Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae - Brushfooted Butterflies
Subfamily: Heliconiinae - Heliconians and fritillaries
Genus: Eueides
Specific name: isabella
Scientific name: Eueides isabella (Stoll, 1781)
NOTE: I'm not sure, but I think this may be sub-species: "Eueides isabella dynastes - C. &. R. Felder, 1861" - Found only in Venezuela and Colombia.
Description: Eggs are cream coloured and approximately 1 x 0.9 mm (h x w). Females usually place 1 to 3 eggs under older and younger leaves of the host plant. Mature larvae have a black body with orange and yellow stripes and white bands, with black and white scoli and head, orange anal cap; length is around 1.7 cm. Caterpillars are gregarious in small numbers (Brown, 1981). Pupae are greenish white with black markings on the wingpads and short spines on dorsum that are tipped black (DeVries, 1997).
Habits: E. isabella occurs from sea level to 1,500 m in secondary forests. Females mate multiply, often on hilltops. Adults roost solitarily at night under leaves (Brown, 1981).
Hostplant: E. isabella larvae feed primarily on plants from the subgenera Distephana and Granadilla (Passifloraceae)(Brown, 1981). In Costa Rica larvae feed on Passiflora platyloba, and P. ambigua (Passifloraceae) (DeVries, 1997).
Distribution: Eueides isabella is widely distributed from Central America to Brazil and also on the Greater Antilles. The map below shows an approximate representation of the geographic distribution of this species.
