Doxocopa laurentia

Doxocopa laurentia, the turquoise emperor or Cherubina emperor, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, subfamily Apaturinae.

Doxocopa laurentia
Male from Brazil
Female from Brazil
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Doxocopa
Species:	D. laurentia
Binomial name
Doxocopa laurentia (Godart, [1823])
Synonyms
Nymphalis laurentia Godart, 1823 Catargyria seraphina Hübner, [1825] Apatura angelina C. & R. Felder, 1867 Apatura laurentia Hewitson, 1869 (preocc. Godart, [1824]) Apatura cherubina C. & R. Felder, [1867] Chlorippe cherubina parva Röber, 1916 Chlorippe seraphina hippomanes Martin, [1823] Catargyria thalysia Fruhstorfer, 1907

Description

Doxocopa laurentia has a wingspan reaching about 75 millimetres (3.0 in). The upperside of the wings is brown, with a broad metallic blue central band in males, while in the females this band is usually white, with a broad orange patch on the top of the forewings. The undersides of the wings are yellowish or greyish, with black markings on the forewings.

Like other members of the subfamily Apaturinae, the proboscis is green.

• 
  D. laurentia laurentia male with green proboscis

Distribution

This species occurs in Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Argentina, Uruguay.

Subspecies

• Doxocopa laurentia laurentia (Brazil and Argentina)
• Doxocopa laurentia cherubina (C. & R. Felder, 1867) (Central America, Colombia, Bolivia and Peru)
• Doxocopa laurentia thalysia (Fruhstorfer, 1907) (Ecuador)

Gallery

• 
  Doxocopa laurentia cherubina from Peru - mounted specimen
• 
  Doxocopa laurentia from Brazil - ventral view

References

• "Doxocopa laurentia (Godart, [1824])" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms

External links

• Neotropical butterflies
• Fauna of Paraguay