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Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Coelestis Blue Ringlet
Caeruleuptychia
coelestis
BUTLER, 1867
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe -
EUPTYCHIINA
Caeruleuptychia coelestis, Madre de Dios, Peru
Introduction
There are 1100 known species of Satyrinae in the neotropical region. About 400
of these are placed in the Euptychiina. Butterflies within this tribe include
the "ringlet" genera Euptychia,
Magneuptychia,
Harjesia,
Cissia,
Caeruleuptychia,
Magneuptychia, Harjesia etc; together with
Oressinoma and the various "wood nymph" genera i.e.
Parataygetis, Posttaygetis
and Taygetis. Most are inhabitants of the forest
understorey and tend to fly close to the ground. They generally avoid sunlight
and prefer to fly at dawn or on cloudy days when light levels and temperatures
are low.
Until
fairly recently almost all of the "ringlets" were placed in the genus
Euptychia,
but revisions by Forster and Lamas divide this
"convenience" genus into a number of smaller genera, on the basis of
anatomical differences and larval foodplants. There
are 42 species of "blue ringlets", now variously allocated to the genera
Caeruleuptychia,
Cepheuptychia
and
Chloreuptychia.
Distinguishing between the 25 species of
Caeruleuptychia
is largely a matter of noting differences in the
number and size of the ocelli on the underside hindwings, which are generally
constant in each species.
This
species appears to be confined to the Upper Amazonian areas of Peru and
Brazil.
Habitats
Caeruleuptychia coelestis
occurs in wet lowland tropical rainforest at elevations between 0-800m.
Lifecycle
I have no data regarding any Caeruleuptychia
species,
but the lifecycle will probably be similar to that of
Chloreuptychia, as described below :
The egg is globular and shining white.
Chloreuptychia lay their eggs singly
on
Eleusine,
Oplismenus
and
Ichnanthus
( Poaceae )
where these grasses grow around the base of trees.
When fully grown the larva is
mottled in shades of brown, and has a row
of diamond-shaped marks along the back. It's head is black with a
pair of short horns that bear auxiliary spines. The tip of the abdomen bears a pair of
caudal prongs. In common with almost all other Satyrine larvae, it
feeds nocturnally. The
pupae of
Chloreuptychia
are wedge-shaped, mottled in shades of brown, and are formed
attached by the cremaster to a stem, projecting horizontally.
Adult behaviour
The butterflies inhabit the understorey, and are usually only seen
along the darker and narrower trails.
They don't visit
flowers but feed instead at decomposing fungi
and bird droppings. Most of the time they sit
motionless on leaves in the shade, and if disturbed they generally fly a distance of no more than
3 or 4 metres, and then re-settle.
It is likely that the wings
reflect high levels of ultra-violet, enabling the butterflies to locate
potential mates visually in the dark environment where they breed.
The
vertical
lines on the underside are an example of disruptive colouration.
They help break up the outline of the wings into separate
shapes, making it more difficult for a bird to detect the
butterfly.
If however a bird
succeeds in discovering where it has settled, the butterfly has a
secondary defence in the form of the ocelli on the underside
hindwings. These function to divert attacks away from the
butterfly's vulnerable body, allowing it to escape with nothing worse than a
pecked
wing.
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