Four-spotted sailor
Dynamine postverta
The four-spotted sailor is a small butterfly from the warm parts of Central and South America. It lives in many different places, from rainforests to farmland.
Lives in
From Mexico to Argentina, in rainforests, woods, grassland and farms
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat Dalechampia, a kind of climbing plant.
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)
Four-spotted sailor about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It lives everywhere from thick rainforest to scrubby grassland and farmland.
2
It can be found up to about 900 metres above the sea.
3
Scientists know two subspecies, one in South America and one from Mexico to Cuba.
you asked
Most asked questions about Four-spotted sailor
?Where does the four-spotted sailor live?
In the warm parts of Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina.
?Is the four-spotted sailor dangerous?
No. It is a harmless little butterfly.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dynamine postverta
- Named by
- Cramer, 1780
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America
- Also known as
- Mylitta greenwing, Four-spot sailor
Where the facts come from
- Dynamine postverta (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 Didier Descouens. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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