''Doxocopa laurentia'', the turquoise emperor or Cherubina emperor, is a species of

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

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 ...

, subfamily

Apaturinae The Apaturinae are a subfamily of butterflies that includes many species commonly called emperors. Description Strikingly-coloured, with cryptic underwing. A distinguishing character of the subfamily is the green proboscis. Agathina emperor ( ...

Description

''Doxocopa laurentia'' has a

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 ...

reaching about . The upperside of the wings is brown, with a broad metallic blue central band in males, while in the females this band is usually white, with a broad orange patch on the top of the forewings. The undersides of the wings are yellowish or greyish, with black markings on the forewings. Like other members of the subfamily

, the

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a proboscis is an elong ...

is green. Doxocopa laurentia-male.jpg, ''D. laurentia laurentia'' male with green proboscis

Distribution

This species occurs in

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Subspecies

*''Doxocopa laurentia laurentia'' (Brazil and Argentina) *''Doxocopa laurentia cherubina'' (C. & R. Felder, 1867) (Central America,

and

) *''Doxocopa laurentia thalysia'' (Fruhstorfer, 1907) (

)

Gallery

File:Nymphalidae - Doxocopa laurentia cherubina.JPG, ''Doxocopa laurentia cherubina'' from Peru - mounted specimen File:Doxocopa laurentia male face inf.jpg, ''Doxocopa laurentia'' from Brazil - ventral view

References

"''Doxocopa laurentia'' (Godart, [1824])"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''

External links

Apaturinae Insects of Mexico Fauna of Bolivia Fauna of Ecuador Fauna of Peru Lepidoptera of Colombia Fauna of Brazil Nymphalidae of South America Butterflies described in 1824 {{Apaturinae-stub