Memphis oenomais

Memphis oenomais
Male and female in Seitz's Macrolepidoptera of the World
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Memphis
Species:	M. oenomais
Binomial name
Memphis oenomais (Boisduval, 1870) [1]
Synonyms
Paphia oenomais Boisduval, 1870 Paphia morta Druce, 1877 Anaea morta Anaea oenomais

Memphis oenomais is a species of leafwing found in South America (Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Panama, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil and Guyana). ^[2]

Description

Memphis oenomais is a butterfly with forewings with a humped costal edge, a pointed hooked apex, a concave outer edge near the apex, a pointed internal angle in a hook, a concave inner edge and hind wings each with a club-shaped tail. The upper side of the wings is more or less dark brown with a broad basal metallic blue suffusion. The reverse side is yellow ochre to orange ochre, shiny, and simulates a dead leaf. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Biology

The host plants of its caterpillar are Crotons. The insect resides in all types of tropical rainforest below 1,000 m. It lives in the canopy.

References

1. Boisduval,J.B. 1870 Considerations sur des Lépidoptères envoyés du Guatemala à M. de l'Orza 1-100
2. • Savela, Markku (April 7, 2019). "Memphis Hübner, [1819]". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
3. Comstock, W. P. 1961. Butterflies of the American Tropics: the genus Anaea. Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae. New York: Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 214pp, 30pl.
4. D'Abrera, B. 1988. Butterflies of the Neotropical Region, Nymphalidae, Satyridae. Victoria: Hill House. Pp. 680-723.
5. Julius Rober ANAEA in Seitz.A. Band 5: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die Großschmetterlinge des amerikanischen Faunengebietes, 1907 580 et seq.