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Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Dot-bordered Grey
Exoplisia cadmeis
HEWITSON, 1866
Family - RIODINIDAE
subfamily -
RIODININAE
Tribe - RIODININI
Exoplisia cadmeis,
male, Rio Shima, Satipo, Peru
Introduction
Butterflies in the
genus Exoplisia are closely allied to the metallic
blue Lasaia Sapphires, but more closely resemble
Emesis in appearance. There are 4 species -
cadmeis, hypochalbe,
hypochloris and myrtis,
all of which are neotropical in distribution.
The males of most species are
dull earthy brown in colour with a pattern of dashes and lines similar to
that of Emesis species.
Exoplisia cadmeis differs from the others in having a grey ground
colour. On the underside the pattern is similar, but the ground colour is
overlaid with a blue iridescence.
The female of
cadmeis has a pale brown ground colour on both wing
surfaces, and has much more rounded wings than the male. The females of the
other 3 Exoplisia species are entirely unknown to
science, which suggests that they are arboreal in habit.
Exoplisia
cadmeis is distributed from Honduras to Bolivia and Paraguay.
Habitats
This species is found in rainforest and cloudforest habitats at altitudes between about
600-1200m.
Lifecycle
In captivity the larvae have been successfully reared on
Ochroma pyramidale ( Bombacaceae ) but it is not known which foodplants
are used in the wild state.
Adult behaviour
Males are scarce, but can sometimes be found imbibing mineralised
moisture from damp ground.
I have not seen the female.
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