Memphis cleomestra is a species of leafwing found in South America (Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Colombia).*
Subspecies Memphis cleomestra cleomestra; present in Colombia Memphis cleomestra ada (Butler, 1875) Butler,A.G. 1875 On some new Species of Butterflies from Tropical America Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (4) 15 (87) : 222-225
Description Memphis cleomestra is a butterfly with forewings with a humped costal edge, pointed apex, concave outer edge near the apex, hook-shaped inner angle, concave inner edge and hindwings with or without a tail. The upper side of the wings is black, with a light metallic blue basal part on the forewings and a marginal band extending to separate the tip of the apex formed by metallic light blue spots; on the hindwings forms a band from the base to the outer edge near the anal angle and joins a metallic light blue marginal band. The underside is brown with grey, green and metallic purple reflections and simulates a dead leaf.Seitz- The hindwings are tailed and the inner margin of the forewings deeply sinuate. On the blackish-brown ground there is across the forewing and hindwing a broad blue band before which there are also two blue subapical spots. The under surface is very plain, yellowish-grey with yellowish and blackish, small strokes. Comstock, W. P.1961. Butterflies of the American Tropics: the genus Anaea. Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae. New York: Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 214pp,30pl. D'Abrera, B. 1988. Butterflies of the Neotropical Region, Nymphalidae, Satyridae. Victoria: Hill House. Pp. 680-723.; present in Mexico, Guatemala, and Panama. Julius Rober ANAEA in Seitz.A. Band 5: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die Großschmetterlinge des amerikanischen Faunengebietes, 1907 580 et seq.
Biology The host plants of its caterpillar are Piper.
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