Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Pansy Daggerwing
Marpesia marcella
FELDER & FELDER, 1861
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
CYRESTINAE
Tribe - CYRESTINI
Marpesia
marcella, Satipo, Peru
Introduction
The
genus Marpesia is confined largely to the neotropical region, but is closely allied to the
Mapwing and Maplet butterflies ( Cyrestis &
Chersonesia ) of the Oriental region.
Daggerwings
are similar in wing shape to Swordtails and Swallowtails ( Papilionidae ), but
the latter have 6 legs whereas Marpesia and all
other Nymphalidae genera have only 4 legs. Another feature to look for is the
antennae. In all Papilionids these are recurved at the tip, but in
Marpesia they are straight. In total there
are 17
Marpesia
species, all with the same wing shape as
zerynthia,
except for
petreus
which has 2 tails on each hindwing and a deeply scalloped outer margin to it's
forewing.
Males of Marpesia
marcella can easily be confused with
corita and corinna,
both of which have very similar uppersides, although the orange bands are
narrower in corinna. The females of
marcella and corinna
are dark brown with white bands on the forewings, but females of
corita have orange bands.
On the underside marcella is pale orange with broad
linear white stripes, while corinna is similar but
has much narrower stripes. Both are quite different from corita
which is pinkish-brown, marbled and scalloped with purplish on the outer half of
the wings, and marked with irregular white stripes in the basal area.
Marpesia marcella occurs from
Mexico to Peru.
Habitats
Although it is found at all elevations from 500-2800m,
Marpesia marcella is primarily a cloudforest species, and is most abundant at
elevations between about 1000-2000m.
Lifecycle
I have no data relating to
marcella,
but the following characteristics are applicable in general to the genus
Marpesia
:
The
eggs are white or yellowish, and laid singly on the foliage of trees and shrubs
in the family Moraceae - including
Ficus, Chlorophora, Brosimum
and Artocarpus.
The
fully grown caterpillars are very colourful, typically marked with red and / or
yellow spots and stripes. There is a single row of unbranched, recurved spines
along the back, and the head is adorned with a pair of very long wavy spines.
They feed diurnally and rest on the upper surface of leaves. The
pupae are typically pale in colour, marked with blackish spots or blotches, and have wiry filaments projecting from the back of the abdomen and from the head.
Adult behaviour
This species is usually encountered
as small groups of up to about 6 males, visiting wet sand or mud to imbibe
mineral-laden moisture. In hot weather the butterflies tend to constantly
flit from spot to spot, fanning their wings, but occasionally
settle for a while and feed while holding their wings erect. In cooler or shady conditions they feed with wings
outspread.
Females are
elusive, spending most of their lives in the forest canopy, but in
overcast weather will sometimes descend to settle on foliage along
forest trails.
|
 |
|
Marpesia
marcella, male, Colombia
©
Frank Lambert |
|
