Band-celled Sister
Adelpha fessonia (Hewitson, 1847)
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Limenitidinae
Identification: Upperside is dark brown with an orange forewing apex. White median band across both wings reaches the forewing leading edge.
Wing Span: 2 3/16 - 2 3/4 inches (5.6 - 7 cm).
Life History: Males perch in light gaps, along forest edges, or in the canopy. Females lay eggs singly on leaves of host plants in light gaps and forest edges.
Flight: March-April and July-December in Texas, March-November in Mexico and Central America, perhaps all year in Costa Rica.
Caterpillar Hosts: Hackberry Celtis lindheimeri in Texas.
Adult Food: Nectar from flowers such as Cordia, Croton, and Baccharis; decaying fruit.
Habitat: Forest edges and trails near streams.
Range: Panama north through Central America to Mexico. A periodic resident in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas.
Conservation: Not required for rare stray and infrequent resident.
NCGR: G4 - Apparently secure globally, though it might be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management Needs: None reported.
Comments: NULL
Get your BAMONA Gear!
Please donate!
We depend on donations to keep Butterflies and Moths of North America freely available. We want to express our gratitude to all who showed their support by making a contribution this year. You can donate to support this project at any time.
Advertise with us!
Do you have a product or service that you think would interest BAMONA users? If you would like to advertise on this website, contact us by email, or use the contact form and select the "Advertising" category.
Verified Sightings
Displaying 1 - 24 of 39 verified sightings
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/img_8121-a-web.jpg?itok=MPowwXpY)
Observation date: Aug 02, 2024
Submitted by: Charlie Doggett
Region: Costa Rica
Verified by: Charlie Doggett
Verified date: Aug 08, 2024
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/p1310477.jpg?itok=eDC6gFG-)
Observation date: Nov 09, 2022
Submitted by: Robert Gorman
Region: Cameron County, Texas, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Jun 14, 2023
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/img_1210_9.jpg?itok=8uvokz1v)
Observation date: Dec 05, 2022
Submitted by: jrmbutterfly
Region: Nayarit, Mexico
Verified by: Paul Prappas
Verified date: Feb 26, 2023
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/adelpha_fessonia_2019feb20.jpg?itok=NyrfIBTB)
Observation date: Feb 20, 2019
Submitted by: David F Smith
Region: Sinaloa, Mexico
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Feb 26, 2023
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/img_1547_4.jpg?itok=gFiu0uAp)
Observation date: Sep 22, 2016
Submitted by: primacag
Region: Colima, Mexico
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Feb 25, 2023
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/b9_3.jpg?itok=QpMRWd2_)
Observation date: Oct 14, 2020
Submitted by: Graywing
Region: Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Verified by: Paul Prappas
Verified date: Jan 26, 2023
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/img_9284_adelpha_fessonia_fessonia_band-celled_sister.jpg?itok=3f7FNVZs)
Observation date: Feb 11, 2016
Submitted by: BeaLaporte
Region: Yucatan, Mexico
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Sep 25, 2022
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/butterfly_sp_02-15-2014_bacalar_qro_mex_-263.jpg?itok=PKfQ_rE2)
Observation date: Feb 15, 2014
Submitted by: janazak
Region: Quintana Roo, Mexico
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Sep 16, 2022
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/adelpha_fessonia_band-celled_sister.jpg?itok=-pResHZE)
Observation date: Oct 03, 2015
Submitted by: PetuniaJen
Region: Quintana Roo, Mexico
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Sep 16, 2022
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/bandcelled.jpg?itok=AQZya_sE)
Observation date: Jan 16, 2022
Submitted by: guy_incognito
Region: Hidalgo County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Feb 20, 2022
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/img_1470_1.jpg?itok=b9_syOt0)
Observation date: Apr 08, 2018
Submitted by: tonzetich
Region: Bexar County, Texas, United States
Verified by: BAMONA
Verified date: Jul 28, 2021
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/band-celled_sister.jpg?itok=P0oPC3R-)
Observation date: Nov 09, 2020
Submitted by: bjones7777
Region: Cameron County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Dec 09, 2020
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/2p0a3501.jpg?itok=EzlT6zuU)
Observation date: Feb 24, 2020
Submitted by: Craig M Lipski
Region: Hidalgo County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Feb 28, 2020
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/2p0a2360.jpg?itok=CT4--qu4)
Observation date: Feb 10, 2020
Submitted by: Craig M Lipski
Region: Hidalgo County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Feb 14, 2020
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/2p0a9022-copy.jpg?itok=78AT_oWh)
Observation date: Dec 07, 2019
Submitted by: Craig M Lipski
Region: Cameron County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Dec 08, 2019
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/2p0a7821.jpg?itok=3nlyL3AW)
Observation date: Feb 13, 2019
Submitted by: Craig M Lipski
Region: Hidalgo County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Feb 14, 2019
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/bs_1.png?itok=mZYRbw7S)
Observation date: Nov 07, 2018
Submitted by: hydapse
Region: Cameron County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Nov 21, 2018
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/b-csnbc_l4f9876-copy_0.jpg?itok=ltu9_gIc)
Observation date: Jan 30, 2017
Submitted by: Craig M Lipski
Region: Hidalgo County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Oct 16, 2018
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/bc-srv_l4f8421.jpg?itok=zV13knRp)
Observation date: Dec 30, 2016
Submitted by: Craig M Lipski
Region: Hidalgo County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Sep 06, 2018
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/filefield_paths/band-celled_sister_1_d.jpg?itok=ZhqwZBbJ)
Observation date: Feb 21, 2017
Submitted by: wallap74
Region: Hidalgo County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Jan 12, 2018
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/filefield_paths/sdp_5156_2017_spot-celled_sister_butterfly.jpg?itok=sT52PUu8)
Observation date: Nov 06, 2017
Submitted by: ShannonPhotos
Region: Cameron County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Dec 25, 2017
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/filefield_paths/band-celled-sister.jpg?itok=oMsLWQNg)
Observation date: Dec 12, 2017
Submitted by: Paul Prappas
Region: Hidalgo County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Dec 13, 2017
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/filefield_paths/band-celled_sister_1-28-09_tx_3.jpg?itok=7tztOY9y)
Observation date: Jan 28, 2009
Submitted by: Tommie Rogers
Region: Hidalgo County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Sep 02, 2017
![](https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sites/default/files/styles/bamona_scale_and_crop_640px_by_640px/public/bamona_images/dsc03764_cropped.jpg?itok=k1p2mzzo)
Observation date: Nov 30, 2016
Submitted by: John Philo
Region: Hidalgo County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Dec 27, 2016
- 1 of 2
- next ›