Immature stages of the Neotropical satyrine butterfly <i>Taygetis acuta</i> (Nymphalidae: Euptychiina)

Abstract

The present paper describes the immature stages of the Neotropical satyrine butterfly Taygetis acuta Weymer, 1910. The solitary eggs are greenish white and round. The immature stages of T. acuta are morphologically similar to those of other species of the “Taygetis virgilia (Cramer, 1776) group”, with the last instar having elongate dorsal markings resembling the yellowish-bordered, elongate blotches caused by fungus on bamboo leaves, suggesting that camouflage could be involved. The pupa is short and smooth and entirely green, with short ocular caps. Larvae passed through four solitary instars and fed on bamboo (Poaceae) offered to them in the laboratory, with the natural hostplant still unknown.