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Dryadula phaetusa

Dryadula phaetusa

Antorcha Rayada

Family: Nymphalidae
Order: Lepidoptera
Class: Insecta
Phylum / Division: Arthropoda
Kingdom: Animalia

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Records from Parque Nacional Iguazú


Description


Dryadula is a monotypic genus of the butterfly family Nymphalidae. Its single species, Dryadula phaetusa, known as the banded orange heliconian, banded orange, or orange tiger, is native from Brazil to central Mexico, and in summer can be found rarely as far north as central Florida. Its wingspan ranges from 86 to 89 mm, and it is colored a bright orange with thick black stripes in males and a duller orange with fuzzier black stripes in females.

It feeds primarily on the nectar of flowers and on bird droppings; its caterpillar feeds on passion vines including Passiflora tetrastylis. It is generally found in lowland tropical fields and valleys.

This species is unpalatable to birds and belongs to the "orange" Müllerian mimicry complex.

Symbiosis: Prior to their mating season, males of this species congregate by the hundreds on patches of moist soil that contain mineral salts, a behavior known as mud-puddling. When they cannot find such deposits, the insects visit various animals to drink salty secretions from their skin and nostrils.

Taxonomy: The genus Dryadula Michner, 1942, is monotypic; the type species is Papilio phaetusa Linnaeus, 1758 (Syst. Nat. 10 ed., 1: 478). The type locality, given as "Indiis", is supposed to refer to the West Indies or northern South America.

Source: Wikipedia, article Dryadula phaetusa. Content adapted from Wikipedia, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Accessed on 15/07/2026.





Geographic distribution


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Species photographs

Last published photographs

Foto
Photography ID: 480175
  Adult

Parque Nacional Iguazú
Misiones
Argentina
06/11/2012
Miguel Bean
Foto
Photography ID: 388953
  Adult

Parque Nacional Iguazú
Misiones
Argentina
03/05/2020
Silvia Sokolovsky
Foto
Photography ID: 350796
  Adult

Parque Nacional Iguazú
Misiones
Argentina
09/03/2019
Gustavo Ramos
Foto
Photography ID: 275535
  Adult

Parque Nacional Iguazú
Misiones
Argentina
05/17/2018
Eduardo Cusano
Foto
Photography ID: 271174
  Adult

Parque Nacional Iguazú
Misiones
Argentina
05/16/2018
Sergio Cusano
Foto
Photography ID: 269098
  Adult

Parque Nacional Iguazú
Misiones
Argentina
05/17/2018
Eduardo Cusano



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 Detail of places sorted by number of records








Page 1
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
252643012/09/202615:58ArgentinaMisionesParque Nacional Iguazú1Gustavo Fernando Durán
229500003/06/202513:54ArgentinaMisionesParque Nacional Iguazú1Gustavo Fernando Durán
121354405/03/2020ArgentinaMisionesSendero Verde, Parque Nacional IguazúSilvia Sokolovsky
97528503/09/2019ArgentinaMisionesPasarela a Garganta del Diablo, Parque Nacional IguazúGustavo Ramos
93318012/06/2019ArgentinaMisionesEntrada al parque, Parque Nacional Iguazú1Eduardo Beltrocco
92273502/05/2019ArgentinaMisionesParque Nacional IguazúHugo Caverzasi
76540517/05/2018ArgentinaMisionesAlrededores de Estación Central, Parque Nacional IguazúEduardo Cusano
77016516/05/2018ArgentinaMisionesAlrededores de Estación Central, Parque Nacional IguazúSergio Cusano
153814311/06/2012ArgentinaMisionesParque Nacional IguazúMiguel Bean
Page 1

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Recommended citation
Please use the following reference when citing this species account.
EcoRegistros. 2026. Dryadula phaetusa – Species account. Accessed from www.ecoregistros.org on 17/09/2026.