''Taenaris catops'', the silky owl, is a

butterfly 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 ...

of 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 ...

. It is found in

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

and surrounding islands. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 75–95 mm. The larvae feed on '' Cordyline terminalis'', ''

Musa Musa may refer to: Places *Mūša, a river in Lithuania and Latvia * Musa, Azerbaijan, a village in Yardymli Rayon * Musa, Iran, a village in Ilam province, Iran * Musa, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran * Musa Kalayeh, Gilan province, Iran * Abu M ...

'' species, ''

Areca catechu ''Areca catechu'' is a species of palm native to the Philippines cultivated for areca nuts. It was carried widely through the tropics by the Austronesian migrations and trade since at least 1500 BCE due to its use in betel nut chewing. ...

'', and ''

Caryota rumphiana ''Caryota rumphiana'', whose common names include the fishtail or Albert palm, is a '' Caryota'' or fish tail palm (Family Palmae or Arecaceae). It is native to Philippines, Sulawesi, Maluku, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Bismarck Archipelago. ...

''.

Life cycle

It takes the ''Taenaris catops'' 130 days to complete its life cycle.

Habitat

The habitat of the ''Teanaris catops'' is freshwater swamps, secondary coastal lowlands, and

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

References

2
swamp%20forest%2Fsago%20swamp%20forest. Project Noah
Taenaris Butterflies described in 1851 Taxa named by John O. Westwood Butterflies of Oceania Lepidoptera of New Guinea {{Morphinae-stub