Anartia jatrophae

Anartia jatrophae
butterfly house specimen
A. j. jatrophae, Tobago

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Anartia
Species:
A. jatrophae
Binomial name
Anartia jatrophae

Anartia jatrophae, the white peacock, is a species of butterfly found in the southeastern United States, Central America, and throughout much of South America. The white peacock's larval hosts are water hyssop (Bacopa monnieri),[2][3] lemon bacopa (Bacopa caroliniensis),[4] tropical waterhyssop (Bacopa innominata),[5] frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora),[6] lanceleaf frogfruit (Phyla lanceolata),[7] and Carolina wild petunia (Ruellia caroliniana).[8][9][10] The males of the species display a unique territorial behavior, in which they stake out a territory typically 15 meters in diameter that contains larval host plants. They perch in this area and aggressively protect it from other insects and other male white peacocks.[11]

  1. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 Anartia jatrophae White Peacock". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Bacopa monnieri". Florida Native Plant Society. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  3. ^ "Water Hyssop Rooted Starters". ButterflyWorx. ButterflyWorx.com. 2016. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  4. ^ Lyn Gettys & Carl J. Della Torre III (April 2015). "Lemon bacopa: Bacopa caroliniana" (PDF). Electronic Data Information System. UF IFAS Extension. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  5. ^ Cary, Mary Jane (June 2015). "Planting with Purpose" (PDF). The Green Gazette. Naples, FL, US: UF IFAS Extension. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  6. ^ "White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae)". Floridata. Floridata.com LLC. 2015. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  7. ^ Mike Quinn. "Caterpillar Food Plants for Central Texas" (PDF). Llano Estacado and West Texas Natural History. Steven Schafersman.
  8. ^ Mark Hutchinson (2011). "Ruellia caroliniensis – Carolina Wild Petunia" (PDF). Native Plants Owners Manual. Florida Native Plant Society. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  9. ^ "White Peacock". Florida Wildflowers & Butterflies. Florida Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  10. ^ Lotts, Kelly; Thomas Naberhaus & coordinators (2017). "White Peacock". Butterflies and Moths of North America. Metalmark Web & Data. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  11. ^ Lederhouse, R.C.; Codella, S.G.; Grossmueller, D.W.; et al. (November 1992). "Host plant-based territoriality in the white peacock butterfly, Anartia jatrophae". Journal of Insect Behavior. 5 (6): 721–728. doi:10.1007/BF01047982. ISSN 1572-8889. S2CID 25562806.