Butterflies of
North America
Southern
Snout
Libytheana
carinenta
CRAMER, 1777
Family -
NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
LIBYTHEINAE
Tribe
-
Libytheana carinenta, Tennessee, USA ©
Ken Childs
Introduction
The Libytheinae
was once considered to be a sister-family to the Nymphalidae but
is now regarded as a subfamily.
There are only 13 species worldwide. The African, Palaearctic and
Oriental species are all placed in the genus
Libythea. The New World species are included in
Libytheana. The latter comprises of
terena from Hispaniola, fulvescens from Dominica,
motya from Cuba and
carinenta - which is distributed from
the southern United States to Brazil.
All
Libythea and
Libytheana species have very long palpi extending forward
from the head, hence the popular English names of Snout or
Beak butterflies. The apex on the forewing is squared off in all
species. On the undersides the wings are cryptically patterned to
resemble dead leaves or tree bark. The uppersides are typically
dark brown, with orange and / or white markings.
Habitats
This species is
found in dry open deciduous woodland and in thorn scrub, at
altitudes between sea level and about 500m.
Lifecycle
The larvae feed
on Celtis ( Ulmaceae ).
Adult behaviour
Unlike all
other Libytheana species - each of
which is endemic to a particular Caribbean island, this species
is strongly migratory and distributed all the way from Texas to
Brazil. Due to its
migratory behaviour Libytheana carinenta
varies greatly in abundance from place to place, and at
different times of year. The butterflies can sometimes be very
scarce, but at other times they occur in vast swarms.
It has been estimated that a
swarm of migrating
Libytheana carinenta in Texas in 1921
was passing at a rate of over a million butterflies per minute
across a 250 mile wide front.
Both sexes
visit Senecio and various other
flowers. During migrations hundreds or even thousands can
sometimes be found aggregating to imbibe moisture from damp ruts in forest
tracks.
The butterflies
are nervous in disposition. If disturbed they fly up and settle
on the twigs of bushes and young trees. When at rest the "snout"
is angled downward to make contact with the twig. The butterfly
then has the appearance of a small dead leaf, anchored to the
twig by a short stem.
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