''Dismorphia amphione'', the tiger mimic white, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

butterfly 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 ...

of the family

Pieridae The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern regions of North America and Eurasia.DeVries P. J. in Levi ...

. It is found from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

down to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is about 77 mm. It is an extremely variable species. The larvae feed on '' Inga'' species, including '' I. sapindoides'' and '' I. densiflora''. ''Dismorphia amphione'' mimics the ithomiine butterflies of the genus

Mechanitis ''Mechanitis'' is a genus of butterflies in the tribe Ithomiini, commonly known as tigerwings. They were named by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1807. They are in the brush-footed butterfly family, Nymphalidae. Members of the genus ''Mechanitis'' ...

('' M. lysimnia'', '' M. polymnia'', '' M. mazaeus'', '' M. menapis'') in colour pattern and in the slow regular flight.*Kassarov, L. 2001 (2004). Is aposematism a valid concept in predator-prey relationships between birds and butterflies? A different point of view. ''Tropical Lepidoptera'' 12(1-2): 1-15
pdf
Abstract: The concept of aposematism, especially in regard to butterflies, is discussed in terms of the close interrelationship between butterflies, as prey, and birds, as their predators, in their common environment. Vision, in a broad sense, and especially in terms of the visual capabilities of the avian eye, is discussed as a basis for understanding the difference between the aerial hawker insectivorous bird predators of butterflies, and all other birds, regardless of whether considered primarily insectivorous or not. The marked differences in foraging behavior determine how a bird perceives the bright color patterns of butterflies. For aposematic color patterns to be effective, they have to be seen by the bird as an optical device advertising distasteful or toxic qualities of the potential prey so that the predator avoids them by sight. It is argued here that birds that prey on butterflies do not perceive them as an aposematic insect, as postulated by the concept of aposematism. The bird does not reject a butterfly on the basis of color pattern, but on the basis of characteristic morphological and behavioral patterns which provide the bird with a signal as to whether the butterfly is energetically profitable or unprofitable for the bird as a food source.

Subspecies

*''D. a. amphione'' (Suriname) *''D. a. astynome'' (Dalman, 1823) (Brazil (São Paulo, Bahia, Minas Gerais), Argentina) *''D. a. praxinoe'' (Doubleday, 1844) (Mexico, from Panama to Colombia) *''D. a. beroe'' (Lucas, 1852) (Colombia) *''D. a. egaena'' (Bates, 1861) (Brazil (Amazonas)) *''D. a. discrepans'' Butler, 1896 (Ecuador) *''D. a. rhomboidea'' Butler, 1896 (Ecuador, Peru) *''D. a. broomeae'' Butler, 1899 (Venezuela, Trinidad) *''D. a. meridionalis'' Röber, 1909 (Bolivia) *''D. a. daguana'' Bargmann, 1929 (Colombia, Ecuador) *''D. a. lupita'' Lamas, 1979 (Mexico) *''D. a. isolda'' Llorente, 1984 (Mexico) *''D. a. bertha'' Lamas, 2004 (Peru) *''D. a. mora'' Lamas, 2004 (Peru)

Gallery

Image:Dismorphia_amphione.JPG, ''D. a. amphione'' male Image:Dismorphia_amphione_female.JPG, ''D. a. amphione'' female Image:Dismorphia_amphione_discrepans_male.JPG, ''D. a. discrepans'' male Image:Dismorphia_amphione_discrepans_female.JPG, ''D. a. discrepans'' female Image:Dismorphia_amphione_astynome_male.JPG, ''D. a. astynome'' male Image:Dismorphia_amphione_astynome_female.JPG, ''D. a. astynome'' female Image:Dismorphiapraxinoemale.jpg, ''D. a. praxinoe'' male Image:Dismorphiapraxinoefemale.jpg, ''D. a. praxinoe'' female

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3014486 Dismorphiinae Pieridae of South America Butterflies of North America Butterflies described in 1779 Taxa named by Pieter Cramer