Red Cracker Butterfly


Red Cracker Butterfly – Hamadryas Amphinome

Red Cracker Butterfly - Hamadryas Amphinome

Captive live butterfly photographed at Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago

I’m not going to comment on this butterfly’s common name. As you can see, it’s not red. Range: Argentina north through tropical America to central Mexico and Cuba. A rare stray to the lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.

Family Nymphalidae – Brushfoots or brush-footed butterflies encompass approximately 3,000 species worldwide, of which 160 or so live in or visit North America. This is a very diverse family of butterflies, and they occur everywhere except the polar ice caps. Their unifying characteristic is the reduced forelegs of both males and females. The habit of holding the forelegs close to the body is shared with many other insects, including bumblebees, flies, bugs and beetles.

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Tree Encyclopedia / North American Insects & Spiders
Online since 2002