Rayetta's Butterflies - The Goatweed Leafwing (Anaea andria)

Yesterday a goatweed leafwing finally posed with its wings open for me. This goatweed leafwing is not new to the CB-BDS, but this is the first picture of an open winged one in this venue. It is also the first picture in which the goatweed leafwing is not sitting on a banana.

Goatweed, I was surprised to learn, is one of the common names applied to a croton. Which croton? Beats me. There are a very great many crotons and whichever one is goatweed, I know not. We have only three crotons at the CB, Croton capitatus, Croton fruticulosus and Croton monanthogynous. Perhaps goatweed is one of those. If so, perhaps the goatweed leafwings will take up residence at the CB, happily ovapositing on the CB crotons. So far though, I have not seen them do that, lay eggs on a CB croton. But they are always front and certain for a banana. Our goatweed leafwings are fairly large and nervous. That’s -1 - 3 on the Rayetta scales. Unless they happen to be on a banana, in which event, they are inert.