BLUE-BORDERED CALLICORE Callicore pygas FAUNA PARAGUAY

Callicore pygas thamyras (Ménétriés 1857)
ENG: Blue-bordered Callicore, 8000 Butterfly
ESP: Pará Guasú
JIZ: Forewing long and triangular with pointed apices. Hindwing large and rounded with slightly undulated outer margin. Poses with wings folded, forewings almost completely obscured by large hindwing. Occasionally rubs wings. Can be approachable. No sexual dimorphism. FLI: Flight fast and erratic, rarely for long distances and posing suddenly.
UPP: M/F (Fig 1) Forewing mostly black with broad, red, semi-circular patch extending across the lower part of the wing. Thin white band across apex. Underwing mostly blackish with dark blush basally, more conspicuous in good light but appearing wholly black from certain angles. Thin, inconspicuous line of 3 or 4 pale blue dashes running parallel to outer margin of hindwing.
UND: M/F (Fig 1&2) Pattern of underside of forewing similar to that of dorsal side but paler and with a broader, yellowish (not white) apical band and a diagnostic, thin sky-blue line running parallel to outer margin - the "blue border". Hindwing with yellow base colour and "8000" design separated into two characters, an "8" and a "000", each character bordered black and with pale blue spaces bordered darker blue. Two broad black concentric bands located basally to the 8000 and a broader, slightly wavier, postmedial band that is black with a sky-blue centre. Outer margin black with intermittent, inconspicuous pale blue dashes.
BOD: Head black with two medium-sized pairs of medial spots in front of antennae on head. Upperside of thorax and abdomen black, though latter may be tinged blue. Labial palps white. Sides of thorax white with black diagonal lines where legs meet body. Legs black above and white below. Underside of abdomen black with broad yellow-white medial line. Antennae black with yellow tips to clubs. Proboscis brown. Eyes grey.
MMT: A small Biblid. CL - 24mm; BL - 20mm (20-21mm); WS - 50mm; HW - 3mm; AL - 12.5mm; n=1 (1M).
SSP: Separated with care from Paulogramma pyracmon. Dorsally they are extremely similar, but this species shows a slightly more extensive white apical band and smoothly-rounded, almost semi-circular red patches on the forewing - that of Paulogramma being more uneven, and "notched" basally. Ventrally this species has the characteristic "8000" shape on the hindwing, Paulagramma showing an "80" pattern. Note that this species has a pale blue line along the outer margin of the dorsal forewing (the "blue border") that is much less conspicuous and confined to the apical area in Paulagramma. A black costal blotch in the reddish patch of the ventral forewing is characteristic of Paulagramma but absent in this species. Callicore hydaspes is distinguished ventrally by the fact that the 08 design on the middle of the ventral hindwing is fused ie it does not consist of two separate "digits" and that the outermost concentric band is wholly black, not blue with a black border. Dorsally hydaspes has the red on the forewing reduced to a single, well-defined band and brighter, more conspicuous blue on the hindwing. Callicores can immediately be distinguished from the "Eighty-eights" in the genus Diaethra by the yellowish and not white base colour to the underwing and the presence of red on the dorsal forewing.
ABU: Common in suitable habitat.
HAB: Most common in humid forest and edge, less common in gardens in humid areas.
HOS: Plants in the family Sapindaceae such as Allophylus (Canals 2003).
Citable Reference: Smith P (2007) FAUNA Paraguay Online Handbook of Paraguayan Fauna Butterfly Species Account 18 Callicore pygas.
Last Updated: 23 September 2007.
References:
Canals G 2003 Mariposas de Misiones - LOLA, Buenos Aires.