Butterflies of Antigua

On October 30, 1975, Antigua Post released the butterfly stamp set comprised of one souvenir sheet and 7 postage stamps features species of butterflies, like : Eurema elathea, Danaus plexippus, Phoebis philea, Marpesia petreus Thetys, Papilio Polydamas , and Vanessa Cardui.

Eurema Elathea is a butterfly of genus Eurema,   in the family of Pieridae. Its occurs from the USA to Paraguay, and is also present on most Caribbean islands.

 

The upper-side forewings of male Eurema elathea are yellowish, with a broad blackish-brown apex, and a broad straight blackish bar along the inner margin ( dorsum ). The hind-wings of the male are white, with a broad dark brown border.

This butterfly breeds in disturbed semi-open forest edge habitats, which may include roadsides, riverbanks, secondary forest and farmland. It occurs at altitudes between sea level and about 1800m.

Eurema Elathea is usually encountered as colonies of several dozen individuals, which can be seen fluttering slowly amongst low herbage in disturbed forest edge habitats.Both sexes nectar at low growing flowers and at Lantana bushes. Males of this butterfly do not normally mud-puddle or visit sandbanks.

 

Danaus plexippus or The Monarch butterfly  is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae), in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies.

The Monarch butterfly is famous for its southward migration and northward return in summer from Canada to Mexico and Baja California which spans the life of three to four generations of the butterfly.

Its wings feature an easily recognizable orange and black pattern, with a wingspan  around of 9 centimetres . The upper side of the wings is tawny-orange, the veins and margins are black, and in the margins are two series of small white spots. The fore wings also have a few orange spots near the tip. The underside is similar but the tip of the fore wing and hind wing are yellow-brown instead of tawny-orange and the white spots are larger.

Phoebis philea or The Orange-barred Sulphur  is a species of butterfly found in the Americas including the Caribbean.There are two to three generations per year in Florida and one in the northern part of the range with adults on wing from mid to late summer.

The species habitat is in tropical scrub, gardens, fields, and forest edges. The species eats nectar from red-colored plants.The larvae feed on Cassia species.The wingspan is around 75 mm.

Marpesia petreus Thetys  or Ruddy Daggerwing, is a species of butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found in Brazil north through Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies to southern Florida.

 

The wingspan is around 80 mm and generally found at tropical dry forest regions.Larvae feed off the following plants,  Anacardium occidentale (marañon) and Ficus citrifolia, meanwhile Adult butterflies feed off the following plants, Eupatorium sp,  Mikania micrantha, Cordia sp,  Croton sp and Lantana sp.

Eurema proterpia or The Tailed Orange  is a North and South American butterfly in the family Pieridae.This species may be found from mid-July to early January in Arizona, from August to November in Texas, and all year round in Mexico.

The upper side of the wings is orange with a variable amount of black along the fore wing costa. The wing veins are lightly marked with black in summer individuals, and winter individuals have no black veins. Males reflect UV light on their upper sides, and some females can be white. The underside of the wings varies depending on the season.The wingspan measures around 35 mm.

Papilio Polydamas or Battus polydamas is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae.This butterfly flies from April to November in three generations in the north of its range, throughout the year in several generations in the tropics. The larvae feed on Aristolochia species.

Papilio Polydamas is mainly present in open woods and in abandoned fields and areas.The wingspan is around 110 mm without the tail. The upper-side of the wings is black with a broad sub-marginal band formed by large yellow spots. The undersides of the forewings have the same pattern, while the hind wings have a sub-marginal row of red drawings.

Vanessa cardui is a well-known colourful butterfly, known as the Painted Lady.  Its close relative to the Australian Painted Lady (Vanessa kershawi, sometimes considered a subspecies) ranges over half the continent.

Other closely related species are the American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis), and the West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella).

The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. It migrates from North Africa and the Mediterranean to Britain in May and June.

Larvae feed on Asteraceae spp., including Cirsium, Carduus,Centaurea, Arctium, Helianthus, and Artemisia spp.

