Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
The Doris
Laparus doris
LINNAEUS, 1771
Family -
NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
HELICONIINAE
Tribe - HELICONIINI
Laparus doris,
male, Rio Madre de Dios, 500m, Peru
� Adrian Hoskins
Introduction
The tribe Heliconiini, colloquially known as Longwings, includes 71 species, all
confined exclusively to the neotropics.
The Heliconiini includes
the genera
Heliconius, Podotricha, Dryas, Agraulis, Dione, Dryadula, Eueides, Neruda, Laparus
and Philaethria.
The genus Laparus
comprises of a single species
doris,
which occurs in various colour forms. In all forms the ground colour
is black, and the pattern of cream on the forewings is constant. The patch of
colour radiating from the base of the hindwings however may be either blue, red, orange or dark cream. In one form metharmina
from Brazil, the hindwings are almost entirely black.
Laparus doris is
a common and widespread species, found from Mexico to
Bolivia.
Laparus doris,
male, Catarata Bayoz, Le Merced, Peru
� Adrian Hoskins
Habitats
The butterfly occurs commonly at elevations between 0-1200m. It
is usually seen singly or in two's and three's, fluttering around flowering
bushes in sunlit areas at the forest edge.
Lifecycle
The eggs are yellow, and laid in clusters of up to 200.
When fully grown
the caterpillar is greenish-yellow with transverse black bands across the back,
and branched black spines along the back and sides. The larvae feed gregariously
on Passiflora. The
pupa is reddish-brown and devoid of spines. Pupation sometimes takes place
gregariously on tree trunks.
Adult behaviour
Like other Heliconiines,
Laparus has a very graceful and
persistent flight, beating it's wings very slowly as it flutters
in search of flowers or larval foodplants.
Males often settle close to
streams
in dappled sunlight, to imbibe mineralised moisture from rocks,
mud or sand. Both sexes fly in open sunlight
and visit
Lantana flowers for
nectar. Females also visit
Psiguria and
Psychotia flowers for pollen. They
process the pollen to extract proteins which enable them to continue producing eggs over a long
period. The proteins also increase longevity - adults can live for up to 9
months, much longer than other rainforest species.
Laparus doris,
male, Rio Madre de Dios, Peru
� Adrian Hoskins
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