera resupinata (Arizona foldwing) is in AZ but not CA. So if this butterfly is even occassionally breeding in some remote eastern mountains in California, I don't know what plant it would find suitable.