''Libythea celtis'', the European beak or nettle-tree butterfly, is a butterfly of the
Libytheinae
The Libytheinae are a nymphalid subfamily known as snout butterflies, containing two valid genera and about ten species: six in '' Libythea'' and four in ''Libytheana''. The common name refers to the thick labial palps (pedipalps) that look like ...
group of the
brush-footed butterflies family.
Description
The upperside ground colour is rich silky brown. The forewing has the cell filled with a broad orange-yellow streak which is subapically deeply indented above; a small discal orange-yellow spot present in interspace 1; a much larger, similarly coloured discal spot between veins 2 and 4, on the inner side touching the cell between veins 3 and 4; a subcostal white preapical spot and a quadrate double spot in interspaces 4 and 5, placed obliquely forward to the subcostal spot; this spot whitish above, orange below. Hindwing uniform, with an irregular curved, transverse, upper postdiscal orange patch extending from just below vein 3 to interspace 6, the portion in interspace 6 often detached. Underside ground colour: forewing brown, apex pale purplish irrorated (sprinkled) with minute dark transverse striae and dots, orange markings as on the upperside but paler; hindwing uniform pale purplish irrorated with minute dark dots and transverse striae. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen dark brown; beneath, palpi, thorax and abdomen concolorous with the tint of the underside of the hindwing.
Range
Its range is southern Europe, Asia Minor, Central Asia and the
Chitral
Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...
ranges of Pakistan.
Biology
The larva feeds on ''
Celtis australis
''Celtis australis'', the European nettle tree, Mediterranean hackberry, lote tree, or honeyberry, is a deciduous tree native to Southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor. The tree was introduced to England in 1796.Hillier Nurseries Ltd. (19 ...
''.
References
External links
Sri Lanka Wild Life Information Database
Libythea
Butterflies of Asia
Butterflies of Europe
Butterflies described in 1782
Taxa named by Johann Nepomuk von Laicharting
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