You can use the pictures and descriptions provided on this website to help identify your specimen. Or, you can send us an e-mail at butterfliesofguyana@gmail.com with a photograph (if you managed to photograph it) or a detailed as possible description (color, size, unique markings, etc.) of the specimen, along with where (location - name of village) and when (date and time) you saw it. It would be useful to share any other observations about the specimen. What was it doing at the time you saw it? Was it feeding on anything? If yes, what was it feeding on? Did you see one individual or several (how many?)? We will do our best to identify your specimen and get back to you as soon as possible.
Send us an e-mail at butterfliesofguyana@gmail.com which includes a photograph (if possible) or description of the specimen, along with where (location - name of village) and when (date and time) you saw it. It would be useful to share any other observations about the specimen. What was it doing at the time you saw it? Was it feeding on anything? If yes, what was it feeding on? Did you see one individual or several (how many?)?
Butterflies (adults) like two types of plants: 1) those that they can lay their eggs on (larval plants), and 2) those that they can get food from (nectar plants). Each species of butterfly may like a particular type or group of plants. Additionally, some butterflies like to feed on fruits. Please refer to the description of butterflies on this website to see what can attract it.
This website does not provide an extensive and, in some cases, any larval or nectar plants for some of the species. If you see a butterfly feeding on a flower of a particular plant or a caterpillar feeding on the leaves of a particular plant, please share your observations with us at butterfliesofguyana@gmail.com so that we can update our website.
When most persons ask this question, they are usually referring to the adult (winged) stage. The life expectancy of the adult varies from one species to the next, and depends on the availability of food and its ability to avoid predators among other factors. Butterflies have four stages in their life cycle (egg, caterpillar/larva, pupa and adult). Typically, the eggs for most species take between 3-4 days to hatch. The larvae usually feeds between a few days to a few weeks or even months before pupating. The adult will emerge from the pupa after a few days or a few weeks, depending on the species. It will look for food and try to avoid predators for much of its life, so the length of time which it lives is dependent on these two factors. In captivity, adults of the species Dryas iulia live for about 3-4 weeks while those of Caligo illioneus live for about 15-20 weeks.
Both of these groups belong to the order Lepidoptera (which means "scaly winged insects") and share many common features, such as the number of body segments and legs. There are some differences.
- Butterflies are usually active (fly) during the day (diurnal) while moths are usually active (fly) during the night (nocturnal).
- Butterflies usually have more colorful wings while moths are usually dull (brown) in color.
- The antennae of butterflies are usually pointed with or without a knob at the end, whereas moths have feather-like antennae.
- The bodies of butterflies are usually slender while those of moths are more stocky and hairy.
Sambhu, H. & Nankishore, A. (2018). Butterflies of Guyana. http://butterfliesofguyana.com (Insert date accessed).
Different individuals have contributed photographs (all of which are photo credited) for use on this website, so kindly contact them directly to seek their permission to use their material. Alternatively, you can contact us at butterfliesofguyana@gmail.com and we will see how we can assist you. In relation to the text, we have collected information from various sources (kindly see our references section). Text from the website can be used for non-commercial purposes and will be secondary information (we did not write the material) in some cases.