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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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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.





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Foto
Photography ID: 485887
  Adult

Rincón de Franquía
Artigas
Uruguay
03/03/2022
Mauricio Silvera
Foto
Photography ID: 485886
  Adult

Cerca de Bella Unión
Artigas
Uruguay
03/03/2022
Mauricio Silvera



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Page 1
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
155962903/03/2022UruguayArtigasRincón de FranquíaMauricio Silvera
155963003/03/2022UruguayArtigasCerca de Bella UniónMauricio Silvera
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 14/09/2026.