Caper Spurge vs Long-tailed Sylph

Euphorbia lathyris compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Key Differences

Caper Spurge is Not Evaluated while Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Caper Spurge	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Malpighiales (Malpighiales)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Euphorbiaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Euphorbia	Aglaiocercus
Species	Euphorbia lathyris	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

Caper Spurge

NE — Not Evaluated

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Caper Spurge	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Caper Spurge

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Georgia, Japan, Turkey), Europe (22 countries), North America (Canada, Mexico, United States), and South America (4 countries).

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Caper Spurge

The Caper Spurge (Euphorbia lathyris) is a species in the genus Euphorbia. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

One of the most strikingly ornamented hummingbirds, male long-tailed sylphs have iridescent green plumage and dramatically elongated, ribbon-like outer tail feathers reaching up to 22 cm — over three times the body length. Found in Andean cloud forests of Colombia and Venezuela, they inhabit humid montane forest between 1,400–2,800 meters elevation. Males perform elaborate display flights to attract females. Their extravagant tails are a classic example of sexual selection via female preference.