Belenois calypso

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Pieridae

'The Pieridae are members of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Worldwide in distribution, most species are found in the tropics. Adults have medium to small wings that are white, yellow, or orange, with some black or red, and many have hidden ultraviolet patterns that are used in courtship . Species with more than one generation usually have distinct seasonal variation in appearance . Adults of all species visit flowers for nectar, and adults of both sexes have three pairs of walking legs . Males patrol in search of receptive mates, and females lay columnar eggs on leaves, buds, and stems. The majority of caterpillars of North American whites and sulphurs feed on legumes or crucifers (members of the Mustard family ). Typically, temperate species overwinter in the pupal or larval stage , while tropical species overwinter as adults.

'[1]

Subfamily Pierinae

Whites, marbles, and orangetips are members of the Family Pieridae. In North America, 31 species are included . Adults of most species are predominantly white above with some black pattern elements , and their hindwings often have a pattern of yellow and black scales that appear green. Sexes of most species are only slightly dimorphic , though male orangetips have bright orange wingtips. Nearly all adults are avid flower visitors. The males of almost all North American species patrol open, sunny habitats for females, although males of some tropical whites (e.g. Mexican Dartwhite) perch along ravines . Caterpillars of most western whites feed on mustards, though some use capers and others, pineneedles. All species overwinter in the chrysalis stage, and some orangetips and marbles may pass several unfavorable years in the chrysalis stage before hatching .[2]

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [3].

Ecology:  

The species is widespread and common in most of the African forest zone, especially in somewhat drier forests, though it will be found around the edges of even the wettest forests. In West Africa it also occurs in dense Guinea savanna and open areas in the forest zone. Males are often observed in mud-puddles, and both sexes are attracted to flowers. The species occasionally migrates; one such mixed migration in Lagos, Nigeria in late May, 1967 was recorded (Larsen 1968). 

Larval host-plants include most forest Capparidaceae (Capparis, Cadaba, Maerua and Ritchiea spp. ).

[3].

List of Habitats :

•     1     Forest   
  
•     1.5     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry   
  
•     1.6     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland   
  
•     1.8     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Swamp   
  
•     2     Savanna   
  
•     2.1     Savanna - Dry   
  
•     2.2     Savanna - Moist   
[more info]

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 04-Mar-2007

 

A number of subspecies – difficult to characterize properly – are recognized. In the eastern parts of the range a number of similar species occur, which are difficult to tell apart from this butterfly.

[3].

Similar Species

Members of the genus Belenois

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 5 species and subspecies in this genus:

B. anomala (Socotran Caper White) · B. calypso (Calypso Caper White) · B. raffrayi (Raffrays White) · B. rubrosignata (Red-Edged White) · B. theuszi (Central Caper White)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A hand-book to the order Lepidoptera. By W.F. Kirby. .. London, E. Lloyd, limited, 1896-1897. url p. 161.
• A handbook to the order Lepidoptera. By W. F. Kirby. London, E. Lloyd, limited, 1896-1897. url , p. 161.
• Nature. London, etc., Macmillan Journals Ltd., etc. url p. 167.
• On a collection of butterflies. London, 1880-98 url p. 433.
• The Entomologist's monthly magazine. Oxford [etc.]Entomologist's Monthly Magazine Ltd. [etc.] url p. 20.
• The Entomologist's record and journal of variation. s.l., s.n. url p. 261.
• The Entomologist. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., [1877- url p. 103, p. 103, p. 17, p. 17.
• The Hope reports. Oxford: Printed for private circulation, 1897-1958. url , p. 14, p. 268, p. 276.
• Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. London, The Society. url , , , p. 268, p. 276, p. 433, p. 96, p. 97.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 17, 2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Larsen, T.B. 2011. Belenois calypso. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 30January2012.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2960980
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Gar-1132
• IUCN ID: 194843
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1580183

Footnotes

1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=15&sci=Pieridae&com=Whites and Sulphurs [back]
2. http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Creusa&search=Search [back]
3. Larsen, T.B. 2011. Belenois calypso. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 January 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.