Tegosa claudina :: Claudina Crescent in English or Mariposa Claudina in Spanish is a common butterfly along the eastern Andes of South America, from Colombia to Argentina. We see them often in our garden (in central Argentina) they are often sitting on calendula flowers or daisies like in the pictures below:
From some light internet research I was unable to find a definitive host plant for the Claudina crescent, but related species are associated with Asteraceae plants like daisies, chicory, and thistle plants. Oh and by the way, the term ‘host plant‘ refers to the plant on which adult female butterflies lay eggs & the plant that the caterpillars feed on until reaching adulthood.
Without adequate host plants in an ecosystem, butterfly populations decline. That is why growing a diversity of garden flowers & native plants is so important to supporting insect populations. Luckily is seems that Tegosa butterflies as well as many others can feed on a variety of Asteraceae plants, both native & naturalized.
** I wrote this post a few months ago for my blog floralibra.art.blog where there are lots of other articles about butterflies and ecology! thanks for reading && do let me know what butterflies you are seeing these days in your yard and area.