''Apaturina'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus of

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

in the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

. Its sole species is ''Apaturina erminea'', the turquoise emperor.

Description

''Apaturina erminea'' has a wingspan of about , and males measure marginally larger than females. The uppersides of the forewings are black with an iridescent blue-green base, two white small spots at the apex and a diagonal series of pale yellow patches across each wing. The uppersides of the hindwings are completely iridescent blue green in males, or chestnut brown in females, with an eyespot on each wing. The undersides are quite similar but the basic color is grayish brown, without iridescence.

Food and behavior

The adults feed on various liquids, from rotting fruits and sap. The caterpillars feed on ''

Celtis latifolia ''Celtis'' is a genus of about 60–70 species of deciduous trees, commonly known as hackberries or nettle trees, in the hemp family Cannabaceae. It has a cosmopolitan distribution. Description ''Celtis'' species are generally medium-sized tree ...

'' (''

Ulmaceae The Ulmaceae () are a family (biology), family of flowering plants that includes the elms (genus ''Ulmus''), and the zelkovas (genus ''Zelkova''). Members of the family are widely distributed throughout the Temperate, north temperate zone, and ha ...

''). Males are very fast flyers, but settle for long periods in trees, where they perch head down and wings closed, more than 7 m from the ground.

Distribution

This species can be found in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

(

Aru Islands Aru or ARU may refer to: Education * Alpha Rho Upsilon, a defunct fraternity in the United States * Anglia Ruskin University, a university in England * Ardhi University, a Tanzanian public university Places * Aru Islands Regency, a group of i ...

Irian Jaya New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Austral ...

Maluku Maluku may refer to: Places * Maluku Islands, an archipelago that is part of Indonesia ** List of the Maluku Islands * Maluku (province), a province of Indonesia comprising the central and southern parts of the archipelago * North Maluku, a provin ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

up to northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. In Australia it is limited to lowland tropical rainforest in the

Iron Range The Iron Range is collectively or individually a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by the Giants ...

Subspecies

* ''Apaturina erminea erminea'' (Cramer, 1779) (Ambon, Serang) * ''Apaturina erminea papuana'' (Ribbe, 1886) (Papua New Guinea) * ''Apaturina erminea mirona'' Fruhstorfer, 1904 (Buru) * ''Apaturina erminea erinna'' Fruhstorfer, 1904 (Obi) * ''Apaturina erminea aluna'' Fruhstorfer, 1904 (Alu) * ''Apaturina erminea ribbei'' Röber, 1894 (Bachan, Halmahera) * ''Apaturina erminea octavia'' Fruhstorfer, 1904 (Waigeu) * ''Apaturina erminea antonia'' Fruhstorfer, 1904 (Papua New Guinea) * ''Apaturina erminea xanthocera'' Rothschild, 1904 (Solomon Islands) * ''Apaturina erminea neopommerania'' Hagen, 1879 (Bismarck Archipelago)

Gallery

File: CramerAndStoll-uitlandsche kapellen vol. 3- pl 196.jpg, Male from ''Papillons exotiques des trois parties du monde'' by Pieter Cramer and Caspar Stoll File: CramerAndStoll-uitlandsche kapellen vol. 3- pl 241.jpg, Female from ''Papillons exotiques des trois parties du monde''

References

* 1995: A new subspecies of ''Apaturina erminea'' from Morotai Island, Indonesia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). ''Futao'' 19: 1-2. * , 1998: A new subspecies of ''Apaturina erminea'' (Cramer, 1779) from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea (Lepidoptera : Nymphalidae). ''Futao'' 27: 1-3.

External links

Genus ''Apaturina''
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
Biolib

Australia faunal directory
* Don Herbison-Evans and Stella Crossle

Apaturinae Taxa named by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer Monotypic butterfly genera Nymphalidae genera Taxa described in 1864 {{Apaturinae-stub