Species Hierarchy
Kingdom ANIMAL (ANIMALIA)
Phylum JOINTED LEGGED ANIMALS (ARTHROPODA)
Class INSECTS (INSECTA)
Order BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS (LEPIDOPTERA)
Family WHITES AND SULPHURS (PIERIDAE)
SubFamily SULPHURS - NEW WORLD (COLIADINAE NEW WORLD)
Common name:
Scentific name: PHOEBIS STATIRA STATIRA

MALE - DORSAL
Origin: TINGO MARIA, PERU

Species Info:

This lifeform is found in Florida, USA. This lifeform is found widely in the New World tropics.

Gerardo Lamas in his 2004 checklist of Neotropical Lepidoptera moves Phoebis statira to Aphrissa statira. There are four named subspecies for Aphrissa statira. This species is found from Florida, United States, and Central America south throughout most of mainland South America to Argentina. Phoebis statira subspecies statira is found in the mainland of Central and South America.  The subspecies floridana is found in the southern Unites States.  The cubana subspecies is found in Cuba, and the hispaniolae subspecies is found in the Dominican Republic.

The New World Phoebis genus is closely related to the Old World Catopsilia genus.  The Phoebis genus contains 8 species of large (for the Pieridae family) butterflies usually of a yellow coloration.     Phoebis agarithe is found from Florida and Mexico south to Peru.  Phoebis argante is found from the Caribbean Islands south through much of Brazil.  Phoebis avellaneda with its  bold orange and yellow pattern  is native to Cuba.  Phoebis bourkei can be found in Ecuador.  Phoebis editha is found in Haiti. Phoebis neocypris is found from Venezuela south through most of South America.  Phoebis philea is found from the Caribbean south through most of South America.  Phoebis sennae is found from the southern United States through the Caribbean to Argentina.

Pieridae family is usually broken into two groups of butterflies: the Yellows (Coliadinae) and the whites (Pierinae). The family is of worldwide distribution with about two thousand species in total. They are related to the swallowtails in that they have six normal legs.

Butterflies and Moths (Order Lepidoptera) are a group of insects with four large wings. They go through various life cycles including eggs, caterpillar (larvae), pupae, and adult. Most butterflies and moths feed as adults, but primarily do most of their growing in the larval or caterpillar stage. Also, most species are restricted to feeding as caterpillars upon a unique set of plants. In this pairing of insects to plants, there arises a unique plant population control system. When one plant species becomes too common, specific pests to that species also become more common and thus prevent the further spreading of that particular plant species.

Although most people think of the Lepidoptera as two different groups: butterflies and moths, technically, the concept is not valid.

Some families, such as Silk Moths (Saturnidae) and Hawk Moths (Sphingidae), are clearly moths. Other families, such as Swallowtail Butterflies (Papilionidae), are clearly butterflies, However, several families exhibit characteristics that appear to be neither moths nor butterflies. For example: the Castnia Moths of South America are frequently placed in the Skipper Family (Hesperidae). The Sunset Moths (Uranidae) have long narrow antennae and fly during the day.

Note: Numerous museums and biologists have loaned specimens to be photographed for this project.

Insects (Class Insecta) are the most successful animals on Earth if success is measured by the number of species or the total number of living organisms. This class contains more than a million species, of which North America has approximately 100,000.

Insects have an exoskeleton. The body is divided into three parts. The foremost part, the head, usually bears two antennae. The middle part, the thorax, has six legs and usually four wings. The last part, the abdomen, is used for breathing and reproduction.

Although different taxonomists divide the insects differently, about thirty-five different orders are included in most of the systems.

The following abbreviated list identifies some common orders of the many different orders of insects discussed herein:

   Odonata:      Dragon and Damsel Flies
   Orthoptera:   Grasshoppers and Mantids
   Homoptera:    Cicadas and Misc. Hoppers
   Diptera:      Flies and Mosquitoes
   Hymenoptera:  Ants, Wasps, and Bees
   Lepidoptera:  Butterflies and Moths
   Coleoptera:   Beetles

Jointed Legged Animals (Phylum Arthropoda) make up the largest phylum. There are probably more than one million different species of arthropods known to science. It is also the most successful animal phylum in terms of the total number of living organisms.

Butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, various insects, spiders, and crabs are well-known arthropods.

The phylum is usually broken into the following five main classes:

   Arachnida:      Spiders and Scorpions
   Crustacea:      Crabs and Crayfish
   Chilopoda:      Centipedes
   Diplopoda:      Millipedes
   Insecta:        Insects

There are several other "rare" classes in the arthropods that should be mentioned. A more formal list is as follows:

   Sub Phylum Chelicerata

     C. Arachnida:      Spiders and scorpions
     C. Pycnogonida:    Sea spiders (500 species)
     C. Merostomata:    Mostly fossil species

   Sub Phylum Mandibulata

     C. Crustacea:      Crabs and crayfish
      
   Myriapod Group

     C. Chilopoda:      Centipedes
     C. Diplopoda:      Millipedes
     C. Pauropoda:      Tiny millipede-like
     C. Symphyla:       Garden centipedes

   Insect Group

     C. Insecta:        Insects

The above list does not include some extinct classes of Arthropods such as the Trilobites.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

 

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MALE - DORSAL

 


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