Memphis basilia is a species of leafwing found in South America.
Subspecies Memphis basilia basilia; present in Suriname. Memphis basilia bella (Comstock, 1961); present in Colombia. Memphis basilia drucei (Staudinger, 1887); present in Peru.
It is also found in Guyana.*
Description Memphis basilia is a butterfly with forewings with a humped costal edge, pointed apex, concave outer edge near the apex, concave inner edge and hind wings each with a tail. The upper side of the male's wings is dark blue with a discreet basal metallic blue suffusion and on the forewings a few blue spots near the apex, the female's is light brown with a mauve basal part (light purple). The underside is bright orange mottled with pearly white and simulates a dead leaf. Comstock, W. P.1961. Butterflies of the American Tropics: the genus Anaea. Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae. New York: Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 214pp,30pl. D'Abrera, B. 1988. Butterflies of the Neotropical Region, Nymphalidae, Satyridae. Victoria: Hill House. Pp. 680-723.; present in Mexico, Guatemala, and Panama.
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