Anartia jatrophae

Anartia jatrophae
butterfly house specimen
A. j. jatrophae, Tobago
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Anartia
Species:	A. jatrophae
Binomial name
Anartia jatrophae (Linnaeus, 1763)

Anartia jatrophae, the white peacock, is a species of butterfly found in the southeastern United States, Central America, and throughout much of South America. The white peacock's larval hosts are water hyssop ( Bacopa monnieri ), ^{[2] [3]} lemon bacopa ( Bacopa caroliniensis ), ^[4] tropical waterhyssop ( Bacopa innominata ), ^[5] frogfruit ( Phyla nodiflora ), ^[6] lanceleaf frogfruit ( Phyla lanceolata ), ^[7] and Carolina wild petunia ( Ruellia caroliniana ). ^{[8] [9] [10]} The males of the species display a unique territorial behavior, in which they stake out a territory typically 15 meters in diameter that contains larval host plants. They perch in this area and aggressively protect it from other insects and other male white peacocks. ^[11]

Subspecies

Seven subspecies are recognized. ^[12]

• A. j. guantanamo - Florida and Cuba
• A. j. intermedia - Saint Croix ^[13]
• A. j. jamaicensis - Jamaica
• A. j. jatrophae - South America from Venezuela to Argentina
• A. j. luteipicta - Central America from Mexico to Colombia
• A. j. saturata - Brazil
• A. j. semifusca - Puerto Rico

• 
  A. j. jamaicensis, Jamaica
• 
  A. j. guantanamo topside, Cuba
• 
  A. j. guantanamo underside, Florida
• 
  Topside, male MHNT
• 
  Underside, male MHNT
• 
  Topside, female MHNT
• 
  Underside, female MHNT

References

1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 Anartia jatrophae White Peacock". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
2. "Bacopa monnieri". Florida Native Plant Society. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
3. "Water Hyssop Rooted Starters". ButterflyWorx. ButterflyWorx.com. 2016. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
4. Lyn Gettys & Carl J. Della Torre III (April 2015). "Lemon bacopa: Bacopa caroliniana" (PDF). Electronic Data Information System. UF IFAS Extension. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
5. Cary, Mary Jane (June 2015). "Planting with Purpose" (PDF). The Green Gazette. Naples, FL, US: UF IFAS Extension. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
6. "White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae)". Floridata. Floridata.com LLC. 2015. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
7. Mike Quinn. "Caterpillar Food Plants for Central Texas" (PDF). Llano Estacado and West Texas Natural History. Steven Schafersman.
8. Mark Hutchinson (2011). "Ruellia caroliniensis – Carolina Wild Petunia" (PDF). Native Plants Owners Manual. Florida Native Plant Society. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
9. "White Peacock". Florida Wildflowers & Butterflies. Florida Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
10. Lotts, Kelly; Thomas Naberhaus & coordinators (2017). "White Peacock". Butterflies and Moths of North America. Metalmark Web & Data. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
11. Lederhouse, R.C.; Codella, S.G.; Grossmueller, D.W.; et al. (November 1992). "Host plant-based territoriality in the white peacock butterfly, Anartia jatrophae". Journal of Insect Behavior. 5 (6): 721–728. doi:10.1007/BF01047982. ISSN   1572-8889. S2CID   25562806.
12. "White Peacock Anartia jatrophae". iNaturalist.
13. "Anartia jatrophae intermedia Munroe, 1942". Butterflies of America.

External links

• Media related to Anartia jatrophae at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Anartia jatrophae at Wikispecies
• Protein sequencing