LIFE HISTORY OF DYNASTOR DARIUS 
(LEPIDOPTERA: NYMPHALIDAE: BRASSOLINAE) 
IN PANAMA 
ByAnnette Aiello and Robert E. Silberglied* 
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 
P.O. Box 2072, Balboa, Panama 
Dynastor darius (Fabr.) (Figure l) 1 is a large crepuscular butterfly 
found from Guatemala south into Brasil (Blandin, 1976; Blandin and 
Descimon, 1977). The larva is known to feed on various bromeliads. 
In the interests of amplifying the scattered and fragmentary descrip- 
tions of the immature stages by previous workers, and commenting 
upon certain discrepancies between their findings and our own, we 
here present data on twelve individuals of Dynastor darius reared on 
Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama in 1978. 
On 21 June we captured a female of Dynastor darius, and over the 
period 23-25 June obtained twelve eggs (Figure 2). These were 
spherical, 2.2 mm in diameter, and cream colored with a pattern of 
anastomosing striae oriented from pole to pole. The first instars 
emerged eleven days after oviposition and we presented them with 
leaves of a variety of monocot species: Musa paradisiaca (Musaceae), 
Heliconia sp. (Heliconiaceae), Monster a sp. (Araceae), Cocos nuci- 
fera (Palmae), Zingiber sp. (Zingiberaceae), Philodendron triparti- 
tum (Araceae), Ananas comosus (Bromeliaceae), and an unidentified 
grass (Gramineae). The larvae ate only the pineapple (Ananas 
comosus). 
First Instar Larvae 
Newly hatched larvae were 7.6-8 mm in length excluding the 
caudae, which were 2 mm long, orange on the basal half and black 
apically. At the tip, each cauda bore a 1 mm long seta which was black 
on the basal half and white apically, plus several appressed setae 
toward the base. The tip of the body between the caudae was red. The 
* Present address: Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 02138. 
Manuscript received by the editor February 26, 1979. 
‘Figures 1 and 11 represent the individual in rearing Lot 78-75. Figures 2-10 
represent the twelve individuals in rearing Lot 78-84. 
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