North American Butterflies and Moths List

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Butterflies of North America

Butterflies of Florida

Dina Yellow (Eurema dina)
JPG -- species photo

Dina Yellow (Eurema dina [Poey])

Wing span: 1 1/4 - 2 1/4 inches (3.2 - 5.7 cm).

Identification: Male orange-yellow with very narrow black border on outer and costal margins of forewing. Female yellow with black at forewing tip. Underside of both sexes with three black spots on hindwing. Wet-season (summer) form paler colored.

Life history: Females lay many eggs on the same host plant.

Flight: Throughout the year in southern Florida. Strays into South Texas in November and southern Arizona in October.

Caterpillar hosts: Mexican alvaradoa (Alvaradoa amorphoides) in Florida, bitterbush (Picramnia) in Central America; both in simarouba family.

Adult food: In Central America this butterfly nectars at Lantana, Asclepias, and small-flowered Asteraceae.

Habitat: Forest edges, brushy fields, open forest.

Range: Panama north to southern Florida. Regularly visits south Texas and southeast Arizona.

Conservation: Not usually required. Avoid development of habitats in south Florida.

Management needs: Avoid mosquito fogging of habitats. Maintain proper successional stages.

The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

References:


DeVries, P. J. 1987. The butterflies of Costa Rica and their  natural 

     history. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New  Jersey. 327 

     pages, 50 color plates.



Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek. 1984. Butterflies east of the  Great Plains. 

     Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 294 pages, 54 color plates.



Opler, P. A. and V. Malikul. 1992. A field guide to eastern  butterflies. 

     Peterson field guide #4. Houghton-Mifflin Co.,  Boston. 396 pages, 

     48 color plates.



Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford  University 

     Press, Stanford, Calif. 583 pages, 64 color plates.



Tilden, J. W. 1986. A field guide to western butterflies.  Houghton-Mifflin 

     Co., Boston, Mass. 370 pages, 23 color plates.

Author: Jane M. Struttmann

State and Regional References:


Gerberg, E.J. and Arnett, R.H., Jr.  Florida Butterflies.  Natural Science

     Publications, Inc.  Baltimore, MD.  90 pp.



Kimball, C.P.  1965.  Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas - Vol. 1:

     Lepidoptera of Florida.  Div. of Plant Industry, State of Florida Dept. 

     of Agriculture.  Gainesville, FL.  363 pp. 



Minno, M.C. and Emmel, T.C.  1993.  Butterflies of the Florida Keys.  Scientific

     Publishers.  Gainesville, FL.  168 pp.

     

Opler, P.A. 1998. A field guide to eastern butterflies, revised format.

     Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.     



Smith, D.S., Miller, L.D. and Miller, J.Y.  1994.  The Butterflies of the West

     Indies and South Florida.  Oxford Univ. Press.  Oxford, U.K.  264 pp.

Dina Yellow (Eurema dina)
distribution map
map legend

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