Are 2 halves better than one? Curious Pieridae...

[trehopr1]

I have always enjoyed butterflies of the family Pieridae. Their colors are mostly bright, cheery, and attractive overall. Even the "white" colored ones "pop" against a background of lush green or colored flowers. Within this family there are a number of species which seem to exhibit rather distinct divisions of color; reminiscent of 2 different butterfly species having been "spliced" together (so to speak). I can't say I've noticed it so much in other butterfly families but, I'm sure it exists.
I just thought I would shed some light on some of these curious Pierids for your viewing pleasure.
One thing of note is that this division of colors always seems to be an upper (forewings) vs. lower (hindwings) sort of thing. Not a left side (half) vs. right side (half) bi-lateral thing.
Below, I present my 1st example from my own collection.


Catopsilia gorgophone (Female)
Mt. Tamborine, Australia
Mar.08.1975

So, with this species as well as others I will present; little if any of the lower hindwing color is carried over or "invades" the region of the forewings.
Some species seem to have the bolder color on the hindwings whilst others still possess the bolder colors on the forewings (as you will see).

[trehopr1]

Here is yet another curious example for your viewing pleasure.


Catopsilia scylla (Orange Emigrant)
South East Asia and Australasia
In a friends collection...

This species is yet another equally "divided" species and perhaps an even better example of this curious appearance.

[trehopr1]

Finally, I present you with yet another twist to this casual observance of mine. 
Here, the bolder colors are present on the forewings rather than on the hindwings.


Hebomoia leucippe (Male)
Moluccas and Peleng (Indonesia)
In a friends collection...

So again, you can see this concept of "divisional" coloration which to me seems best illustrated amongst the Pierid butterflies. Other Pierid candidates which probably show this sort of thing are certain Colotis species of Africa (which come to mind at the moment).

This kinda makes me wonder if the food plant chemicals absorbed by the larvae (of certain species) are somehow re-directed during the pupal stage to a specific region during metamorphosis; i.e. (the wing pads) front or back. Thereby, giving some butterflies a look of "2 halves being better than one" !

[wollastoni]

True that it is mainly a Pieridae pattern.

In Lycaenidae, I've caught in 2009 this rare Udara cybele in the Pass Valley, Papua

[trehopr1]

That's a gorgeous little gem. Did you find many more like it? Lycaenids are certainly tough to come by in the tropics. I can scarcely even find them here in a temperate region !

[wollastoni]

Some Udara species are common in New Guinea (Udara drucei for example) but Udara cybele is a rarity.
That's the only one I caught.

[trehopr1]

Pictured below is a (undet.) Nymphalid species collected by me in Bolivia (May)1989. Here, again we see a butterfly which by all general appearances looks like two distinct butterflies "spliced" together. You would think that the patterning and color of the forewings would have been "carried over" to the hindwings as well. Yet, those hindwings show nothing remotely similar to the forewings !

I think this is a neat concept which has evolved in nature and although it seems to be more often seen in Pieridae; you can see that it does indeed show up in other butterfly families as well. I only saw (much less collected) all of 2 of these lovelies. Of which this one is of coarse my best one!

[Paul K]

This is Epiphile orea could be ssp. distalis

[trehopr1]

Outstanding work again Paul !

Many, many thanks...