Prepona laertes (Hübner, [1811])

Common Name:
Laertes Prepona

Synonyms:

Potamis laertes (Hübner, [1811]) 

Natural History:

In the Neotropics there are four subspecies of Prepona laertes (Lamas, 2004). In the central Amazon, Prepona laertes is the most abundant species from Prepona group, under different and varied forms. Males and females occur in sobosque and the forest canopy, with greater abundance between August and November.

Distribution:
Bolivia; Brasil; Colombia; Costa Rica; Ecuador; Guatemala; Guyane française; Honduras; México; Paraguay; Perú; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; Venezuela

Feeding Adult:

Adults feed on rotten fruits, mineral salts in puddles

Feeding Caterpillars:

The caterpillars feed on several species of Leguminosae (e.g. Inga spp.) (Brown Jr. 1992). Species of Inga, Andira, Ygia and Melicoccus are recorded in Costa Rica (http://www.amazonian-butterflies.net/(http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu/)janzen.sas.upenn.edu).

All specimens showed here are deposited in the Collection of Invertebrates INPA, Manaus, Amazonas.

Color:
black, blue, brown, cream, metallic

Publications:

Lamas G. (2004):

Atlas of neotropical Lepidoptera - Checklist: Part 4A Hesperioidea - Papilionoidea. Book.: 1-439

Brown Jr. K (1992):

Borboletas da Serra do Japi: diversidade, habitats, recursos alimentares e variação temporal. In:n História Natural da Serra do Japi: ecologia e preservação de uma área florestal no Sudeste do Brasil., Campinas, Unicamp: 142-186