Miraleria cymothoe

Miraleria cymothoe (Miraleria cymothoe)

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

Genus – miraleria

Appearance

The younger caterpillars are gray with a yellow horizontal stripe on the side, the older ones are brown with a yellow stripe.

The wingspan of this butterfly is 56-68 mm. The wings are transparent bordered with orange, the veins are black. There is a white spot on the upper part of the forewings.

Habitat

The butterfly lives in the north of South America.

Behavior

Miraleria cymothoe demonstrates daily activity. Butterflies are poisonous. Butterflies lay their eggs on the leaves of Brugmansia on the banks of rivers and streams at an altitude of 1-3 meters above the ground.

The caterpillars live in large groups.

Diet

The caterpillars feed on the leaves of Brugmansia from the Solanaceae family.

Reproduction

For their reproduction you need a terrarium with a size of 50 x 50 x 70 cm. Females lay eggs in groups of up to 200 on the leaves of the forage plant. The eggs are yellow, elongated with a pointed tip. The incubation period is 7-10 days. It is better to keep the caterpillars in terrariums for 10-20 insects. In the terrarium, you need to place a branch of a forage plant. Forage plants should be replaced every 3-4 days. The temperature is 22-26 ^oC at the humidity of 65-75%. The caterpillars develop for 12-16 days. The pupae are golden. The pupa stage lasts 8-10 days. The butterfly lives 2 weeks.

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 butterflies with honey syrup diluted with boiled water in a ratio of 1: 10.