Project Noah is a tool to explore and document wildlife and a platform to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.
Project Noah is a tool to explore and document wildlife and a platform to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.
Astraptes fulgerator
They are mid-sized skipper butterflies with the typical wing shape of this group. The upperside is black, with basal to postbasal blue corners which are more extensive on the forewings.The thorax has bluish hair on the back, the underside is yellow to orange.
Found near the king vulture's exhibition at the local zoo.
Puh! I hoped you did not ask me this...
That means: There are several different subspecies of this skipper included in one group, depending of geographical range for example. Dan Janzen, one of the most famous lepidopterist in Costa Rica did a lot of research on this topic. It is far too complex (sic!) to explain this in a single comment:
There are 10 species of Astraptes fulgerator included in one species. They differ despite the similarities in DNA barcoding quite clearly from each other: The caterpillars looks different (see subtypes/subforms in the link, note: these are not subspecies!), they may even feed on different host plants, nevertheless they are included in the same complex. They are sometimes sympatric, meaning the might be found within the same or overlapping geographical range but are living in different ecologic niches (ecological separation) or they occupy the same niches and habitats but are geographically separated (geographical separation).
Summery: There are different skippers which have a great similarity (meaning "equal") within their DNA barcodes, but have differences in geographical range, host plants, colors and markings of the caterpillars etc.
Link for the different caterpillars of Astraptes fulgerator:
http://www.pnas.org/content/101/41/14812...
Link for the 11 species/types of this complex:
http://tolweb.org/Astraptes_fulgerator_c...
Gracias bayucca!
Me podrias explicar que es "complejo críptico de especies", que acabo de leer "is a cryptic species complex in the spread-wing skipper butterfly genus Astraptes"
Haha :) bueno no importa lo importante, es que disfrutaste el momento de su belleza ;)
La verdad es que volaba de lado a lado, era muy linda, su color azul fue lo que me llamó la atención. Pero ya cuando se posó no quiso abrir sus alas :(
Lat: 4.82, Long: -75.74
Spotted on Mar 31, 2012
Submitted on Apr 20, 2012
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