font settings and languages

Font Size: Large | Normal | Small
Font Face: Verdana | Geneva | Georgia
Languages:

Mycalesis itys

(Itys Bush Brown)

Interesting Facts

[ Back to top ]
 

Common Names

[ Back to top ]

Common Names in English:

Itys Bush Brown

Description

[ Back to top ]

Family Nymphalidae

'The Nymphalidae are members of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Distributed worldwide, butterflies of this family are especially rich in the tropics. They are highly variable, and there are more species in this family than in any other. Adults vary in size from small to large, and their front legs are reduced, unable to be used for walking. Wing shape is also highly variable: some species have irregular margins (anglewings and commas), and others have long taillike projections (daggerwings). Browns, oranges, yellows, and blacks are frequent colors, while iridescent colors such as purples and blues are rare. Adults of some groups are the longest-lived butterflies, surviving 6-11 months. Adult feeding behavior depends on the species, where some groups primarily seek flower nectar while others only feed on sap flows , rotting fruit, dung, or animal carcasses. Males exhibit perching and patrolling behaviors when seeking mates. Egg-laying varies widely, as some species lay eggs in clustsers, others in columns, and others singly. Caterpillar appearance and behavior vary widely. Brushfoots overwinter as larvae or adults.

'[1]

Subfamily Satyrinae

The Satyrinae are medium-sized species of the Family Nymphalidae. Members of this worldwide group are most often brown with one or more marginal eyespots. Males often have visible patches of specialized scales on the fore- or hindwings . Adults have short proboscises and rarely visit flowers, feeding instead on rotting fruit, animal droppings, or sap flows . Nearly all species feed on grasses and grasslike plants , including bamboos , rushes, and sedges. Adults usually perch with their wings closed , but open them wide when basking early in the morning or during cloudy weather. Most species have local colonies and are not migratory. Males patrol when searching for mates, flying in characteristic slow, skipping flight. Eggs are laid singly on the host leaves or stems, and caterpillars feed within shelters of several leaves sewn together with silk . Development from egg to adult can take two years in arctic and alpine species, and it is synchronized in some species. In those species, adult butterflies are only found every other year. Satyrinae typically overwinter as partially grown caterpillars.[2]

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [3].

Ecology: This species frequents secondary rainforest as well as areas of advanced regrowth and grassy places along the margins of forest . It flies weakly between undergrowth and grass blades in open areas and in the understory to a hight of 15 m in virgin and disturbed forest (Fermon et al. 2005). Adults are more active late in the afternoon. Larvae feed on Paniscum psilopodium (Igarashi and Fukuda 2000).[3].

List of Habitats :

Taxonomy

[ Back to top ]

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

 

Nominate itys is restricted to the north of Sulawesi; M. i. remulina Fruhstorfer, 1897, occurs on the remainder of the island; M. i. sulensis Grose Smith & Kirby, 1896, is restricted to Kep. Sula.

[3].

Similar Species

[ Back to top ]

Members of the genus Mycalesis

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 3 species and subspecies in this genus:

M. heri (Moore's Bushbrown) · M. itys (Itys Bush Brown) · M. janardana (Common Bush Brown)

More Info

[ Back to top ]

Further Reading

[ Back to top ]

Notes

[ Back to top ]

Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=18&sci=Nymphalidae&com=Brush-footed Butterflies [back]
  2. http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Paramacera&search=Search [back]
  3. Muller, C.J. & Tennent, W.J. 2011. Mycalesis itys. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 02 February 2012. ... [back]
Last Revised: 7/22/2012