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Species Anaea troglodyta - Florida Leafwing - Hodges#4553

Florida Leafwing - Anaea troglodyta - male  Florida Leafwing - Anaea troglodyta Florida Leafwing - Anaea troglodyta
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Papilionoidea (Butterflies and Skippers)
Family Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Subfamily Charaxinae (Leafwings and relatives)
Tribe Anaeini (Leafwings)
Genus Anaea (Leafwings)
Species troglodyta (Florida Leafwing - Hodges#4553)
Hodges Number
4553
Other Common Names
Florida Goatweed Butterfly
Portia
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Anaea floridalis
Anaea floraesta
BugGuide follows the classification of Opler and Warren and All-Leps in treating this species as A. troglodyta (see discussion in Taxonomy Forum). A. troglodyta is very similar to and closely related to A. aidea, and the two are often treated as subspecies of the same species.
Numbers
one of 3 species in this genus in North America listed at All-Leps
3 other North American species commonly placed in Anaea are placed in Memphis by Opler & Warren and at All-Leps; they are Memphis echemus, M. glycerium, M. pithyusa. Memphis is considered by many authors to be a subgenus of Anaea.
Size
Wingspan 76-90 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing margin straight, and tip slightly hooked; hindwing has pointed tail; upperside red with dark outer margins but few other dark markings; forewing has dark bar in cell; underside of hindwing mottled gray and brown, resembling dead leaf
Range
Extreme southern Florida and Florida Keys
Habitat
Pine-palmetto scrub, edges
Season
Adults fly October-April (dry season form), May-October (wet season form)
Food
Larvae feed on Grannybush (Croton cascarilla [=linearis]), also known as Woolly Croton.
Adults feed on rotting fruit, dung, and fluids.
Remarks
global status: G1 - critically imperiled globally because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer occurrences, or very few remaining individuals), or because of some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable to extinction. Critically endangered throughout its range.
See Also
very similar to Tropical Leafwing (Anaea aidea) which is treated by some authors as a subspecies of A. troglodyta, and occasionally strays from Mexico into southwestern United States (see species account and distribution map)
Goatweed Leafwing (Anaea andria) is more uniformly colored above, and less mottled below
Print References
Brock and Kaufman, pp. 220-221 (1)
Glassber, p. 130, plate 39 (2)
Scott, #337, p. 254--lumps with A. troglodyta (3)
Internet References
pinned adult images plus description, biology, flight season, larval and adult food, habitat, status, distribution map (nearctica.com)
live adult image by Linda Cooper, plus the same text and map as the nearctica.com site above (butterfliesandmoths.org)
Works Cited
1.Butterflies of North America (Kaufman Focus Guides)
Jim P. Brock, Kenn Kaufman. 2003. Houghton Mifflin Co.
2.Butterflies Through Binoculars: The East
Jeffrey Glassberg. 1999. Oxford University Press.
3.The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide
James A. Scott. 1992. Stanford University Press.