''Philaethria dido'', the scarce bamboo page or dido longwing, is a

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 ...

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 ...

. It is found in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and tropical

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, both east and west of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, from Brazil and Ecuador northwards to

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 ...

. Strays can sometimes be found in the lower

Rio Grande Valley The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The ...

in southern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Description

The butterflies have 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 ...

of about , and in Mexico are on the wing from July to December. The upper surface of the wings is black patterned with translucent green patches. The underside is similar with some brown streaks with gray scales. ''Philaethria dido'' is often confused with '' Siproeta stelenes''. They have a similar coloration, but their wing shapes are different and whereas ''P. dido'' flies high in the canopy, ''S. stelenes'' is often to be seen in forest clearings and open secondary forest.

Subspecies

Three subspecies are recognized. ''Philaethria dido chocoensis'' is found only on the western side of the Andes, its range extending from Ecuador to the Chocó region in northwestern Colombia. ''Philaethria dido dido'' inhabits tropical rainforests of South America east of the Andes, from

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 ...

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 ...

. ''Philaethria dido panamensis'' lives only in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, from San Blas to Chiriquí

Distribution and habitat

''Philaethria dido chocoensis'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to land west of the Andes, its range extending from the western parts of Ecuador to the Chocó region in northwestern Colombia. ''Philaethria dido dido'' has a more widespread distribution and is native to tropical forests in South America to the east of the Andes. Its range extends from Brazil to Bolivia and Colombia and northward to Mexico. Stray butterflies have occasionally been observed in the lower part of the valley of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

in Texas. This butterfly's flight is fast and direct and it mainly flits through the

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

and along the courses of streams, but it may also be seen in clearings and sunlit glades. It is present in tropical rainforests at altitudes from zero up to 1200 metres (4000 ft) but it is absent from deciduous forests.

Biology

''Philaethria dido'' feeds on nectar that it obtains from the flowers of forest trees such as ''

Cissus ''Cissus'' is a genus of approximately 350 species of lianas (Woody plant, woody vines) in the grape family (Vitaceae). They have a cosmopolitan distribution, though the majority are to be found in the tropics. Uses Medicinal ''Cissus quadrang ...

''. The males normally fly high in the canopy but sometimes descend to sunlit stream sides or gravel beaches besides rivers to sip mineral-rich water. Females often fly at about off the ground, dipping down at intervals to inspect potential egg-laying sites on species of

passion flower ''Passiflora'', known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family Passifloraceae. They are mostly tendril-bearing vines, with some being shrubs or trees. They ...

. The eggs are laid on the under sides of the leaves on species including ''

Passiflora laurifolia ''Passiflora laurifolia'', commonly known as the water lemon, Jamaican honeysuckle, golden bellapple, pomme liane on Martinique & Guadeloupe and orange lilikoi (yellow lilikoi, or simply lilikoi, is the name given to ''passiflora edulis v. flavic ...

'', '' P. vitifolia'', '' P. edulis'', and '' P. ambigua''. The larvae are light green with a covering of reddish spines. The pupa is brown blotched with grey, has a rough warty surface and resembles a bird dropping.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2715856 Heliconiini Butterflies described in 1763 Nymphalidae of South America Butterflies of Central America Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus