Wing span: 1 1/4 - 1 7/8 inches (3.2 - 4.8 cm).

Identification: Outer margin is indented below tip of forewing. Upperside is black with small white spots and some rusty red near wing bases. Hindwing with median band of cream-colored spots.

Life history: Males perch in gulches to watch for females. Eggs are laid in groups on underside of host plant leaves; caterpillars eat leaves.

Flight: Several broods, from March-November in south Florida and Arizona, throughout the year in South Texas and the tropics.

Caterpillar hosts: Various low plants of the acanthus family including Ruellia, Jacobina, Beloperone, and Siphonoglossa.

Adult food: Flower nectar.

Habitat: Deserts, dry gulches, open areas, streamsides, road edges, city parks.

Range: Guatemala north through Mexico to southern California, east across the southern United States to northern Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Strays to Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, South Dakota, and central Nevada.