Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Elis Emperor
Doxocopa elis FELDER
& FELDER, 1861
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
APATURINAE
Doxocopa
elis,
male, Catarata Bayoz, Le Merced, Peru
Introduction
The genus
Doxocopa comprises of 15 species found variously from Mexico to Bolivia and Paraguay. The butterflies are closely related to the
Apatura Purple Emperors of Europe and temperate
Asia, and have
similar habits.
Males of this medium
sized insect reflect a purple sheen from the upperside wings, but this tends
to be of a less intense hue than in most other Doxocopa
species, and is only visible when the sunlight reflects at particular angles
from the surface of the wings. Females lack the
iridescence, and have broader orange bands on the forewings.
Doxocopa
elis is found on the eastern slopes of the Andes, from Colombia to
Bolivia.
Habitats
The butterfly breeds in rainforest habitats at altitudes from 0-800m.
Lifecycle
The caterpillar feeds on
Celtis
species ( Ulmaceae ). When fully grown it is green, strongly tapered towards the anal segment, and
has a pair of forward-projecting horns on its head.
The
pupa is probably similar to that of other Apaturines, which are typically
flattened laterally, arched dorsally, and superbly camouflaged as living or dead
foliage.
Adult behaviour
Males are scarcer than
agathina, cyane
and pavon, but can sometimes be seen
basking on bare ground, where they settle to imbibe mineralised
moisture. They extract sodium and other minerals from the
moisture, chemically convert it, and pass it to females during
copulation.
Females do not imbibe minerals.
They are not known to
visit flowers. It is possible that they obtain their sustenance entirely
from
chemicals passed to them via the spermatophore by males. They may
however also obtain nutrients from aphid secretions
on tree foliage, or from sap oozing from damaged tree trunks.
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