Anartia jatrophae

White peacock
A. j. jatrophae, Tobago
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Tribe: Victorinini
Genus: Anartia
Species: A. jatrophae
Binomial name
Anartia jatrophae
(Linnaeus, 1763)

Anartia jatrophae (white peacock) is a species of butterfly found in the southeastern United States, Central America, and throughout much of South America.

The males of the species display a unique territorial behavior, in which they stake out a territory typically 15 meters in diameter that contains larval host plants. They perch in this area and aggressively protect it from other insects and other male white peacocks.[1]

References

  1. Melissa A. Barger, Daniel J. Madigan, Timothy R. Matsuura and Chad M. Valderrama, 2005 Aggressive behavior in the butterfly Anartia jatrophae. Dartmouth Studies in Tropical Ecology 2005

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anartia jatrophae.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.