''Smyrna blomfildia'', the Blomfild's beauty, is a species of butterfly 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 have a re ...

Subspecies

*''Smyrna blomfildia blomfildia'' Fabricius, 1793 (Brazil) *''Smyrna blomfildia datis'' Fruhstorfer, 1908 (Mexico to Panama) "''Smyrna'' Hübner, [1823]"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''

Distribution and habitat

Blomfild's beauty can be found from south Texas and Mexico to Peru through Central America. These butterflies live in tropical forests at an elevation of above sea level.

Description

''Smyrna blomfildia'' has a wingspan of about . The basic color of the wings is red orange in males, brown in females. The upperside of the forewings show a black apex with three white spots. The underside of hindwings has brown and tan wavy markings with a few submarginal spots. File: Nymphalidae - Smyrna blomfildia-001.JPG, ''Smyrna blomfildia''. Mounted specimen, upperside File: Nymphalidae - Smyrna blomfildia.JPG , Underside

Biology

The larvae are black, with a bright orange head and strong spines along the white sides.
/ref> They feed on ''Urticaceae'' (''Urticastrum'', ''Urrera baccifera''), while adults feed on rotting fruits. Males of these butterflies are usually seen in large aggregations imbibing mineralized moisture.Learn about butterflies
/ref>

References

External links

Florida Museum of Natural History
Coeini Nymphalidae of South America Butterflies described in 1781 {{Nymphalinae-stub