''Apaturina'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus of

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

in the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

. Its sole species is ''Apaturina erminea'', the turquoise emperor.

Description

''Apaturina erminea'' has a wingspan of about , and males measure marginally larger than females. The uppersides of the forewings are black with an iridescent blue-green base, two white small spots at the apex and a diagonal series of pale yellow patches across each wing. The uppersides of the hindwings are completely iridescent blue green in males, or chestnut brown in females, with an eyespot on each wing. The undersides are quite similar but the basic color is grayish brown, without iridescence.

Food and behavior

The adults feed on various liquids, from rotting fruits and sap. The caterpillars feed on ''

Celtis latifolia ''Celtis'' is a genus of about 60–70 species of deciduous trees, commonly known as hackberries or nettle trees, widespread in warm temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The genus is part of the extended hemp family (Cannabaceae). Desc ...

'' (''

Ulmaceae The Ulmaceae () are a family of flowering plants that includes the elms (genus ''Ulmus''), and the zelkovas (genus ''Zelkova''). Members of the family are widely distributed throughout the north temperate zone, and have a scattered distribution e ...

''). Males are very fast flyers, but settle for long periods in trees, where they perch head down and wings closed, more than 7 m from the ground.

Distribution

This species can be found in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

(

Aru Islands The Aru Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of . At the 2011 Census the Regency had a po ...

Irian Jaya New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

, Maluku),

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

up to northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. In Australia it is limited to lowland tropical rainforest in the

Iron Range The term Iron Range refers collectively or individually to a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by ...

Subspecies

* ''Apaturina erminea erminea'' (Cramer, 1779) (Ambon, Serang) * ''Apaturina erminea papuana'' (Ribbe, 1886) (Papua New Guinea) * ''Apaturina erminea mirona'' Fruhstorfer, 1904 (Buru) * ''Apaturina erminea erinna'' Fruhstorfer, 1904 (Obi) * ''Apaturina erminea aluna'' Fruhstorfer, 1904 (Alu) * ''Apaturina erminea ribbei'' Röber, 1894 (Bachan, Halmahera) * ''Apaturina erminea octavia'' Fruhstorfer, 1904 (Waigeu) * ''Apaturina erminea antonia'' Fruhstorfer, 1904 (Papua New Guinea) * ''Apaturina erminea xanthocera'' Rothschild, 1904 (Solomon Islands) * ''Apaturina erminea neopommerania'' Hagen, 1879 (Bismarck Archipelago)

Gallery

File: CramerAndStoll-uitlandsche kapellen vol. 3- pl 196.jpg, Male from ''Papillons exotiques des trois parties du monde'' by Pieter Cramer and Caspar Stoll File: CramerAndStoll-uitlandsche kapellen vol. 3- pl 241.jpg, Female from ''Papillons exotiques des trois parties du monde''

References

* 1995: A new subspecies of ''Apaturina erminea'' from Morotai Island, Indonesia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). ''Futao'' 19: 1-2. * , 1998: A new subspecies of ''Apaturina erminea'' (Cramer, 1779) from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea (Lepidoptera : Nymphalidae). ''Futao'' 27: 1-3.

External links

Genus ''Apaturina''
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
Biolib

Australia faunal directory
* Don Herbison-Evans and Stella Crossle

Apaturinae Taxa named by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer Monotypic butterfly genera Nymphalidae genera {{Apaturinae-stub