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Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.
Butterflies of the Amazon rainforest
 
Great Orange tip
Anteos menippe HÜBNER, 1818
Family - PIERIDAE
subfamily - COLIADINAE
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Anteos menippe, male, Rio Madre de Dios, Peru
 
Introduction
 
The upperside of the male of this large species, which is normally only seen when the butterfly is in flight, is primrose yellow, with the apical area pale orange. The female has 2 forms, one like the male, the other entirely white, except for the blackish discal markings and forewing borders.
 
It is a common species in lowland areas, found west of the Andes in Colombia, and east of the Andes across much of Amazonia, in Ecuador, Brazil and Peru. It also occurs in Panama.
 
There are 3 members of the genus Anteos, all confined to the neotropics.
 
Habitats
 
The butterflies breed mainly in open transitional habitats along riverbanks, and are most commonly seen when migrating along river courses.
 
Lifecycle
 
The eggs are pale, skittle-shaped, and laid singly on the leaves or flower buds of Cassia plants, although several eggs may be laid on a single plant during the course of a day, by various females.
 
The caterpillar occurs in 2 colour forms, green or yellow, depending on whether it feeds on the leaves or flowers of the plant.
 
The pupa of Anteos species, as described by DeVries, is "green, strongly bowed, with a dorsal keel" and a white lateral line.
 
Adult behaviour

 

The butterflies are frequently seen migrating along the banks of rivers in Amazonia. In Peru for example, in August 2007 I spent 6 hours travelling by longboat along the Rio Madre de Dios, during which time these butterflies could be seen regularly passing the boat at a rate of approximately 40 per hour, all heading upstream.

 

Areas of mineral-rich damp sand along riverbanks often attract large groups of mud-puddling butterflies. At such sites it is highly noticeable that butterflies congregate with others of their own species.

 

At sandbanks along the Rio Madre de Dios, Rio Teres Peres and elsewhere, I have often seen large aggregations of butterflies, but the highly conspicuous yellow or white Pierids ( Anteos, Phoebis, Eurema and Enantia ) invariably gather in one spot, the Swallowtails

( Heraclides, Protesilaus etc ) in another, and the bright orange Heliconiines ( Dryas, Eueides ) at another.

 

The more conspicuous Nymphalines such as Marpesia petreus also gather with their own kind, while the duller species such as Marpesia themistocles and Eunica clytia tend to spread themselves widely about the area. This leads me to suggest that with species with bright colours, such as Anteos, migrating males are attracted by the colours of their brethren, and use them to home-in on those which have located and settled on mineral-rich sandbanks.

 

Females behave quite differently. They rarely visit sandbanks, and are more often seen when taking nectar from flowers, or when flying from plant to plant along scrubby areas of riverbanks, "tasting" the foliage with their feet, while trying to locate suitable Cassia plants on which to oviposit.

 

The cryptic leaf-like underside, complete with raised "leaf veins" enables the butterfly to blend perfectly amongst the foliage of plants. Although I have not found adults at roost, it is highly likely that they roost hanging from the foliage of trees, where their cryptic colouration would help them the avoid being detected by avian predators.

 

 
Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007-2008, and must not be reproduced or published in part or in whole elsewhere in any form without written permission from Adrian Hoskins. Breach of copyright will be pursued by litigation.
 
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