Microtia elva

Bates, 1864

Elf, Elf Butterfly

Microtia elva, commonly known as the elf or elf , is a small butterfly in the . It is the sole member of its , which is and restricted to the southern United States and Central America. The species has been observed over 3,000 times on iNaturalist, indicating it is relatively well-documented within its range. feed on plants in the family Acanthaceae, particularly Tetramerium species.

JM6-11 Microtia elva (3431895462) by NSG group from Lund, Sweden. Used under a CC0 license.Microtia elva elva by Francisco Farriols Sarabia. Used under a CC BY 4.0 license.ELF (Microtia elva) (9-24-12) ca gulch, pajarito mts, scc, az -05 (8021806030) by ALAN SCHMIERER. Used under a CC0 license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Microtia elva: /mɪˈkrɒtiə ˈɛlvə/

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Images

Distribution

Southern United States and Central America. Specific distribution records include Los Santos (Panama) and North America broadly.

Diet

feed on Tetramerium and other in the Acanthaceae.

Host Associations

  • Tetramerium - larval primary
  • Acanthaceae - larval -level association

More Details

Taxonomic uniqueness

Microtia is a containing only this single , making M. elva taxonomically distinctive within the Melitaeini tribe.

Common name origin

The 'elf' likely refers to the small size of this , though the exact origin is not documented in available sources.

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Sources and further reading