A controversial 2004 DNA barcoding study of a 648 base pair sequence from the Cytochrome c oxidase (COI) DNA sequence by Paul D. N. Hébert et al. led the authors to claim that at least ten sympatric populations in the Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site in north-western Costa Rica were in various stages of reproductive isolation.

Also, where a specific DNA sequence did not correspond to its purported host plant, it was "simply dismissed with an ad hoc hypothesis and manifestly incorrect explanation" by Hébert and his coworkers.

[4] The exact number of taxa involved is disputed, most of the "species" detected by the DNA barcoding study seem to be nothing more than morphs or incipient subspecies, coupled with a serious underestimation of variation.

Still, two lineages appear to be well distinct and separable at least as subspecies:[4] "CELT" has larvae with bold orange bands in the last instar, which were recorded only on Celtis iguanaea (Ulmaceae); "TRIGO" last-instar larvae have bold yellow bands and were found on the Malpighiales Trigonia (T. arborea, T. laevis and T. rugosa) and, apparently accidentally, on Licania arborea.

They are polyphagous, feeding preferentially on Inga and Senna as well as a variety of other plants, but apparently not on those preferred by the more distinct lineages except Hampea appendiculata.