Owl Butterfly, Ecuador

by Venetia Featherstone-Witty

Title

Owl Butterfly, Ecuador

Artist

Venetia Featherstone-Witty

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

The owl butterflies, the genus Caligo, are known for their huge eyespots, which resemble owls' eyes. They are found in the rainforests and secondary forests of Mexico, Central, and South America.

Owl butterflies are very large, 65 - 200 mm (2.6 - 7.9 in), and fly only a few meters at a time, so avian predators have little difficulty in following them to their settling place. However, the butterflies preferentially fly in dusk, when few avian predators are around. The Latin name may possibly refer to their active periods; caligo means darkness.The underwing pattern is highly cryptic. It is conceivable that the eye pattern is a generalized form of mimicry. It is known that many small animals hesitate to go near patterns resembling eyes with a light-colored iris and a large pupil, which matches the appearance of the eyes of many predators that hunt by sight. The main predators of Caligo are apparently small lizards such as Anolis.

According to the Batesian mimicry theory the pattern on the wings of Caligo resemble the head of a predator like a lizard or an amphibian. It should deter predators while resting, feeding, mating, or emerging from the pupa.

The role of eyespots as anti-predator mechanisms has been discussed since the 19th century. Several hypotheses are suggested to explain their occurrence. In some butterflies, particularly Satyrinae (such as the gatekeeper butterfly and the grayling), it has been shown that ocelli (eyespots) serve as a decoy, diverting bird attack away from the vulnerable body, and towards the outer part of the hind wings or the forewing tip.

Research of Stevens et al. (2008), however, suggests that eyespots are not a form of mimicry and do not deter predators because they look like eyes. Rather the conspicuous contrast in the patterns on the wings deter predators. In this study, however, the influence of surrounding forms, like the head region of a predator, was not tested. Also the question why animals evolved such complex imitations of other species is left unanswered.
FEATURED 4/3/17 in "Groovy Butterflies"
FEATURED 4/3/17 in "The Collectors Gallery"
FEATURED 4/4/17 in "All Natural Beauty of This World"
FEATURED 4/5/17 in "Ladies Who Love Photography"
FEATURED 4/7/17 in "Wildlife One A Day"
FEATURED 4/7/17 in "Lady Photographers"
FEATURED 5/3/17 in "Macro Marvels"
FEATURED 8/1/17 in "The World We See"
FEATURED 8/7/17 in "Images That Excite You"
FEATURED 8/25/17 in "Your Very Best Photography"
FEATURED 6/7/18 in "Macro Marvels"
FEATURED 12/8/18 in "500 Views - 1 image"

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April 2nd, 2017

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