Black and Blue Butterfly
A very colorful and rather peculiar looking butterfly is the Black and Blue Butterfly or the Mimoides lysithous with its natural habitats located in some parts of Central and South America. It is a medium-sized species whose coloration would make it stand out amongst most of the other colleagues. The wings on the butterfly are black, but with metal blue sheen that becomes more velvety beneath, a combination that has wowed naturalists and butterfly lovers in equal measure.
The scientific name is Mimoides lysithous which means that the butterfly closely resembles other mid to large sized butterflies of unsavory taste or toxic to predators. This is as a result of an evolutionary adaptation that has been put in place to ensure that predators are overly cautious when approaching the unit.
It is amazing animals which are native to the tropical and subtropical zones, starting from Mexico to Brazil. They are mostly found in the rain forests, cloud forests and in well wooded areas with good and abundant sources of water in the form of creeks and rivers. The geographical distribution of Black and Blue Butterfly is Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia among others.
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Black and blue butterfly name
Of the black and blue styled butterflies there are numerous types.
and the specific name is the name of the specific tree, region–based or depending on the species. Here are a few possibilities:Here are a few possibilities:
Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus): This small butterfly has blue color on the upper side of its wings and brown on the under part. It is can be found in Europe and North African region.
Adonis Blue (Polyommatus bellargus): It looks almost like Common Blue, but its wings are much more vivid blue and has little strokes of orange on its under part.
Black Hairstreak (Satyrium pruni): This butterfly has like that black on the upper side of its wings have brown color on the under side of the wings with white line in the middle of the brown color. It’s is located in Europe and Asia.
Cracker Butterfly: Both the wings of these butterflies are black and blue with an exclusive pattern on them. These discusses are located in Australia and New Guinea.
Viceroy Butterfly: Its surfaces are black with white pattern and the hind wings have blue stripes across them and this North American butterfly. It’s famous for imitating the monarch butterfly.
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Origins and Evolution
This type of butterflies has some beautiful black and blue markings – an evident result of evolutional processes. The Black and Blue Butterfly (Hypothetical butterflyus coloratus) originated from the tropical rain forests of South America and over millions of years, it has pass through many changes resulting from natural selection.
According to Dr. Scott, the early types of this butterfly were camouflaged in color resembling their surrounding and this was form of protection from the predators. But in this case it evolved from a single genetic mutation followed by series of evolution pressures to come out with a new color pattern. The rich blue pigmentation, which it is believed, stem from complex sculptural features of the wing scales, was particularly beneficial in some environments where the effective mimicry of a toxic or distasteful species was possible.
Known as Batesian mimicry, the harmless Black and Blue Butterfly was able to intro duction signal the possibility of a high priced, distasteful meal to any potential predators without the butterflies being poisonous in the slightest. The black and blue feature intensified and expanded throughout the population after generations because the genetic trait for this color was advantageous for its survival and breeding capabilities.
Even more significantly, the location factors were also a determinative factor with reference to the Black and Blue Butterfly evolution. Predator pressure and environment differ between regions thus slight differences in color intensity and patterning was observed in different populations. Thus, this local adaptation strengthens the species, which has resulted in a rather large variety of the same species in a relatively small area.
Today, the Black and Blue Butterfly has become the symbol of natural selection and the endless evolutionary game between an organism’s features and the surroundings. Its beauty leaves the onlooker mesmerised and apart from being an aesthetic delight, represents a playback of the marvel that is the evolutionary process that has given shape to the various forms of life on earth.
Habitat and Distribution
Hypolimnas salmacis commonly known as the black and blue butterfly is commonly spotted in the tropical and subtropical parts of Southeast Asia, Australia and nearby islands. This colourful butterfly can be found in several ecosystems from the tropical rainforest to suburban gardens and city parks.
The black and blue butterfly is also found in some parts of south-east Asia and some of the countries may include Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines among others. Its range extends from Malay Peninsula through Indonesian islands and up to western Pacific. It is native in the northern and eastern states of Australia including Queensland New South Wales and the Northern Territory.
Another feature that can be noted while talking about this butterfly is the fact that this species is highly adaptive. It likes foraging grounds rich in vegetation and sources of nectar but can live in the city and can be seen is sunny gardens, parks, and even a potted flowers on a balcony.
The black and blue butterfly is generally regarded as inactive; this means that the butterfly is not known to fly long distances. However individuals may move locally in search of a better space for habitation or food resources. In southern parts of the country they are often seen flying from one flower to the other searching for nectar and appeasing their thirst on the warm sun.
Nevertheless, the black and blue butterfly is distributed nearly throughout the range; nevertheless, the populations in some regions are endangered because of habitat destruction and fragmentation connected with urbanization and deforestation. It is for this reason that governmental and non-governmental organizations should assist in the protection of natural habitats of this kind of butterflies and encourage practice of sustainable utilization of available resources.
Life Cycle and Behavior
Black and blue butterfly is a high flyer which goes through the cycle of life and changes its form through several stages starting from an egg to a butterfly with black and blue wings. It starts when a female deposits her eggs on the surface of the host plant on the underside of a leaf making sure the environment is ripe for fostering the growth of her larvae.
When after a few days, the eggs hatch, larva come out in the form of small caterpillars, which are ready to munch on the leaves of the host plant. These caterpillars stimulated several molting periods, where it grew at a fast rate as it outgrows the exoskeleton. During this larval stage, most of the larvae are quite hidden, especially on the plant leaves so as not to be attacked by predators.
After the final shed or the last stage of the caterpillar is when it creates a chrysalis which is a cocoon like structure where transformation occurs. In this wonderful shell the body of the caterpillar dissolves and rearranges itself into the winged shape of the butterfly. It took some years and in the end starts to break out of the cocoon; initially, its wings are not spread out, they are still wet.
The just emerged butterfly as sprays fluids on the wings which makes it to open and dry and the wings develop the black and blue color hence the name. Its stomach or pro-boscis is long and coiled the adult butterflies mainly survive on nectar which is found in different flowering plants.
Courtship displays in black and blue butterfly are quite elaborate and this entails mating rituals. Males perform aerial dances, they fly around the females to be attractive to them and release some pheromones too. Once a pair has coupled, the female will go in search of suitable host plants which will make it possible for her to lay eggs in order to continue the cycle of life.
There some special behaviors where these butterflies show and these include sun- basking behaviors in order to spread their wings and fly or the puddling behavior in which the butterflies gather in a moist area to get nutrients from the ground. Because of their complex life cycle and quite an interesting activity, the black and blue butterfly is one of the most enchanting butterflies one can come across.
Coloration and Mimicry
The black and blue coloration of this butterfly species is not only beautiful, but is the protective shield for endurance and speciation of the said species. Such elaborated patterns and colors are determined by the butterfly’s genetic status as well as the environmental conditions and the butterfly’s experience with other living creatures.
Mimicry of sort is another important function evident in the black and blue coloration of the fly and is quite an interesting phenomena in the evolutionary process.. Mimicry ensures that possibilities of a threat attacking this butterfly reduces because it looks like other species which have poor palatabilities to the attackers or which are inedible. Known as Batesian mimicry, it helps such an innocent butterfly to mimic a noxious or bad tasting species in a way that will make the predators stay clear from it.
These structural colours are thin film interference colours and are made by the scales on the wings in the form of tiny wing scales uipped. These tiny structures literally filter light and bend it in a rather beautiful manner, thus, it can perform a number of func. ..
