Mestra dorcas

Mestra dorcas
	Female M. d. dorcas, Jamaica
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Mestra; Hübner, [1825]
Species:	M. dorcas
Binomial name
	Mestra dorcas; (Fabricius, 1775)
Synonyms
	Genus synonymy Cystineura Boisduval, [1836]; Species synonymy Papilio dorcas Fabricius, 1775 ; Mestra bogotana C. & R. Felder, 1867 ; Mestra amymone ; Papilio mardania Cramer, 1779 ; Papilio hersilia Fabricius, 1777 ; Cystineura cana Erichson, [1849] ; Cystineura bogotana C. & R. Felder, 1867 ; Cystineura floridana Strecker, 1900 ; Cystineura cowiana Butler, 1902 ; Mestra hypermestra Hübner, [1825] ; Cystineura tocantina Bates, 1865 ; Cystineura amymone Ménétriés, 1857 ; Cystineura aurantia Weeks, 1902 ; Cystineura apicalis burchelli Moulton, 1908 ; Cysteneura hypermnestra sordida Hayward, 1931 ; Cystineura latimargo Hall, 1929 ; ;

Mestra is a genus of nymphalid butterfly. It contains the single species Mestra dorcas, the Jamaican mestra, which is found from southern North America to South America and possibly Mestra cana, the St Lucia mestra, found in the Lesser Antilles (though this may be a misidentification).^[1]

The wingspan is 35–50 mm. Adults are on wing year round in southern Texas, but it is most numerous from June to November. They have been recorded feeding on the nectar of Lantana flowers.^[2]

The larvae feed on Tragia neptifolia (which may be a misspelling of Tragia nepetifolia).

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:^[1]

M. d. amymone (Ménétriés, 1857) (Louisiana to southern Texas and in Nicaragua, Costa Rica) – Amymone
M. d. apicalis (Staudinger, 1886) (Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil: São Paulo, Goiás, Pará)
M. d. dorcas Hübner, [1825] (Jamaica)
M. d. hersilia (Fabricius, 1777) (Guyana, Colombia, St. Lucia, Trinidad)
M. d. hypermestra Hübner, [1825] (Brazil: Pará, Paraguay)
M. d. latimargo (Hall, 1929) (Ecuador)
M. d. semifulva (C. & R. Felder, 1867) (Colombia)

References

^ ^a ^b Mestra at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
^ [1], Butterflies and Moths of North America

This article related to members of the butterfly subfamily Biblidinae is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[funet-1] Mestra at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms

[bamona-2] [1], Butterflies and Moths of North America

[1]

[2]

Taxon identifiers
Mestra dorcas	Wikidata: Q3307090 BOLD: 302732 CoL: 428B2 EoL: 161091 GBIF: 5127807 iNaturalist: 258138 IRMNG: 10260623 ITIS: 778281 LepIndex: 158578 NCBI: 127355 Open Tree of Life: 31509
Mestra	Wikidata: Q13861951 BioLib: 414540 BOLD: 212507 BugGuide: 31883 ButMoth: 17742.0 CoL: 92FFL EoL: 19230 GBIF: 1892890 iNaturalist: 148587 ITIS: 777595 LepIndex: 158570 NCBI: 127354 Open Tree of Life: 31507

Mestra dorcas

Female M. d. dorcas, Jamaica
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Mestra Hübner, [1825]
Species:	M. dorcas
Binomial name
*Mestra dorcas* (Fabricius, 1775)
Synonyms
Genus synonymy Cystineura Boisduval, [1836] Species synonymy Papilio dorcas Fabricius, 1775 Mestra bogotana C. & R. Felder, 1867 Mestra amymone Papilio mardania Cramer, 1779 Papilio hersilia Fabricius, 1777 Cystineura cana Erichson, [1849] Cystineura bogotana C. & R. Felder, 1867 Cystineura floridana Strecker, 1900 Cystineura cowiana Butler, 1902 Mestra hypermestra Hübner, [1825] Cystineura tocantina Bates, 1865 Cystineura amymone Ménétriés, 1857 Cystineura aurantia Weeks, 1902 Cystineura apicalis burchelli Moulton, 1908 Cysteneura hypermnestra sordida Hayward, 1931 Cystineura latimargo Hall, 1929