Colobura dirce
Niklas Wahlberg
Introduction
Colobura dirce has two subspecies, the widespread Central and South American C. dirce dirce and the Caribbean C. dirce wolcotti. The biology of the species is quite quite well-known. Eggs are laid in small clusters of 2-10 eggs on saplings of the host plant Cecropia. The larvae go through five instars, and late instar larvae are velvet black with pale yellow scoli (branched spines). Pupation happens on the host plant, and the pupae resemble dead twigs. Adults are common in a variety of forest and secondary growth habitats from sea level to 1600 m.
Characteristics
Colobura dirce is best distinguished from C. annulata from the immature stages. Colobura dirce eggs tend to be darker, larvae lack the yellow rings that encircle the body in C. annulata, larvae are less gregarious and tend to be found on saplings and seedlings of the host plant. Adults tend to be smaller than C. annulata, with the main distinguishing character being the third submarginal line on the underside of the forewing, which always tapers toward the costa (unlike in C. annulata).
References
Willmott, K. R., L. M. Constantino, and J. P. W. Hall. 2001. A review of Colobura (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) with comments on larval and adult ecology and description of a sibling species. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 94:185-196.
Title Illustrations
| Scientific Name | Colobura dirce |
|---|---|
| Specimen Condition | Live Specimen |
| Source | Colobura dirce |
| Source Collection | Flickr |
| Image Use |
 This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 2.0.
|
| Copyright | © 2002 Wes Kalinowski |
About This Page
Niklas Wahlberg
University of Turku, Finland
Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Niklas Wahlberg at
Page copyright © 2009 Niklas Wahlberg
Page: Tree of Life
Colobura dirce .
Authored by
Niklas Wahlberg.
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 11 November 2006
- Content changed 11 November 2006
Citing this page:
Wahlberg, Niklas. 2007. Colobura dirce . Version 21 August 2007 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Colobura_dirce/77173/2007.08.21 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
