Narrative

Calgio teucer can be found from Surinam, Trinidad, and Guyana south to Paraguay and Peru. Subspecies nubilis is found in countries along the northern part of South Americas mainland. Gerardo Lamas shows eight subspecies for Caligo teucer: teucer - ecuadora - Ecuador insulanus - Trinidad japetus - Paraguay nubilus - Guyana obidonus - Brazil (Amazonas) phorkys - Peru semicaerulea - Peru

The blue color will help identify this lifeform. This lifeform is found in wooded areas. This lifeform is scarce.

This lifeform is found in the mainland of South America.

Caligo genus is found from Mexico south to Bolivia , southern Brazil, and Paraguay. There are about 21 species in this genus. The butterflies in this genus have an unusual method of protection from predators. When they land with their wings closed they mimic an owl. The species per Gerardo Lamas are as follows: (Locations typically guided by type location) arisbe (Brazil), atreus (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama), bellerophon (Ecuador, and adjacent), beltrao (Brazil), brasiliensis (Trinidad, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, and Brazil), euphorbus (Brazil and Bolivia), eurilochus (Surinam, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia), idomeneus (Colombia to Bolivia east into Brazil), illioneus, Surinam, Venezuela, Colombia and south to Paraguay and Bolivia), martia (Brazil), oberthruii (Colombia, Peru), oedipus Colombia, Panama, Honduras), oileus, Venezuela, Colmbia, Ecuador, Peru), placidianus (Peru, Brazil, Ecuador), prometheus (Colombia and Ecuador and south), superbus (Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru), suzanna ( Colombia), telamonius (Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela, and Surinam), teucer (Guyana, Trinidad, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay), uranus (Mexico, and possibly Brazil), zeuxippus (Ecuador and Colombia). However, Paul Smart shows only 17 species in the genus. We show his list as it is helpful for organizing a collection: Eurilochus Group(7) eurilochus, idomeneus, illioneus, memnon, bellerophon, prometheus, teucer Arisbe Group(3) arisbe, oberthurii, martia Atreus Group(2) atreus, uranus Oileus Group(4) oileus, placidianus, oedippus, zeucippus Beltrao Group(1) beltrao (The five species not in the Paul Smart list are brasiliensis(part of eurilochus in Smart), euphorbus (probably part of idomenus in Smart), superbus (part of idomeneus in Smart), and suzanna (seemingly not traceable to Smart) and Caligo telemonius. But Caligo memnon is not shown as a species in Geradro Lamas as he shows this form to be a subspecies of telamonius.)

Owl butterflies (Brassolidae) are a group of New World butterflies found from Mexico to South Brazil. They are usually medium to large-sized and are characterized by large ocelli on the underside of their wings. These butterflies have the appearance of owls when landed and no doubt receive protection from predators with this camouflage. There are approximately 80 species in the family. The males are usually similar to the more rare females.

Butterflies and Moths (Order Lepidoptera) are a group of insects with four large wings. They go through various life cycles including eggs, caterpillar (larvae), pupae, and adult. Most butterflies and moths feed as adults, but primarily do most of their growing in the larval or caterpillar stage. Also, most species are restricted to feeding as caterpillars upon a unique set of plants. In this pairing of insects to plants, there arises a unique plant population control system. When one plant species becomes too common, specific pests to that species also become more common and thus prevent the further spreading of that particular plant species.

Although most people think of the Lepidoptera as two different groups: butterflies and moths, technically, the concept is not valid.

Some families, such as Silk Moths (Saturnidae) and Hawk Moths (Sphingidae), are clearly moths. Other families, such as Swallowtail Butterflies (Papilionidae), are clearly butterflies, However, several families exhibit characteristics that appear to be neither moths nor butterflies. For example: the Castnia Moths of South America are frequently placed in the Skipper Family (Hesperidae). The Sunset Moths (Uranidae) have long narrow antennae and fly during the day.

Note: Numerous museums and biologists have loaned specimens to be photographed for this project.

Insects (Class Insecta) are the most successful animals on Earth if success is measured by the number of species or the total number of living organisms. This class contains more than a million species, of which North America has approximately 100,000. (Recent estimates place the number of worldwide species at four to six million.)

Insects have an exoskeleton. The body is divided into three parts. The foremost part, the head, usually bears two antennae. The middle part, the thorax, has six legs and usually four wings. The last part, the abdomen, is used for breathing and reproduction.

Although different taxonomists divide the insects differently, about thirty-five different orders are included in most of the systems.

The following abbreviated list identifies some common orders of the many different orders of insects discussed herein:

Odonata: - Dragon and Damsel Flies
Orthoptera: - Grasshoppers and Mantids
Homoptera: - Cicadas and Misc. Hoppers
Diptera: - Flies and Mosquitoes
Hymenoptera: - Ants, Wasps, and Bees
Lepidoptera: - Butterflies and Moths
Coleoptera: - Beetles

Jointed Legged Animals (Phylum Arthropoda) make up the largest phylum. There are probably more than one million different species of arthropods known to science. It is also the most successful animal phylum in terms of the total number of living organisms.

Butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, various insects, spiders, and crabs are well-known arthropods.

The phylum is usually broken into the following five main classes:
Arachnida: - Spiders and Scorpions
Crustacea: - Crabs and Crayfish
Chilopoda: - Centipedes
Diplopoda: - Millipedes
Insecta: - Insects

There are several other rare classes in the arthropods that should be mentioned. A more formal list is as follows:

Sub Phylum Chelicerata
C. Arachnida: - Spiders and scorpions
C. Pycnogonida: - Sea spiders (500 species)
C. Merostomata: - Mostly fossil species

Sub Phylum Mandibulata
C. Crustacea: - Crabs and crayfish

Myriapod Group
C. Chilopoda: - Centipedes
C. Diplopoda: - Millipedes
C. Pauropoda: - Tiny millipede-like
C. Symphyla: - Garden centipedes

Insect Group
C. Insecta: - Insects

The above list does not include some extinct classes of Arthropods such as the Trilobites.