Siproeta stelenes

Siproeta stelenes (Siproeta stelenes)

Phylum — arthropoda
Class — insecta
Order — lepidoptera
Family — nymphalidae

Genus – siproeta

Appearance

The caterpillar is black, decorated with branched spines: reddish-orange on the back and black on the sides. The head has a pair of backward-curved horns.

Siproeta stelenes has large wings that are black and brilliant green or yellow-green on the upperside and light brown and olive green on the underside. There are small tails on the hind wings. Typically, the wingspread is between 8.5 and 10 cm (3.3 and 3.9 in).

Habitat

Siproeta stelenes is distributed from Florida and Texas, south to Peru, Argentina and Bolivia.

Behavior

It demonstrates daily activity. Butterflies are poisonous.

The males are usually seen in open sunlit areas along roads and riverbanks. Males are often found on wet ground, where they absorb moisture with minerals. Females tend to patrol back and forth along a limited stretch of habitat, dotting their eggs about fairly randomly.

The butterflies go to roost in late afternoon beneath leaves. This can take place either among low vegetation along the forest edge, or on saplings in the understorey deep inside the forest.

Diet

The caterpillars feed on the leaves of Ruellia and Blechum from the Acanthaceae family.

Adults feed on flower nectar, rotting fruit, dead animals, and bat dung.

Reproduction

For their reproduction you need a terrarium with a size of 50 x 50 x 70 cm. Eggs are laid singly on host plant leaves, which caterpillars eat and rest beneath. The eggs are dark green. It is better to keep the caterpillars in terrariums with a mesh cover for 6-8 insects. In the terrarium, you need to place a forage plant. The insects should be kept at the temperature of 22-25 ^o C and humidity of 60-70%. The pupa is green and have sharp, gold spines that can puncture predators. The duration of the pupa stage is 8-10 days.

In captivity

The mesh terrarium with a size of 50 × 50 × 70 mm is suitable for keeping butterflies. Room temperature is necessary. Daylight time is 12 hours. You can feed the butterflies with honey syrup diluted with boiled water in a ratio of 1: 10.