Calisto smintheus

Calisto smintheus
Male, upperside
Male, underside
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Calisto
Species:	C. smintheus
Binomial name
Calisto smintheus Bates, 1935
Synonyms
Calisto delos Bates, 1935 Calisto smintheus smintheus Bates, 1939 Calisto smintheus delos Torre, 1968 Calisto biocellatus Torre, 1968 Calisto sibylla smintheus Brown and Heineman, 1972 Calisto sibylla delos Brown and Heineman, 1972

Calisto israeli is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is endemic to Cuba, where it is known from the Sierra Maestra. The species inhabits evergreen and rainforests at altitudes between 800 m and 1,500 metres. It is also found in cloud forest above 1,500 metres, and at the cloud scrub around Pico Turquino.

The length of the forewings is 19–25 mm.^[1] Adults have been observed feeding on flowers of Bourreria laevis, Palicourea alpina, Pavonia fruticosa, Mikania micrantha and Stachyterpheta cayenensis.

The larvae feed on Ichnanthus mayarensis. They eat the entire corion after hatching and feed at night remaining inactive during the day in lower parts of the plant.

Gallery

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  Female, upperside
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  First Instar Larva
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  Second Instar Larva
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  Fifth Instar, lateral view
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  Fifth Instar, dorsal view
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  Fifth Instar, head capsule
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  Pupa, lateral view
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  Pupa, ventral view
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  Pupa, dorsal view

References

1. Aguila, Rayner Núñez; Edelquis Oliva Plasencia; Pavel F. Matos Maravi; Niklas Wahlberg (2012). "Cuban Calisto (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae), a review based on morphological and DNA data". ZooKeys. 165: 57–105. doi:10.3897/zookeys.165.2206. PMC 3272634. PMID 22328857.