InsectNet forum

The Dominican Republic has some wonderful butterfly
species and those of the genus Phoebis are standouts.
Unless, you happen to find one at flower totally immersed
at feeding or at a water puddle; they are near impossible
to net !

I struggled while there just "trying" to get close enough
to attempt a swing at them but, most of my tries failed.
However, I managed about 7 of them and here are 2 of
the species. Have not I.D. them yet but, the 1st reddish/
orange one was more plentiful. Sadly, most of those were
pretty well trashed and these are the ONLY 2 good ones
that I wound up with.



Another Phoebis species (female)

These three specimens are all really wonderful Trehopr. The two red ones are female Phoebis editha which is endemic to Hispaniola & rare. The other specimen is a female Phoebis argante rorata. A subspecies which is found in Hispaniola & Eastern Jamaica. Great that you have self captured fine specimens of these that otherwise must be rarely held in private collections.

Thank you so much Dave for identifying these for me. It has saved me much time. Sure wish I could have seen or caught more good ones....

When I saw your title - I was expecting this! Phoebis philea thalestris. These are the only ones I've ever seen when I was there. Lucky to have caught them both! John

Very nice captures John.
I never saw a (male) of the species while there however, one afternoon I very clearly spotted the unmistakable female like the one you have.

It was of course on the wing and moving along at a pretty good clip so, by the time I started the chase it was steadily out-pacing me with every step. Yet, I offhand can't remember if I caught it (or not) so I'll have to check my specimens again and see if I did !

Fabulous species....

John, how many subspecies are there of P. philea?

Well, John I guess I did capture that one big (female)
that I thought may have eluded me. Here she is (or at
least I think) this one is the same species.

It is the only large species which I recall seeing.

Here are 2 specimens of which I presume must be
Phoebis editha (?). Hopefully, someone can confirm.
These are probably my best examples although I
have another 6 or 7 of a little less quality. Most
everything I saw of these were fairly well trashed.

Trehopr1 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 8:08 pm Here are 2 specimens of which I presume must be
Phoebis editha (?). Hopefully, someone can confirm.
These are probably my best examples although I
have another 6 or 7 of a little less quality. Most
everything I saw of these were fairly well trashed.

This is the only photo or illustration of a male P editha I have Trehopr. It is described as like P sennae but larger & with squarer forewings.

Trehopr1 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 8:08 pm Here are 2 specimens of which I presume must be
Phoebis editha (?). Hopefully, someone can confirm.
These are probably my best examples although I
have another 6 or 7 of a little less quality. Most
everything I saw of these were fairly well trashed.

I don’t think these are Phoebis editha, I suppose it is P.sennae sennae. P.editha doesn’t have a black margins (at least I didn’t find any photos of one)
I will post a photo of my specimen once I take it off the board.

Here are some Phoebis species from the USA which are very similar to the Caribbean varieties. The left column is P agarithe, all females. The orange butterflies in the adjacent column are males of the same species. The yellow ones in the same column are P sennae, also males. In the 3rd column from the left, the bottom 3 specimens are female sennae. The right column has females of both sennae & agarithe. Some look like they could possibly be hybrids but more likely orange forms of agarithe. Also note the pale forms of the female P philea.

As I promised here is a photo of Phoebis I recently collected in Dominican Republic, Santa Barbara De Samana on March 12, 2023.
I suppose this is a male of Phoebis editha.

Thank you indeed Paul for that picture of your (male) Phoebis editha !

So, it looks like all I managed to capture of P. editha are the 2 females
posted at the begining of this thread. Don't recall having seen any (males)
at the time.

Did you have any good fortune Paul capturing any of the endemic Dominican
papilionids ?

Trehopr1 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 12:43 am

Did you have any good fortune Paul capturing any of the endemic Dominican
papilionids ?

I only collected Battus polydamas polycrates subspecies endemic to Hespaniola.