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Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.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
 
Stinky Leafwing
Historis odius  FABRICIUS, 1775
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily - NYMPHALINAE
Tribe - COEINI
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Historis odius, male, Rio Madre de Dios, Peru
 
Introduction
 
This large ( wingspan 11cms ) and magnificent butterfly, marked on the upper surface with a broad swathe of bright orange on a black ground colour, is one of 12 species in the tribe Coeini, which also includes Baeotus, Colobura, Tigridia, Pycina and Smyrna.
 
There are only 2 species in the genus Historis, the other being acheronta - a smaller species which has a group of white subapical spots on each forewing, and short tails on the hindwings.
 
The vernacular name Stinky Leafwing, and species name odius are probably references to the odorous rotting fruits to which the butterfly is attracted.
 
Historis odius is a common and very widely distributed species, found from Texas to Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina.
 
Habitats
 
This species occurs in a wide variety of forested habitats, from the deciduous woodlands of Nicaragua and Guanacaste, to the wet rainforests of the Amazon basin and the premontane cloudforests of the Andes. It occurs at altitudes between sea level and about 1600m.
 
Lifecycle
 
The eggs is pale brown, and laid singly on leaves of the foodplant Cecropia ( Moraceae ), a very common tree in disturbed habitats.
 
The fully grown caterpillar is chestnut brown with yellow bands around the segments, which are adorned with yellowish whorled spines. Another pair of short whorled spines emerge from the head.
 
The chrysalis is pinkish, and adorned with whorled spines in the abdominal segments, and bears a pair of horns on the head which are recurved and appressed to the thorax.
 
Adult behaviour

 

This species is usually encountered singly, or more rarely in two's and three's, in glades or orchards.

 

The butterfly is a swift and very powerful flyer, which swoops down from it's perches high in Cecropia trees to feed at fermenting mangos, plantains and other fruits lying on the forest floor. Both sexes visit fruit, and can be easily baited with fermenting plantain pasted onto tree trunks in open glades, orchards and forest edge habitats.

 

Males are also attracted to damp rocky overhangs, peccary wallows and rock strewn riverbanks, where they imbibe moisture to extract dissolved minerals.

 

When settled the wings are held erect, but are flicked open periodically if the butterfly is nervous. The sudden display of the bright orange bands on the upperside may serve as a warning to predators - orange colouration in butterflies is often an indicator of toxic qualities. Whether odius is toxic or not remains to be analysed.

 

 

 

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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