Top 10 Beautiful Butterflies of South America

The butterfly sight pleases and fascinates everyone. We all feel excited watching colorful butterflies fluttering around flowers and plants. Their gorgeous color patterns make the visual experience even more delightful. If you happen to visit South America, you will probably encounter the following butterflies:

1. Cydno Longwing Butterfly

These butterflies are native to South and Central America. The butterfly’s top side has a gorgeous blue iridescence. Both male and female butterflies appear the same. These butterflies inhabit forested areas. Adult butterflies feed on the nectar of various flowers.

2. Bordered Patch

It is a North American butterfly that may be found in habitats like oak woodlands, desert hills, pinyon woodlands, and mesquite woodlands. It is a variable creature with its upper wing mainly black with the fore wing having white rows and spots of different sizes of yellow to orange color.

3. Metalmark

Metalmarks are South American butterfly species that are named for their distinctive metallic wing markings. They are hard to identify because many species simulate other butterflies and have developed many color combinations and wing shapes.

4. Queen Butterfly

It is among the list of most colorful butterflies in South America. The queen butterfly has odd black wing edges on brown or orange wings battered with two rows of white spots making it a well-known butterfly.

5. Tropical Blue Wave

It is a small butterfly that is found in South America. The tropical blue wave butterfly has white lines and perky blue colors on the top of the forewing making it beautiful. These butterflies live in rainforests at higher elevations and they eat rotting fruits.

6. Rusty-tipped Pages

These butterflies are common in Central and South America. They live in small groups at an altitude of about 400 meters. They are present along the edges of forests and water sources. It is a black butterfly with orange wing tips and white lines between two colors.

7. Variable Swallowtail

Its scientific name is Mimoides phaon and is commonly known as variable swallowtail and red-sided swallowtail. This butterfly has a variable dorsal side of the wing. These butterflies are mainly black with red or greenish blue spots. Others may have one or two rows of lighter spots on the outer margins of the hindwing.

8. Elf Butterfly

The elf butterfly is a small butterfly that is found in South and Central America. It has brown color and its forewings are black that are rounded and elongated. Its forewing has two big patches.

9. Blue Gray Satyr butterfly

It is a brown-colored butterfly with stripes and black and orange eyes on the wings. It appears blue when light hits the butterfly at a specific angle. Its habitat is a subtropical rainforest.

10. Loruhama Eyemark

The Loruhama Eyemark moves with irregular motion and has eye spots. Both of these characteristics help these butterflies trick predators letting them think that the butterfly is a portion of a big animal. It is present in the untouched cloud forest and rainforest at elevations in the range of 200 to 2,000 meters.