Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Pallid
Sicklewing
Achlyodes pallida
FELDER, 1869
Family - HESPERIIDAE
subfamily -
PYRGINAE
Tribe - PYRGINI
Achlyodes
pallida, Peru
© Tony Hoare
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.
Achlyodes pallida is distributed from Mexico
to Bolivia.
Habitats
This is a fairly common species, found at altitudes between
about 200-1000m in disturbed habitats such as forest edges, roadsides and river
beaches.
Lifecycle
To be completed.
Adult behaviour
Males are usually seen as
singletons amongst mixed mud-puddling aggregations of other
Pyrgine skippers such as Anastrus, Antigonus,
Ebrietas and
Gorgopas.
Both sexes rest and feed with the wings outspread.
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