Butterflies of Barbados

There are very few species of butterflies in Barbados and some threatened on daily basis. This is due to habitat loss  and the used of more the herbicides and pesticides.

Therefore the Postal Administration of Barbados has collaborated with the WWF organization issued the stamp series features butterfly species, White peacock, Great Southern White, Orion , Mimic (Hypolimnas misippus) and Monarch . The stamps have logo of WWF and issued on April 21st, 2005 and logo of The Pacific Explorer 2005-World Stamp Expo.

The stamp 50c depicts White Peacock or Anartia jatrophae.

The White Peacock has a white colour on the upper side,  blending to buff and orange in margins, overlaid with a complex pattern of brown and orange scrawls and small block eyespots on the below side. The wing span is 50 – 60mm.

The White peacocks are found in swampy places, water sites, shore lines and disturbed ground. The range of distribution is South Texas and Florida, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

 

The stamp $1.00 depicts Great Southern White or Ascia monuste.

The Great Southern White or Ascia monuste is a butterfly species that considered as a arch enemy in the farm community. Its has wingspan of 45 – 65 mm. The range distribution of this species is Gulf Coast States in USA, Caribbean and south America.

The larval food plants are members of the Kale family include cabbage and mustard. In Barbados the Kale family growing in fields and roadsides.

The stamp $1.40 depicts Orion or Historius odius.

The Orion  or Historius odius is a large butterfly species which has the colour of velvety dark brown and orange on the upper wings and dark brown with white bars on the underneath. When closed the wings resemble a dry leaf or a piece of bark, which allows the Orion to blend in with its surroundings. The wing span is 110 – 130 mm.

The Orion has distribution ranged from Cuba to the Greater and lesser Antilles, Mexico to Argentina. It feeds on rotting fruit.

The stamp $2.50 depicts Mimic or Hypolimnas misippus.

The Mimic (Hypolimnas misippus) or Danaid Eggfly is a widespread species of nymphalid butterfly. It is well known for polymorphism and mimicry. Males are blackish with distinctive white spots that are fringed in blue. Females are in multiple forms that include male like forms while others appear like the toxic Danaus chrysippus and Danaus plexippus butterflies. The male has the upper wings dark velvety brownish-black. The forewing has a broad white oval spot .They are found across Africa, Asia and Australia.

The block stamp $ 8.00 depicts Monarch or Danaus plexippus.

The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae), in the family Nymphalidae. The Monarch’s wingspan ranges from 8.9–10.2 cm .The upper side of the wings is tawny-orange, the veins and margins are black, and in the margins are two series of small white spots. The fore wings also have a few orange spots near the tip. The underside is similar but the tip of the fore wing and hind wing are yellow-brown instead of tawny-orange and the white spots are larger.

The male has a black patch of androconial scales responsible for dispersing pheromones on the hind wings, and the black veins on its wing are narrower than the female’s. The male is also slightly larger.

The monarch is the only butterfly that migrates both north and south as the birds do on a regular basis.Monarch butterflies are one of the few insects capable of making trans-Atlantic crossings.

Monarch butterflies are poisonous or distasteful to birds and mammals because of the presence of cardiac glycosides that are contained in milkweed consumed by the larva. It is thought that the bright colours of larvae and adults function as warning colours. During hibernation monarch butterflies sometimes suffer losses because hungry birds pick through them looking for the butterflies with the least amount of poison, but in the process killing those that they reject.

BuzzNet Tags: butterfly,monarch,mimic,orion,white peacock,great southern white

Butterflies of the World - St. Vincent and The Grenadines 1998

St. Vincent and the Grenadines depicted the nine species of butterflies on the miniature stamp sheet in 1998. The species were depicted are Heliconius erato, Danaus plexippus, Papilio phoracas, Morpho peleides, Pandoriana pandora, Basilarchia astyanax, Vanessa carduii, Colobura dice, and Heraclides cresphontes ( picture direction: from top-left move ward to botom-right) .