Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Dido Longwing
Philaethria dido
LINNAEUS, 1763
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
HELICONIINAE
Tribe - HELICONIINI
introduction
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habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
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Philaethria
dido, male, Rio Madre de Dios, Peru |
Introduction
There
are 7 known members of the genus
Philaethria,
which some authorities regard as the most primitive of the Heliconiine genera.
Two species, namely
constantinoi
from Colombia and
andrei
from French Guiana, were discovered in 1991 and 2002 respectively. A third
species
pygmalion
is found in the Brazilian state of Para, near the mouth of the Amazon.
South-east Brazil holds another species
werneckei,
while
diatonica
and
ostara
are found in Honduras and Colombia respectively.
Philaethria dido
is by far the most widespread species, found from Mexico to the southern Amazon.
It is amongst the most beautiful and graceful of neotropical butterflies, but is
rarely seen, as it spends the majority of it's life high in the forest canopy.
It is however regarded as a fairly common species throughout much of it's range,
and I have glimpsed high flying specimens on almost every trip to the neotropics
which I have undertaken, including Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil and
Peru.
Novices often confuse this species with the Malachite Siproeta stelenes,
a common Nymphaline found in open secondary forest, and around the edges of
forest clearings. The wing shape of the two genera are completely
different however.
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Philaethria dido, males, Rio Madre de Dios, Peru |
Habitats
This species breeds in wet tropical rainforests at altitudes from sea level to
about 1200m, but appears to be absent at higher altitudes, and from deciduous
forests.
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Philaethria dido, male, Rio Madre de Dios, Peru |
Lifecycle
The eggs are laid singly on the underside of the leaves of low growing
Passiflora
plants.
The
larva is pale green with reddish spines along the back and sides, and has a pale
brown head which also bears spines.
The
chrysalis is reportedly pale brown, mottled with grey, and is said to resemble a
bird dropping.
Adult behaviour
As with most butterfly species,
the behaviour of males and females differs greatly. The females
are seen more frequently, flitting and gliding at a height of
about 4 metres, and occasionally descending to examine low growing Passiflora plants at light
gaps in the forest.
Males are more
elusive, at least to observers at ground level. but on rare
occasions they will descend from the forest canopy to imbibe
mineral-rich moisture from sandbanks along rivers. At these times
they are quite approachable, but flutter constantly as they move
about probing the sand for nutrients.
Philaethria dido, Rio Tambo, Peru
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