Caligo
Owl Butterflies
Andrew V. Z. Brower
- Caligo arisbe
- Caligo atreus
- Caligo bellerophon
- Caligo beltrao
- Caligo brasiliensis
- Caligo euphorbus
- Caligo eurilochus
- Caligo idomeneus
- Caligo illioneus
- Caligo martia
- Caligo oberthurii
- Caligo oedipus
- Caligo oileus
- Caligo placidianus
- Caligo prometheus
- Caligo superbus
- Caligo suzanna
- Caligo telamonius
- Caligo teucer
- Caligo uranus
- Caligo zeuxippus
Introduction
The "owl butterflies," so called because of the large eyespots on the ventral surface of the hindwing, which when presented upside down with the wings spread suggest the head of an owl. It is not evident that the butterflies exhibit a behavior that would present such a view to potential predators. In "nature" they occur in neotropical forest understorey, where they frequently perch on tree trunks with their wings held together over their backs and heads upwards.
References
Casagrande, MM. 2004. Brassolini. In Lamas G ed. 2004. Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist: Part 4A Hesperioidea - Papiionoidea. Gainesville: Scientific Publishers/Association of Tropical Lepidoptera.
Title Illustrations
| Scientific Name | Caligo beltrao |
|---|---|
| Location | captive |
| Specimen Condition | Live Specimen |
| Source | Caligo beltrao |
| Source Collection | Flickr |
| Image Use |
 This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 2.0.
|
| Copyright | © 2008 Luciano Giussani |
| Scientific Name | Caligo memnon |
|---|---|
| Location | captive at the Butterfly Farm in St. Maarten |
| Acknowledgements | Photograph courtesy InsectImages.org (#1454002) |
| Specimen Condition | Live Specimen |
| Life Cycle Stage | adult |
| Source Collection | Bugwood Network/Forestry Images |
| Copyright | © Jim Occi, BugPics |
About This Page
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA
Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Andrew V. Z. Brower at
Page copyright © 2011
Page: Tree of Life
Caligo . Owl Butterflies.
Authored by
Andrew V. Z. Brower.
The TEXT of this page is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution 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.
- First online 01 November 2006
- Content changed 01 May 2011
Citing this page:
Brower, Andrew V. Z. 2011. Caligo . Owl Butterflies. Version 01 May 2011 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Caligo/70752/2011.05.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
