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Caterpillar

caligo telemonius menus

Photo by LarryGraziano
Published on Project Noah
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10.1984, -85.8257

Field Notes

Description:

this caterpillar is approx. 4.5" to 5" long. It is eating Heliconia leaves. I think it is categorized as Nymphalidae - Morphinae - Brassolini. I don't know which genus or species

Habitat:

Tropical dry forest in NW Costa Rica six weeks into the six month dry season.

Reference Links:

Caligo telamonius menus Fruhstorfer, 1903

Species ID Suggestions

Caligo telamonius

Reference Link
bayucca
1

Comments (10)
EarlyStages
Nor will you ever, Larry, at least not in the wild. The "group" photo was obviously shot in a butterfly farm/exhibit.
LarryGraziano
fantastic photo Early! I have never seen the two species mixing here but there are a plethora of brasilensis in the rainy season. Actually I am quite surprised to have seen this telemonius so late in the dry season.
bayucca
Thanks Keith for this great link!
EarlyStages
FYI on one of my favorite photos . . . http://www.flickr.com/photos/8222267@N06/1175120121/sizes/l/ . . . which very nicely shows the fourth and fifth instars of Caligo brasiliensis (copper then chocolate) and C. telamonius (green then tan).
bayucca
Cool!! I am happy that I was not miles away with my ID ;-)...
LarryGraziano
It was the menus bayucca. I found the butterfly inside my shed today. I haven't been able to find the chrysalis yet....I am about to post the photos of the butterfly.
bayucca
I didn't check all the pictures of Memnon and Menus. One major problem is the also, that most caterpillar change the colors during the different instars, so it might be difficult to separate the different species, if you do not exactly know in what stage the caty is.
LarryGraziano
according to the photos I studied on butterflies of america the menus has a thin dark stripe on the top of the head and the memnon head perfectly resembles the head of my speciman where the head does not have the dark stripe in between the largest of the "horns". I will keep taking photos through the last instar and get a thorough measurement of length before it goes to pupa. Hopefully it won't stray too far from the host plant. check this link for the top of the head coloring difference: http://butterfliesofamerica.com/caligo_telamonius_menus_immatures2.htm
bayucca
I think it is a Caligo species and Caligo telamonius looks very similar. However, all these Caligos look almost the same, so why not the caterpillar looks the same (I still hope not ;-)...). So my ID is tentative and to verify. Another problem is Telamonius has 2 subspecies Memnon and Menus. I only know Menus, but Telamonius looks fine in my eyes. Please, check yourself.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Butterflies & Moths of the World
Mission
Paso Pacifico Survey
Photographed
PublishedJanuary 3, 2012

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