South American Tropical Buckeye

Junonia evarete (Cramer, 1779), the tropical buckeye or South American tropical buckeye, is a South American butterfly of the nymphalid (Nymphalidae) family. It has characteristic eye spots on the wings, which have a wingspan between 4.5 and 6.5 cm (1.8 and 2.6 in). This butterfly is easily confused with Junonia genoveva, the mangrove buckeye. Not only have the common names mangrove and tropical buckeye been confused, but the butterflies themselves have been sometimes misidentified in past literature because the two species have many variations, subspecies and seasonal forms, which makes them difficult to identify or differentiate. Phylogenetic studies demonstrate the separation of evarete and genoveva, but evidence suggests that subspecies and perhaps more species await their descriptions within this group.

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