The Crimson Patch also known as the Janais Patch, is a common New World

New World

The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...

 butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 found from Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 north through Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

 and Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 to southern Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, with occasional sightings in southeastern Mexico and northern Texas. The dorsal and ventral wing surface is black with several undulating rows of small white spots on the medial forewings and along all outer wing margins. On each dorsal hindwing is a medial orange-red patch situated anteriorly. The ventral hindwings have a fragmented yellow proximal patch bordered by a thick postmedial band of red that does not reach the wing margins; maximum wingspan is 4.8–6.7 cm.
Adults inhabit the periphery of lowland tropical to subtropical forests, fields, and along streams, where they feed on flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

 nectar. Reproduction is continuous in the tropics, whereas in temperate areas several broods are produced from July to November. The caterpillars are grey-white to green with several transverse rows of fleshly black spines; they feed primarily on acanthus

Acanthus (genus)

Acanthus is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, native to tropical and warm temperate regions, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean Basin and Asia. Common names include Acanthus and Bear's breeches...

 shrubs, especially Anisacanthus wrightii and Odontonema callistachus (in Texas), upon which adult females lay their eggs

Egg (biology)

An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

.

The Crimson Patch can reach high numbers in the Rio Grande Valley

Rio Grande Valley

The Rio Grande Valley or the Lower Rio Grande Valley, informally called The Valley, is an area located in the southernmost tip of South Texas...

, but the population is periodically killed off by cold snaps; the area is then recolonized by members of the Mexican population. A very similar species is the Rosita Patch

Rosita Patch

The Rosita Patch, Chlosyne rosita, is a butterfly from the family Nymphalidae similar in appearance to the more common Crimson Patch. It is a striking butterfly with orange-red patches on the wings. It can be found throughout Central America and Mexico, and is occasional in the southwestern United...

(C. rosita), which is distinguished from the Crimson Patch by the former's lack of spots on the wing margins.