Periander metalmark
Rhetus periander
The Periander metalmark is a small tropical butterfly from Central and South America. It belongs to the metalmarks, a family of butterflies that often have shiny, metal-like marks. Females are busy in the hottest part of the day.
Lives in
Central and South America, from Mexico to Brazil and Argentina
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Like most butterflies, adults sip nectar. The caterpillars eat the leaves of their food plants.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Periander metalmark about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Females look for plants to lay eggs on during the hottest hours of the day.
2
A female usually lays only one or two eggs on each plant.
3
It takes about 50 days to grow from an egg into a butterfly.
you asked
Most asked questions about Periander metalmark
?Where does the Periander metalmark live?
In Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina.
?How long does a Periander metalmark take to grow up?
About 50 days from egg to adult butterfly.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Rhetus periander
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Riodinidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Riodinidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America
- Also known as
- Variable beautymark
Where the facts come from
- Rhetus periander (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Paulo Neis. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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