Order · Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Butterflies and moths
The second order documented in this chapter. Where the odonates are predators of the stream corridor, Lepidoptera works the other side of the forest economy: the adults feed at flowers, the larvae eat leaves, and between them lies a web of host-plant specificity that makes the order one of the most-used indicator groups in Neotropical monitoring.
Determination is uneven. Some species are unmistakable from a photograph of the upperside; many others separate on the underside, on the genitalia, or on characters that need the animal in the hand. A butterfly photographed in the field will often reach the family and stop there.
Species
0 of 1 published
