''Pierella nereis'' 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 ...

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 ...

from the subfamily

Satyrinae The Satyrinae, the satyrines or satyrids, commonly known as the browns, are a subfamily of the Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies). They were formerly considered a distinct family, Satyridae. This group contains nearly half of the known divers ...

in the family Nymphalidae. It was first described by Dru Drury in 1782 from

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 ...

."''Pierella'' Herrich-Schäffer, 1865"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''

Description

Upperside: Antennae black. 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 ...

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 torso. ...

grey brown. Anterior wings grey brown, thin, and slightly diaphanous, with a small light-coloured bar running from the anterior edge near the tips to the posterior. Posterior wings having one-third next the body grey brown, divided by a line drawn across the wings from the anterior to the abdominal edges; next to this is an angulated white patch, the rest of these wings being orange coloured, with two black eyespots, having white centres, placed one at the upper, the other at the abdominal corners, the former having a small white spot joining to its upper part. The edges of these wings are bordered with dark brown. Underside:

Palpi Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of Chelicerata, chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ...

, legs, breast, and abdomen cream coloured. Anterior wings next the tips tinged with red brown; the remainder of the wings being of the same colour as on the upperside. Posterior wings next the body pale clay, which occupies half the wings; below which is a white bar, the remainder of the wings being dark orange: the two black eyespots are very small on this side, and the white spot above them not so distinct. These wings are larger than is generally observed among insects of this tribe, and are dentated, the anterior ones being entire. Wingspan 3 inches (76 mm).

References

Haeterini Nymphalidae of South America Butterflies described in 1782 Descriptions from Illustrations of Exotic Entomology {{Satyrinae-stub