South American Tropical Buckeye
Junonia evarete
Junonia evarete is a South American butterfly of the nymphalid (Nymphalidae) family. It has characteristic eye spots on the wings, which have a wingspan between 4.5 and 6.5 cm (1.8 and 2.6 in).
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Junonia evarete, Mitu, Colombia -
West Indian buckeye -
![Junonia cf. evarete ssp. - Olho-de-Pavão-Diurno / Mangrove Buckeye / West Indian Buckeye / Tropical Buckeye (Cramer, 1779 - [1779]?) Lepidoptera: Bombycina: Papilionoidea: Nymphalidae: Nymphalinae: Junoniini
Sex: ♀ (requires confirmation)
Date: 20th of May, 2018 at 10:54:29am
Location: Brazil, Ceará, Fortaleza, Trilha do Parque do Cocó
Other picture:
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/61992/junonia_cf._evarete_ssp._-_olho-de-pavo-diurno_mangrove_buckeye_west_indian_buckeye_tropical_buckeye_cramer_1779_-_1779.html
Junonia evarete is a butterfly in the order Lepidoptera, subdivision Rhopalocera, superfamily Papilionoidea, family Nymphalidae, subfamily Nymphalinae and tribe Junoniini.
There is no way for me to affirm this is a Junonia evarete, mainly because the only way to differentiate a Junonia evarete from Junonia genoveva is to look at the ventral portion of the antennae. In J. evarete, the tip of the females' antennae is normally pale but can vary between a light grey and dark grey and is uniform with the rest of the antenna. In J. genoveva the ventral surface of the tip of the antennae is dark; brown or black, and contrasts with the lighter color of the inferior areas of the antennae. In J. genoveva the tip of the antennae is similar between males and females; usually dark. The only safe way of differenciating J. evarete from J. genoveva is by checking the ventral area of the antennae (Andrew Neild) (http://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Andes - Junonia genoveva.htm).
The photography was taken in a dorsal view, but the left antenna (https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BBJXwl56kHU/WywFTUwLLDI/AAAAAAAA5C4/eXpKBGvG1_oAOuGCaSUYoqrLuCwS69CjQCLcBGAs/s1600/Junonia_Oscar3.jpg)
Was noted by Cesar of Insetologia:
(https://www.insetologia.com.br/2018/06/borboleta-junonia-no-ceara.html) to be slightly twisted and showing a part of the ventral surface, which inclines the identification towards J. evarete more than to J. genoveva, but there is no certainty as the other antenna seems to be a tad less saturated.
They possess characteristic eye spots on the wings, which have a span ranging from 4,5 to 6,5cm. The eyes are there as a defensive mechanism against predation, especially against birds. These spots might also serve as a mechanism to fool predators, which may attack the eyes on the wings instead of attacking more vital parts of the butterfly.
If this is a J. evarete, both sexes are very similar. Males tend to stay perched onto vegetation or on the soil waiting for receptive females all day long. The eggs are oviposited individually on the plants and the solitary larvae will feed on the leaves. Adults are nectarivorous. They inhabit the tropical plains, bushy and weedy areas, islands, primary and secundary forests, urbanized and suburbanized habitats and swamps. Their distribution status is still discussed, but it seems that they have a wider distribution than J. genoveva. They are known to occur from South of North America to South America, occurring also on the Caribbean Islands, such as Cuba and Jamaica.
The host plants of the J. evarete include:
Stemodia sp. (L.) (Plantaginaceae (ex: Scrophulariaceae): Gratioloideae: Gratioleae) ("twintip" is the common name for several species)
Lippia sp. (L.) (Verbenaceae: Verbenoidae)
Ruellia sp. (L.) (Acanthaceae: Acanthoideae: Ruellieae)
Laguncularia sp. (C.F.Gaertn. 1807) (Combretaceae: Combretoideae: Laguncularieae) ("white mangrove")
Bidens alba ((L.) DC.) and possibly other Bidens sp. (L.) (Asteraceae: Asteroideae: Coreopsideae) ("beggarticks")
and
Stachytarpheta sp. (Vahl), especially Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) (Verbenaceae) ("porterweed" / "blue porterweed").
- It is very likely and possible that there are many more host plants.
Adults' wings have a brown upperside with a wide, diffused, white with brown or orange forewing band. The median band is fairly straight and the underside of the wings is brown. They have eye spots on the wings that occur mainly near the edges of the wings. J. evarete, along with J. genoveva, possess many subspecies and variations, making it even harder to identify them. According to informal sources I could find, the males of J. evarete, as well as J. genoveva, tend to have a blueish hue on the hindwings, but I can't seem to find reliable informations on this. If this is true, then my specimen is a female.
They are multivoltine and adults can be found throughout the year. They are very active and wary, and will take flight at the slightest provocation.
Other sources:
http://www.butterfliesofcuba.com/junonia-evarete---mangrove-buckeye.html
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/junonia-evarete
http://brasilesuafauna.blogspot.com/2017/01/junonia-evarete.html
http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/nymphalidae/nymphalinae/junonia/#evarete
http://www.butterfliesofamerica.com/junonia_g_genoveva.ht
http://tolweb.org/Junonia_evarete/93981 Animal Kingdom,Animalia,Arthropoda,Borboletas do Brasil,Brazil,Butterfly,Insecta,Insects,Junonia evarete,Junonia genoveva,Olho-de-Pavão-Diurno,South America,Tropical Buckeye,West Indian buckeye,animal,animals,butterflies,fauna,inseto,mangrove buckeye](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/3305/61993_small.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=m%2FZichvuFwQ4PMZ9vOhEAbOG1zo%3D)
Junonia cf. evarete ssp. - Olho-de-Pavão-Diurno / Mangrove Buckeye / West Indian Buckeye / Tropical Buckeye (Cramer, 1779 - [1779]?) -
![Junonia evarete - Olho-de-pavão-diurno differentiation: The only way to differentiate Junonia evarete from Junonia genoveva is by observing the ventral portion of the antennae. In J. evarete, the tip of the antennas varies between light gray and dark gray, and is uniform with the rest of the antenna. In J. genoveva the ventral surface of the tip of the antennae is dark, brown or black, and contrasts with the lighter color of the rest of the antenna.
[from: Wikipedia] Brazil,Geotagged,Junonia evarete,West Indian buckeye](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/6248/123132_small.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=L1dO3CZhF7zz3WHZkpLeGfxEEcU%3D)
Junonia evarete - Olho-de-pavão-diurno -
![Junonia cf. evarete ssp. - Olho-de-Pavão-Diurno / Mangrove Buckeye / West Indian Buckeye / Tropical Buckeye (Cramer, 1779 - [1779]?) Lepidoptera: Bombycina: Papilionoidea: Nymphalidae: Nymphalinae: Junoniini
Date: 20th of May, 2018 at 10:54:36am
Local: Brazil, Ceará, Fortaleza, Trilha do Parque do Cocó
Full post here:
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/61993/junonia_cf._evarete_ssp._-_olho-de-pavo-diurno_mangrove_buckeye_west_indian_buckeye_tropical_buckeye_cramer_1779_-_1779.html Brazil,Fall,Geotagged,Junonia evarete,West Indian buckeye](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/3305/61992_small.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=F2T4Rm0OzGolIZncuisMwEM65U8%3D)
Junonia cf. evarete ssp. - Olho-de-Pavão-Diurno / Mangrove Buckeye / West Indian Buckeye / Tropical Buckeye (Cramer, 1779 - [1779]?) -
Junonia evarete evarete -
West Indian buckeye - Junonia evarete