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Dryadula Michener 1942

Dryadula phaetusa (Linnaeus 1758)

Margarita Beltrán and Andrew V. Z. Brower
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Containing group: Heliconiini

Introduction

A monotypic genus distributed throughout the continental neotropics. The genus is recognized by having shorter and broader wings than other heliconiines, comparatively short antennae, and an androconical patch in the males.

Characteristics

Early stages: Eggs are yellow and approximately 1.7 x 1.1 mm (h x w). Females place eggs singly mostly on leaves, and on the base of the stem of the host plant (Brown, 1981). The larvae are almost unicolored, spiny and gregarious feeders. Mature larvae are dull purple with many short bristly spines; head capsule dark purple with two semi-knobbed head horns (DeVries, 1997).

Habits

Dryadula is an inhabitant of disturbed areas in the lowlands, and it is hardly ever found in association with forest and occurs infrequently from sea level to 1,200 m. Sporadically found to roost gregariously at night (DeVries, 1981).

Hostplant: Dryadula larvae feed primarily on plants from the subgenus Distephana and Granadilla (Passifloraceae)(Brown, 1981). In Costa Rica larvae feed on Passiflora talamacensis (Passifloraceae) (DeVries, 1997). 

Other Names for Dryadula phaetusa (Linnaeus 1758)

References

Brown K. S. 1981 The Biology of Heliconius and Related Genera. Annual Review of Entomology 26, 427-456.

DeVries P. J. 1997 The Butterflies of Costa Rica and Their Natural History, Volume I: Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae Princeton University Press, Baskerville, USA.

Michener CD. 1942. A generic revision of the Heliconiinae (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae). Amer. Mus. Novit. 1197: 1-8.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Dryadula phaetusa
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Bandedorange
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Myrte
Scientific Name Dryadula phaetusa
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Sex Male
View dorsal
Collection Gerardo Lamas
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
Scientific Name Dryadula phaetusa
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Sex Male
View ventral
Collection Gerardo Lamas
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
About This Page


University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK


Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Margarita Beltrán at and Andrew V. Z. Brower at

Page: Tree of Life Dryadula Michener 1942. Dryadula phaetusa (Linnaeus 1758). Authored by Margarita Beltrán and Andrew V. Z. Brower. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Beltrán, Margarita and Andrew V. Z. Brower. 2008. Dryadula Michener 1942. Dryadula phaetusa (Linnaeus 1758). Version 04 September 2008 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Dryadula_phaetusa/70436/2008.09.04 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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