Here we describe the immature stages and ecological associations of Antirrhea adoptiva porphyrosticta Watkins, 1928 (Lepidoptera:Nymphalidae:Morphinae). The cloud forest bamboo, Chusquea scandens Kunth (Bambusoidea: Poaceae), serves as the larval food plant for this butterfly in eastern Ecuador, the first hostplant record for Antirrhea outside the family Arecaceae. The larvae of A. adoptiva por...

Updated data on the distribution, ecology and taxonomy of Euphaedra cyparissa (Cramer) and Euphaedra sarcoptera (Butler) are presented. Three new subspecies of Euphaedra cyparissa and one of Euphaedra sarcoptera are described and their geographic distribution is presented. The monophyly of the genus Euphaedra sensu Hecq is assessed based on morphological, in particular male and female genitalia...

Abstract We describe the immature stages and oviposition behavior of Veladyris pardalis (Salvin, 1869) from northeastern Ecuador. An unidentified species of Solanum (Solanaceae) is the larval food plant. Eggs are laid singly on leaves, stems or epiphytes growing on the host. Veladyris pardalis has four larval stadia, and takes 64-70 days to mature from oviposition to adult.

Phenotypic plasticity in growth (leading to compensation) and secondary chemical production (leading to induction) in response to herbivory are key defense strategies in adult plants, but their role in seedling defense remains unclear. A pair of greenhouse studies was conducted to investigate compensation and induction in seedlings and juvenile plants, using Plantago lanceolata (Plantaginaceae)...

Four new species of Pierella Westwood, 1851 from Brazil are described: P. angeloi Zacca, Siewert & Mielke sp. nov. from Maranhão, P. kesselringi Zacca, Siewert & Paluch sp. nov. from Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas and Sergipe, P. nice Zacca, Siewert & Paluch sp. nov. from Bahia and P. keithbrowni Siewert, Zacca & Casagrande sp. nov. from Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná an...

The complex of butterfly taxa close to Melitaea didyma includes the traditionally recognized species Melitaea didyma, Melitaea didymoides and Melitaea sutschana, the taxa that were recognized as species only relatively recently (Melitaea latonigena, Melitaea interrupta, Melitaea chitralensis and Melitaea mixta) as well as numerous described subspecies and forms with unclear taxonomic status. He...

We conducted point counts in the alpine zone of the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, New Hampshire, USA, to estimate the distribution and density of the rare endemic White Mountain Fritillary (Boloria chariclea montinus). Incidence of occurrence and density of the endemic White Mountain Fritillary during surveys in 2012 and 2013 were greatest in the herbaceous-snowbank plant community...

The diverse Müllerian mimetic wing patterns of neotropical Heliconius (Nymphalidae) have been proposed to be not only aposematic signals to potential predators, but also intra- and interspecific recognition signals that allow the butterflies to maintain their specific identities, and which perhaps drive the process of speciation, as well. Adaptive features under differential selection that also...

We tested empirically whether microclimate and relative timing of oviposition affected prediapause larval survival and development rates in the federally threatened Bay checkerspot butterfly, Euphydryas editha bayensis (Nymphalidae). Most mortality in Bay checkerspot butterflies occurs among prediapause larvae. Because phenology of the butterfly’s larval hostplant, Plantago erecta, has been tho...

A redescription of Magneuptychia nebulosa (Butler, 1867), a poorly known euptychiine butterfly, is given here, and accurate distributional data are provided for the first time. Taxonomic status of this taxon has been discussed by comparing its morphology against its possible congeners. In addition, lectotype designation for M. nebulosa is provided in order to objectively establish the identity ...