Mexican Bluewing

This was the most spectacular butterfly I saw in Texas. It is called a Mexican Blue Wing, but the ones I saw looked more purple than blue, which is even better in my book. The caterpillars eat Dalechampia in the Euphorb family and the adults like rotting fruit. This is another one of those butterflies that occurs in much of Mexico and south of Mexico, but if you want to see it in the US, you have to go to south Texas. The caterpillar is green, rather plain compared to the adult.