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Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Southern
Sicklewing
Achlyodes mithridates thraso
HÜBNER, 1807
Family - HESPERIIDAE
subfamily -
PYRGINAE
Tribe - PYRGINI
Achlyodes
mithridates thraso, Satipo, Peru
Introduction
The
Pyrginae, popularly known as Flats or Spreadwings, are found in most temperate and
tropical habitats throughout the world. In the neotropical region there are
about 990 described species, of which 581 are placed in the tribe Pyrgini, which
includes such well known genera as Urbanus,
Bolla, Astraptes, Pyrgus, Erynnis, Sostrata
and Mylon.
Butterflies in the genus
Achlyodes are known variously as Batwings, Bat
Skippers or Sicklewings. There are 5 species : minna
- found in Bahia, Brazil; mithridates - found on
most Caribbean islands and on the mainland from Texas to Peru;
pallida which is distributed from Mexico to Bolivia;
busirus which occurs
from Costa Rica to Bolivia; and munroei, an exceedingly rare
insect originally thought to be endemic to Cuba but which has
recently been discovered in the Bahamas.
The coloration and pattern varies
from species to species e.g. pallida is pale
golden brown with dark marbling; mithridates is
black with a blue sheen and pale marbling; and busirus
is metallic purplish brown with blackish marbling.
There are 6 races of
Achlyodes mithridates - the northernmost
subspecies tamenund occurs from Texas to Nicaragua
and is blackish-brown, marked in lighter brown. The southern subspecies
thraso occurs from Costa Rica to Peru. It is
darker in appearance and has a beautiful bluish-purple sheen across the wings. The
other subspecies are restricted to various islands in the Caribbean.
Habitats
This is a widespread and common species, found at altitudes between
sea level and about 700m in disturbed habitats such as forest edges, glades, roadsides and riverbanks.
Lifecycle
The
eggs are laid singly on the upperside of leaves of Citrus,
Zanthoxylum and other Rutaceae. The caterpillars
vary in colour from yellowish green to bluish grey, and are marked with a dark
mid-dorsal line, and a broad band of yellow dashes along the sides. They live
solitarily in nests made of silked leaves. The pupa has green wing cases and a
yellowish green abdomen.
Adult behaviour
Males are usually seen as
singletons amongst mixed mud-puddling aggregations of other
Pyrgine skippers such as Anastrus, Antigonus,
Ebrietas and
Gorgopas. They can also be seen
perching on the foliage of bushes, which they use as "look out
posts" to survey passing females.
Both sexes rest and feed with the wings outspread.
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