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Butterflies and SkippersOwl butterflies from Belize
Hello Bugman:
I enjoyed David Sheen’s photo of the owl butterfly from Monteverdi (posted 08/03/2007). All giant owls show incredible colors in flight but always seem to rest with their wings closed. Fortunately they are beautiful from all sides. The Caligo uranus (dark background) and C. memnon were both photographed in Belize earlier this year. I thought at first that David’s owl was also a C. Uranus , but I now believe it is probably a C. atreus. Great site!
Karl
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| Caligo uranus | Caligo memnon |
Hi Karl,
Thanks for your excellent photos as well as your insight. We struggled in vain to identify the Owl Butterfly sent by David, but there is a noticeable dearth of images online of the open winged views.
Dear Bugman:
Further to “Two species of Owl Butterflies from Belize “(08/05/2007)”, it seems that Caligo uranus and C. atreus are very similar both ventrally and dorsally. The main difference appears to be the black border on the dorsal hind wing of C. atreus , a feature which also is evident in David Sheen’s photo. Check out good photos of both species at:
http://neotropicalbutterflies.com/Site%20Revision/Pages/Nymphalidae_Pages/Brassolinae/Owl_Pages/Caligo_atreus.html
http://neotropicalbutterflies.com/Site%20Revision/Pages/Nymphalidae_Pages/Brassolinae/Owl_Pages/Caligo_uranus.html
Karl
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