Subfamily Nymphalinae Scientific name Junonia Order Butterflies and moths | Higher classification Junoniini Rank Genus | |
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Lower classifications Common buckeye, Junonia lemonias, Junonia orithya, Meadow argus, Junonia iphita | ||
Common buckeye junonia coenia observations
Junonia is a genus of nymphalid butterflies, described by Jacob Hübner in 1819. They are commonly known as buckeyes, pansies, or commodores. This genus flies on every continent except Antarctica. The genus contains about 30–35 species.
Contents
Junonia orithya
Description
Medium-size to large (wingspan 40–110 mm) butterflies. The ground colour is brown or grey suffused blue. Spots on the wings are orange, blue or pink spots and sometimes large. Many of the species can occur in several colour forms. The head is of moderate size with smooth, prominent eyes. The palpi are rather long, sharply pointed, ascending, generally convergent, and scaly, sometimes more or less hairy. The antennae are of moderate length, generally with a rather short, abruptly formed club. The thorax is robust, ovate, rather sparingly clothed with hairs. The wing characters are: wings large, broad, variable in outline. Fore-wing: costa more or less arched, sometimes very strongly so; apical portion more or less produced, sometimes very prominent, with a strong projection on hind-margin at extremity of first discoidal nervule; hind-margin always more or less dentate and emarginate, with, in many species, a considerable projection at extremity of third median nervule; inner-margin nearly straight, or slightly emarginate about centre; discoidal cell generally closed by a slender nervule. Hind-wing: costa strongly arched at base, and more or less so throughout; hind-margin always more or less escalloped, sometimes simply rounded (without any marked projections), sometimes with a more or less elongate production of anal angle, and occasionally with a longer or shorter projection of hind-margin at extremity of first median nervule; inner-margins deeply grooved and entirely covering under-surface of abdomen; discoidal cell generally open. The abdomen short, compressed, rather slender.
The larva is rather stout, almost of equal thickness throughout, armed with strong branched spines; sometimes with two short, similar spines on head. The pupa is moderately angulated, with raised tubercles on the back, head slightly bifid. Sometimes hardly angulated, the anterior portions more rounded.
Biology
Junonia are good fliers. The larvae feed on a wide variety of plants, among others Labiatae, Acanthaceae, Amaranthaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Onagraceae, Leguminosae, Balsaminaceae, Gramineae, Melastomataceae, Plantaginaceae, Aucubaceae, Compositae.
Taxonomy
The leaf butterflies J. ansorgei and J. cymodoce (both from Africa) have traditionally been included in Kallima, but this genus is now usually limited to Asian species. Instead of being placed in Junonia, the two are sometimes awarded their own genus, Kamilla. The leaf butterfly J. tugela is sometimes included in Precis instead of Junonia.
The species in Junonia:
