Butterflies of
Thailand, Malaysia &
Borneo
Straight line
Map-wing
Cyrestis nivea
nivalis
ZINKEN, 1831
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
CYRESTINAE
Tribe - CYRESTINI
introduction
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habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
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Cyrestis nivea nivalis,
Taman Negara, West Malaysia |
Introduction
The Mapwings, together with their relatives in
Chersonesia are medium sized
butterflies noted for their attractive patterns of fine lines,
and tailed hindwings.
The genus
Cyrestis comprises of 25 species,
of which 17 occur in the Oriental region. Only 4 occur in West
Malaysia - themire,
cocles, nivea
and maenalis. An additional species
theresae occurs on Sumatra and
Borneo, while the remainder are found variously from India to
Papua New Guinea and the Solomon islands; except for a single
species camilla, found in Africa
and Madagascar.
Cyrestis nivea occurs in Myanmar,
Thailand, West Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Sabah, Sarawak,
Brunei, Kalimantan, Palawan, Sulawesi, Java and the Lesser Sunda
Islands.
The male and female are similar, although the female is a little
paler and has slightly more rounded wings. The butterfly can
easily be confused with maenalis,
but the fine lines on the wings of the latter are darker and
more pronounced.
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Cyrestis nivea nivalis,
Taman Negara, West Malaysia |
Habitats
This is the commonest Cyrestis
species in Malaysia, and is found in primary and secondary
forest at elevations between sea level and about 500 metres.
Above that altitude it is gradually replaced by
maenalis.
Lifecycle
The upper part of the larva is green, covered with tiny pale
tubercules that give it a rough texture. On the 5th and 11th
segments there is a long curved spiky horn which is dark
purplish brown, this colour extending as a saddle which links to
the dark lower part of the body. The head is the same colour,
and bears a pair of recurved horns. The foodplants of
nivea appear to be
unrecorded, but Corbet & Pendlebury state that the foodplants of
other
Cyrestis species include
Streblus ilicifolius and
Ficus ( both Moraceae ), and
Tetracera sarmentosa ( Dilleniaceae
).
Adult behaviour
The
Straight-line Mapwing is usually
encountered singly, along narrow forest paths where dappled
sunlight filters through the foliage.
Males
can also be seen on gravel roads, in quarries, or along
pebble-strewn river beaches, where they bask in full sunlight.
They are attracted to
seepages and other moist spots, and will spend long periods
settled with wings fully outspread and flattened against the
ground, basking in nooks among rubble or small boulders.
Males are also known to visit fungi.
Females are
seen less often, but sometimes encountered along forest trails,
or nectaring at flowers in forest gardens.
Both sexes
habitually rest beneath leaves with their wings outspread. Less
commonly they will bask on the upper surface of large leaves,
but tend to only do so in areas of dappled sunlight.
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