Dolicaon kite swallowtail facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Dolicaon kite swallowtail |
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The Eurytides dolicaon, also known as the Dolicaon Kite Swallowtail, is a beautiful butterfly. It belongs to the Papilionidae family, which includes many large and colorful butterflies. This butterfly is known for its unique wing shape and patterns.
What Does It Look Like?
The Dolicaon Kite Swallowtail is a large butterfly. Its wings can spread about 80 millimeters wide. Its wings are mostly creamy white. They have black lines, like veins, running through them.
The back wings have very long, thin tails. These tails are usually dark brown or black with bright yellow tips. The top edges of its wings are dark brown or black. Underneath, the back wings have brown stripes. These stripes create big creamy white spots. Along the edges of the back wings, you can see a row of blue, moon-shaped marks.
Young Dolicaon Kite Swallowtails, called larvae, eat leaves from certain plants. They feed on Guatteria species, Ocotea species, and Nectandra membranacea.
Where Does It Live?
The Dolicaon Kite Swallowtail can be found in Central and South America. You might see it in countries like Guyana, south-eastern Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, and north-western Venezuela. It lives in warm, wet places.
Its Home
This butterfly prefers to live in lowlands. It likes wet rainforest areas. You can find it from sea level up to about 400 meters high. These rainforests provide the perfect home for these butterflies.
Different Types
There are several different types, or subspecies, of the Dolicaon Kite Swallowtail. Each subspecies might have slight differences in where they live or how they look. Here are some of them:
- Eurytides dolicaon dolicaon (found in Guyana)
- Eurytides dolicaon deicoon (C. Felder & R. Felder, 1864) (found in south-eastern Brazil and Paraguay)
- Eurytides dolicaon deileon (C. Felder & R. Felder, 1865) (found in eastern Colombia and eastern Ecuador)
- Eurytides dolicaon tromes (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906) (found in north-western Venezuela)
- Eurytides dolicaon septentrionalis (Brown, 1994) (found in Panama)
- Eurytides dolicaon hebreus (Brown & Lamas, 1994) (found in Colombia)
- Eurytides dolicaon cauraensis (Möhn, 2002) (found in south-eastern Venezuela)
