''Catonephele acontius'', the Acontius firewing, is a
nymphalid
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 ...
butterfly species found in South America. It was first described by
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...
in 1771 (who gave the type location as "China", a designation followed by some later authors).
Description
(Male, described by
Dru Drury
Dru Drury (4 February 1724 – 15 December 1803) was a British collector of natural history specimens and an entomologist. He had specimens collected from across the world through a network of ship's officers and collectors including Henry Sme ...
): Upperside.
Antennae, head,
thorax
The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...
, and
abdomen
The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...
black. Wings fine velvety black. An orange-coloured bar, about inch (6 mm) broad, rises in the middle of the superior wings, running circularly and crossing the inferior ones, meeting about the middle of the abdominal edges.
Underside.
Palpi
Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ("jaws") and ...
white. Tongue brown. Breast and legs white. Abdomen yellow brown. Wings shining brown, exhibiting various shades of changeable colours; the tips terminating in an ash colour. Wings scarcely dentated. Wingspan inches (70 mm).
Subspecies
*''Catonephele acontius acontius'' (Guianas, Surinam, Brazil: Amazonas)
*''Catonephele acontius caeruleus''
Jenkins, 1985 (Bolivia)
References
Biblidinae
Nymphalidae of South America
Butterflies described in 1771
Descriptions from Illustrations of Exotic Entomology
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
{{Biblidinae-stub