Cramer's eighty-eight facts for kids
Diaethria clymena, also known as the Cramer's eighty-eight, is a beautiful type of butterfly. It belongs to the Nymphalidae family, which is a very large group of butterflies. You can find this amazing insect flying from Mexico all the way down to Peru and Brazil. A scientist named Pieter Cramer first described it in 1775.
Quick facts for kids Cramer's eighty-eight |
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| Dorsal view | |
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| D. c. juani (ventral view), Trinidad | |
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13, see text |
Contents
What Does It Look Like?
The Cramer's eighty-eight butterfly is quite small. Its wingspan is usually about 30 to 40 millimeters (that's about 1.2 to 1.6 inches) wide.
The top side of its wings is mostly black with a bright blue band across each wing. But the most interesting part is the underside of its wings! They are a mix of red and white with black stripes. These stripes are arranged in a way that looks exactly like the numbers "89" or "98" outlined. This unique pattern is why it's called the "eighty-eight" butterfly!
What Do They Eat?
When these butterflies are young, they are caterpillars. As caterpillars, they like to eat the leaves of certain plants. Their favorite foods include Trema lamarckiana, Trema micrantha, and plants from the Theobroma family. (Did you know Theobroma is the plant where chocolate comes from?)
Different Types of Eighty-Eight Butterflies
Just like there are different breeds of dogs, there are different types of butterflies within the same species. These are called subspecies. There are 13 known subspecies of the Cramer's eighty-eight butterfly. They often live in different parts of the world.
Here are some of the known subspecies:
- D. c. aurelia (found in various places)
- D. c. beleses (found in Panama)
- D. c. bourcieri (found in Ecuador)
- D. c. clymena (found in Guyana and the Amazonas region of Brazil)
- D. c. colombiana (found in Colombia)
- D. c. consobrina (found in Colombia and Venezuela)
- D. c. dodone (found in Colombia)
- D. c. janeira (found in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo) and Paraguay)
- D. c. juani (found in Venezuela and Trinidad)
- D. c. marchalii (found from Nicaragua to Colombia)
- D. c. meridionalis (found in Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina))
- D. c. peruviana (found in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador)
- D. c. seropina (found in Brazil (Pará))
Images for kids
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D. c. juani, a subspecies found in Trinidad
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A close-up of the underside of the wings
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D. c. marchalii, a subspecies found in Venezuela
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D. c. meridionalis, another subspecies
See also
In Spanish: Diaethria clymena para niños
