Cymothoe

Share the gems of your insect collection with the InsectNet community
User avatar
Cabintom
Meek
Meek
Reactions:
Posts: 257
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2022 1:54 pm
Location: D.R.Congo
Canada

Re: Cymothoe

Post by Cabintom »

MAC wrote: Thu Sep 01, 2022 12:04 pm Re C caenis forms that would be great, I also have a few forms of this so it might be good to see a selection?
Cymothoe caenis (Drury, 1773)

OK. First, I want to make it clear that at times, in certain locations, C. caenis is stupidly, annoyingly, abundant. They can be *everywhere* and soon you begin to assume everything similar is C. caenis, which probably means other much more interesting species are being overlooked and you don't want to be doing that. Or, you can try to net everything and find that 90% of the time it's just another caenis and, well, that's just wasting time and energy. You see, you'll only be in this particular location for a day, and it's rainy season, and the butterflies are only truly active when there's a break in the clouds, so time is limited! It's likely there are upwards of 350 species to be found in this locality, maybe not all right now, but you'll never know if you let the caenis swirling and chasing each other everywhere distract you. Oh great, probably another caenis in the net... no, wait, that's a new female form of Euryphura chalcis. Nice! (Sorry... it's a recent experience.)

First a few males. Despite my above comments, if you stop to appreciate them, they are quite classy things.

ImageImage

20/VII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
ImageImage

11/IX/2015 Q. Malepe, Beni, Nord Kivu (0°29'N, 29°28'E) 1180m
ImageImage
This last male was caught during a mass migration, south to north. Curiously, during those few days I only saw white females. In 2009, the West African population was split into a new species, C. druryi, based on DNA and differences in genitalia. The initial hint that this cryptic species existed was the monomorphic female.
User avatar
Cabintom
Meek
Meek
Reactions:
Posts: 257
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2022 1:54 pm
Location: D.R.Congo
Canada

Re: Cymothoe

Post by Cabintom »

Now, for the females. For the sake of space, I'll only post the dorsal surface.
Here we go!

5/IX/2015 Q. Butsili, Beni, Nord Kivu (0°31'N, 29°26'E) 1090m
Image

11/IX/2015 Q. Malepe, Beni, Nord Kivu (0°29'N, 29°28'E) 1180m
Image
(Part of the migration)

14/VII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
Image
Image

18/VII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
Image
Image

24/VII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
Image
Image

25/VII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
Image
Image

26/VII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
Image

28/VII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
Image
Image
Image
Image

31/VII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
Image

1/VIII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
Image
Image

2/VIII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
Image

4/VIII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
Image

7/VIII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
Image

21/VII/2016 Nebobongo, Haut-Uele (2°27'10"N, 27°38'10"E) 790m
Image

10/I/2017 Mamove, Beni Territory, Nord Kivu 1050m
Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

N.B. The series from Mbau are from a lot which R. Ducarme gave to me.

Apologies, for any repetition of forms.
Chuck
Premium Member - 2024
Premium Member - 2024
Reactions:
Posts: 885
Joined: Mon May 23, 2022 2:30 pm
Solomon Islands

Re: Cymothoe

Post by Chuck »

Cabintom wrote: Fri Sep 02, 2022 5:07 am ...They can be *everywhere* and soon you begin to assume everything similar is C. caenis, which probably means other much more interesting species are being overlooked and you don't want to be doing that. Or, you can try to net everything and find that 90% of the time it's just another caenis and, well, that's just wasting time and energy. ...
To my regret, when I've skipped the "everywhere" butterfly, I've later realized that they aren't all the same. I've done this several times.
Post Reply

Create an account or sign in to join the discussion

You need to be a member in order to post a reply

Create an account

Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute

Register

Sign in