Page 239 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Nymphalidae
DISTRIBUTION Mexico, south to the Amazon basin
HABITAT Humid lowland rain forests and adjacent second growth
HOST PLANTS Croton spp.
NOTE Caterpillar that is widespread but rarely seen
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but not likely to become endangered

ADULT WINGSPAN
3½–4 in (90–100 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
2⅜–2¾ in (60–70 mm)
HYPNA CLYTEMNESTRA
JAZZY LEAFWING 237

(CRAMER, 1777)

The oddly shaped caterpillar of the Jazzy Leafwing resembles
a piece of dead leaf, a bird dropping, or some other inedible
piece of forest detritus, making it unlikely to be found by hungry
predators such as birds. While not feeding, larvae often rest near
a damaged portion of the host plant to further enhance their
crypsis. Early instars rest out on the ends of fragile frass chains,
which they begin to build immediately after hatching. At later
instars, too, the caterpillars are one of the few species of their
tribe Anaenini that do not rest inside rolled-up host plant leaves.

Jazzy Leafwings are among the largest members of Anaenini.
The fast- ying adults, which feed predominantly on rotting

fruit, are widely distributed but rarely encountered. The
caterpillar’s host plants are in the genus Croton, among them
C. lechleri, known in some areas of eastern Ecuador as Sangre de
Drago, or Dragon’s Blood, for its thick, bloodred sap, which is
harvested and used for myriad medicinal purposes, from treating
minor cuts to curing ulcers.

The Jazzy Leafwing caterpillar has a pale
brown head, which is ringed with a corona of
eight bristled tubercles and bears whitish “warts”
across the front. The body is tapered behind the
head, greatly enlarged at the posterior thorax,
and quickly tapered toward the rear. It is overall
chocolate brown, darker along the back, and has
numerous reddish tubercles along the dorsum,
from which arise long, hairlike bristles.
Actual size