#myscelia

[herpsandbirds]

Mexican Bluewing (Myscelia ethusa), family Nymphalidae, Costa Rica

photograph by Chunyee Chiu

[snototter]

A Mexican bluewing (Myscelia ethusa) in Llano Grande, Texas, USA

by jciv

[drhoz]

#1972 - Whitened Bluewing - Myscelia cyaniris

Another butterfly with some spectacular iridescence, from the butterfly house in Dunedin, Otago. 

AKA blue wave, blue-banded purplewing, tropical blue wave, and royal blue.  cyaniris translates as “dark blue rainbow”, but I do wonder why Myscelia translates as ‘burnt muscle’.

A Nymphalid native to rainforests on the Atlantic slope, from Mexico to Peru, where the caterpillars feed on two pants in the Euphorbiaceae and the adults feed on rotting fruit and dung. 

[herpsandbirds]

Mexican Bluewing (Myscelia ethusa), family Nymphalidae, National Butterfly Center, Misson, TX, USA

photograph by Steven Glynn

[herpsandbirds]

Blue Wave (Myscelia cyaniris), family Nymphalidae, found in Central and South America

photograph by Alan Chin Lee

[herpsandbirds]

Bluewing (Myscelia orsis), male, family Nymphalidae, Itatiaia National Park, Brazil

photograph by Carlos Eduardo Zikan

[saritawolf]

Mexican Bluewing (Myscelia ethusa) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[libutron]

Blackened Bluewing - Myscelia cyananthe

An amazing North American butterfly, Myscelia cyananthe (Nymphalidae) is a species distinctive by having the upperside black with iridescent blue bands, and the center of forewing black without bands.

The subspecies pictured, Myscelia cyananthe skinneri, occurs in subtropical Mexico (Baja California Sur, Sonora and Sinaloa) and and rarely into South Texas and New Mexico.

References: [1] - [2]

Photo credit: ©Manuel A. Balcázar Lara | Locality: not indicated (2014)