Biology and External Morphology of Immatures of O psiphanes quiteria meridionalis Staudinger (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).

The genus Opsiphanes Doubleday occurs in the Neotropics. Adults belong to the guild of frugivorous butterflies and use as host plants some genera of Arecaceae and Musaceae. The present study provides information on the biology and describes the external morphology of immatures of the species Opsiphanes quiteria meridionalis Staudinger obtained from females collected in the Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia, Brazil. The development of immatures was monitored and photographed in the laboratory. The larvae were fed with leaves of Dypsis lutescens (Arecaceae), an ornamental plant. The egg stage lasted, on average, 7.2 days. The larval stage had five instars, with an average duration of 48.5 days. The pupal stage lasted 16.5 days. The average growth rate of the head capsule was 1.5 mm.