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Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Cephus Blue
Ringlet
Cepheuptychia cephus
FABRICIUS,
1775
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe -
EUPTYCHIINA
Cepheuptychia cephus, Tingo Maria, 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.
There are 5 known species of
Cepheuptychia.
This
species is found throughout the upper Amazonian region.
Habitats
Cepheuptychia cephus
occurs in tropical rainforest at elevations between about 100-800m.
Lifecycle
I have no data regarding any Cepheuptychia
species,
but it is likely that the lifecycle will 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
This species is usually seen
close to narrow streams in the vicinity of
bamboo. Males have favoured sunspots where sunlight filters
through the foliage in the early morning. They perch for long
periods at these sites to await
passing females. During the heat of the day, both sexes hide
away in shady areas of undergrowth.
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.
Cepheuptychia cephus, Tingo Maria, Peru
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