Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Large Slate Hairstreak
Brangas caranus
STOLL, 1780
Family -
LYCAENIDAE
subfamily -
THECLINAE
Tribe - EUMAEINI
Brangas caranus,
male, Northern Range, Trinidad
© Keith Grant
Introduction
All neotropical Theclines are placed in the tribe Eumaeini, which comprises of
1,058 currently known species
classified into 83 genera. The Eumaeini are very poorly represented in museum
collections, and until very recently were ignored by most workers, the exception
being Robbins, whose revision of the tribe was published in the Lamas
neotropical checklist, 2004.
The genus Brangas comprises of about 16-20 species,
all of which are neotropical in distribution, with the majority of species being
confined to northern South America. Several of the species were recently
discovered by Robbins and have not yet been scientifically described.
The males of all
Brangas species have dazzling metallic blue
uppersides, with a narrow blackish edging at the apex. Females have more rounded
forewings. Their uppersides are a dull earthy brown colour, with a slight pale
blue sheen at the base of the wings.
Brangas
caranus
is found in Surinam, Venezuela and Trinidad.
Habitats
This species is found in rainforest at altitudes between
about 200-1200m.
Lifecycle
This appears to be unknown.
Adult behaviour
The butterflies are rare, and invariably encountered as singletons.
They sometimes visit the flowers of
Eupatorium for nectar.
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