Behemothia godmanii - So. TAMPS, Mex - Sept 10

Mike Quinn Mike.Quinn at tpwd.state.tx.us
Fri Sep 22 19:13:40 EDT 2006


Ricardo Jimenez <ricardojimenez76 at gmail.com> recently shot a fresh male
Giant Metalmark (Behemothia godmanii) near his home in Gomez Farias. 

It's a pretty rare butterfly throughout it's range (Mexico to Costa
Rica).

Giant Metalmark (Behemothia godmanii) 
http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabast/giantmetalmark.html

MEXICO: Tamaulipas
Gomez-Farias (El Cielo) 
September 10, 2006 
Ricardo Jimenez, photos

Ricardo will be assisting with the upcoming El Cielo Butterfly Festival
on November 1-5, 2006. Mas info aqui: www.elcielofestival.com 

--------------------------------

Jason Hall (2000) recently described the genus Behemothia. Here are some
excerpts:

Behemothia godmanii (Dewitz 1877), formerly treated in Pandemos.

Diagnosis. The single species of Behemothia, B. godmanii, bears little
resemblance to any other riodinid. The combination of its large size,
markedly falcate forewing apex, black scaling at the base of the dorsal
hindwing and ventral forewing, and russet-brown dorsal ground color
covered with lilac and blue scaling in the male is unique.

Etymology. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "behemoth", meaning
"enormous animal," in reference to the huge size of this species, one of
the largest in the Riodinidae.

Biology: Very little is known about the biology of the single Behemothia
species, godmanii. Museum label data indicate that this uncommon species
occurs primarily in relatively dry semi-deciduous woodlands, and de la
Maza and de la Maza (1993) report it as occurring from 100 to 700 m in
Chiapas, Mexico. DeVries (1997) reports finding a female in Belize
perched beneath a branch with its wings folded over the body and the
forewings dropped back into the hindwings. The foodplants and early
stages remain undiscovered, but the position of Behemothia godmanii in
the Nymphidiini indicates that the larvae will be myrmecophilous (Harvey
1987).

Distribution: Behemothia godmanii is known to range from central Mexico
to Costa Rica.

-----

DeVries, P.J. 1997. The butterflies of Costa Rica and their natural
history. Vol. II: Riodinidae. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New
Jersey, xxv + 288 pp.

Hall, J.P.W. 2000. Two new genera in the Neotropical riodinid tribe
Nymphidiini (Riodinidae). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
54(2):41-46.

http://research.yale.edu/peabody/jls/htms/2000s/2000-54(2)41-Hall.htm

http://research.yale.edu/peabody/jls/pdfs/2000s/2000/2000-54(2)41-Hall.p
df

Harvey, D. 1987. The higher classification of the Riodinidae
(Lepidoptera). Ph.D Dissertation. University of Texas, Austin. vii + 216
pp.

Maza, R. G. de la & J. de la Maza. 1993. Mariposas de Chiapas. Mexico:
Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas. 224 pp.

----------------------------------------------------

Additional notes:

DeVries (1997) included this species in his Costa Rican field guide
based on a single specimen taken in the Pacific lowland deciduous forest
of Parque Nacional Santa Rosa, Guanacaste in December.

De la Maza and de la Maza (1993) picture a male and female specimen with
the following caption, "Pandemos godmani, rara especie dedicada a
Frederick Ducane Godman."

Garwood & Lehman (2005) report this species from Tamaulipas and San Luis
Potosi. They show a male specimen collected in Tamaulipas by Jesus
Garcia. Garwood (pers. com.) reports seeing it only once previously in
the coastal lowlands of Tamaulipas.

Garwood, K. & R. Lehman. 2005. Butterflies of Northeastern Mexico: Nuevo
Leon, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas - A Photographic Checklist. 2nd
Edition. Eye Scry Publishing, McAllen, TX. X + 187 pp.


Mike Quinn, Austin



 
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