Insects · La Saladita, Guerrero

White Peacock

Anartia jatrophae

Spanish: Pavo blanco

White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae)
Photographed by jwagner1960 on iNaturalist · CC-BY-NC

Anartia jatrophae, the white peacock, is a species of butterfly found in the southeastern United States, Central America, and throughout much of South America. The white peacock's larval hosts are water hyssop, lemon bacopa, tropical waterhyssop, frogfruit, lanceleaf frogfruit, and Carolina wild petunia . The males of the species display a unique territorial behavior, in which they stake out a territory typically 15 meters in diameter that contains larval host plants. They perch in this area and aggressively protect it from other insects and other male white peacocks.

TaxonomyInsecta › Lepidoptera › Nymphalidae
Local records52 research-grade observations within about 50 km of La Saladita (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones)
Global records50,800 on iNaturalist
Most recent records2025 – 2026
Months of the 8 most recent records
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Recent local sightings

Interactive card with more photos, sounds and similar species Insects guide iNaturalist Wikipedia

Cite as: “White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae) at La Saladita”, La Saladita Field Guide, lasaladita.com/species/anartia-jatrophae/, updated 2026-09-26. Observation counts and months come from iNaturalist research-grade records within about 50 km of 17.8375°N, 101.7606°W (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones); summary text from Wikipedia where present.