''Diaethria anna'', also known as Anna's eighty-eight, is a butterfly in wet tropical forests in Middle America. On rare occasions, it can be found as a stray in south Texas. Its upperside is dark brown with a metallic bluish-green band on the forewings. The underside of the forewings are red, which is followed by a wide, black band and then white tips; the underside of the hindwings is white, with lines that approximate a black-outlined "88", giving the species its common name.
Similar species: Moths And Butterflies
By NattyOne
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Uploaded Feb 26, 2020. Captured Aug 3, 2015 16:35.
comments (5)
"The 89 or 88 numerals which appear on the underside hindwings of anna are present in all Diaethria species but vary in colour, thickness and shape. In clymena for example the lines are thick and the markings form an '88' figure, whereas in others such as anna they are much thinner."
So the thickness of the black bands are an indicator, but I'm not seeing a clear difference in this photo compared to the other candidate. Another weak distinction is distribution. Statistically, Anna's is mostly a central American species. It doesn't rule out Anna's, but it makes it less likely.
Perhaps we can get back to your source...was it an expert? Any reason given for this ID? Posted 5 years ago