The Scarce Bamboo Page or Dido Longwing (Philaethria dido) is a butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 of the Nymphalidae

Nymphalidae

The Nymphalidae is a family of about 5,000 species of butterflies which are distributed throughout most of the world. These are usually medium sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting. They are also called...

 family. It is found in from the Amazon Rainforest

Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...

 up to Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. Rare strays can be found in the lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is about 110 mm. The moth flies from July to December in Mexico.

The larvae feed on Passiflora species, including Passiflora laurifolia

Passiflora laurifolia

Passiflora laurifolia, commonly known as the water lemon, is a species in the family Passifloraceae.The fruit is medium sized, ovaloid in shape, and the usual colours are a green or deep orange skin and white-yellow, extremely juicy pulp....

, Passiflora vitifolia

Passiflora vitifolia

Passiflora vitifolia is a species of Passiflora, native to southern Central America and northwestern South America . It is a vine with cylindric stems covered in red-brown hairs when young. The leaves are serrate, three-lobed, up to 15 cm long and 18 cm broad...

, Passiflora edulis

Passiflora edulis

Passiflora edulis is a vine species of passion flower that is native to Paraguay, Brazil and northern Argentina . Its common names include passion fruit and passionfruit...

, and Passiflora ambigua. Subspecies Philaethria dido choconensis only feeds on Passiflora vitifolia

Passiflora vitifolia

Passiflora vitifolia is a species of Passiflora, native to southern Central America and northwestern South America . It is a vine with cylindric stems covered in red-brown hairs when young. The leaves are serrate, three-lobed, up to 15 cm long and 18 cm broad...

.

Philaethria dido are often confused with Siproeta stelenes

Siproeta stelenes

Siproeta stelenes, commonly known as the Malachite, is a neotropical brush-footed butterfly . The malachite has large wings that are black and brilliant green or yellow-green on the uppersides and light brown and olive green on the undersides. It is named for the mineral malachite, which is similar...

. They have similar coloration, but their wing shapes are different.

Subspecies

There are two recognised subspecies:

• Philaethria dido choconensis (only found in Western Colombia)
• Philaethria dido dido

External links

• butterfliesandmoths.org