Memphis moruus
Species of butterfly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Memphis moruus is a species of leafwing found in South America.
| Memphis moruus | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Tribe: | Anaeini |
| Genus: | Memphis |
| Species: | M. moruus |
| Binomial name | |
| Memphis moruus | |
| Synonyms | |
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Subspecies
- Memphis moruus moruus; present in Brazil and French Guiana.
- Memphis moruus boisduvali[2]
- Memphis moruus leonila (Comstock, 1961); present in Ecuador.
- Memphis moruus morpheus (Staudinger, [1886]) [3] present in Brazil.
- Memphis moruus phila (Druce, 1877) [4] present in Colombia and Ecuador.
- Memphis moruus stheno (Prittwitz, 1865) [5] present in Brazil. [6][7]
Description
Memphis moruus has forewings with a pointed apex and a concave outer edge, and hindwings with a tail. The upper part is metallic blue with a lighter basal part and a darker navy blue to brown distal part. The underside is light brown and simulates a dead leaf.[8]
Biology
The host plants of its caterpillar are Nectandra (Lauraceae) for Memphis moruus boisduvali.
