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Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.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
 
Giant Glasswing
Methona confusa BUTLER, 1873
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily - ITHOMIINAE
Tribe - MECHANITINI
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Methona confusa male, Madre de Dios, Peru
 
Introduction
 
The Giant Glasswings, which have wingspans of about 90-100mm, include 7 species of Methona, and Thyridia psidii. All are very similar in appearance, but can with care be distinguished from one another by playing close attention to the positioning of the black bars and white spots on both wing surfaces. Some races of Thyridia psidii, e.g. in Costa Rica, are much more heavily marked, and often have a slight orange tint, whilst others are almost inseparable from Methona, which always have a cream tint.
 
Methona species are denizens of lowland primary rainforest, usually observed at light gaps in the denser parts of the interior, while Thyridia is usually encountered in more open secondary habitats.
 
Ithomiine / Dismorphiine mimicry
 
A large semi-transparent species Patia orise ( Pieridae : Dismorphiinae ), pictured below, mimics the Giant Glasswings, but can immediately be distinguished from them by the fact that it has six legs ( the Ithomiines, being members of the Nymphalidae have only have 4 legs ).
 
Both Methona and Thyridia, in common with all other Ithomiines, have bodies containing toxins which render them distasteful to birds. Patia orise is a non-toxic edible species which gains protection from avian predators due to it's resemblance to Methona and Thyridia - any bird which has had the unfortunate experience of tasting one of the Ithomiines is likely to avoid any similarly patterned butterfly.
 
Patia orise ( above ), a non-toxic member of the Pieridae.
 
Methona confusa ( below ) a toxic member of the Nymphalidae.
 
Habitats
 
Methona species breed in lowland wet rainforest at altitudes below about 700m. The closely related and very similar Thyridia psidii prefers more open secondary habitats, and has a greater altitudinal range, from sea level to about 1800m in the cloudforests.
 
Lifecycle
 
In Peru, in the late dry season, I observed a female Methona confusa ovipositing on an unidentified species of Solanaceae growing at the edge of a narrow forest track. The butterfly spent several minutes fluttering from leaf to leaf, "tasting" the leaves with it's feet to determine the suitability of the plant. It eventually laid a single egg, which was large, globular, white and glistening, on the underside of a leaf.
 
I have no details of the larval stage of Methona, but the caterpillar is likely to be similar to that of Thyridia, which when fully grown is translucent bluish green, with small yellow tubercles along the sides, and a black head marked with white lines. The pupa is also likely to be similar to that of Thyridia, which is silvery, squat in proportion, and bears a resemblance to a large raindrop hanging from a leaf or stem.
 
Adult behaviour

 

The butterflies are solitary in behaviour. Males are usually seen at light gaps where fallen trees have opened the canopy, allowing a shaft of sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor. In such areas they perch on foliage, typically at heights between 2 - 3 metres, to await passing females.

 

The females are active mainly in the late afternoon, when they flit from leaf to leaf searching for oviposition sites.

 

Both sexes settle with wings closed, but I have sometimes observed males slowly fanning their wings, possibly as a means of disseminating pheromones.

 

I have never observed the pre-nuptial ritual, if one exists, but have found copulated pairs settled on low foliage. If accidentally disturbed the pair fly in tandem and resettle on higher foliage.

 

Towards the end of the dry season, the butterflies aggregate in the company of various other Ithomiine species, at dry riverbeds, where they gather at the remaining damp areas. At these times the butterflies can often be found around the base of palms, where they hide amongst the tent of rootlets.

 

 

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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