Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Pantiacolla Blue
Ringlet
Cepheuptychia sp.nov
LAMAS
[ MS ]
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe -
EUPTYCHIINA
Cepheuptychia sp.nov, Pantiacolla, Rio Alto Madre de Dios, Peru
Introduction
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This species was
discovered by Lamas. It was seen by
myself in 2008 at Pantiacolla and appears to be relatively common there.
It is
similar to
Caeruleuptychia tenera and aegrota, but differs in having 6 ocelli instead of 5
on the underside hindwings, 3 of these being twin-centred.
There are also differences in the upperside markings. The
species has not yet been given a name, and is referred
to in the Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera as
Cepheuptychia [ n.sp ], ref
101/1230. |
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 appears to be confined to south-east Peru.
Habitats
The butterfly occurs in
tropical rainforest at elevations between about 300-700m. I have recorded and
photographed it on 2 occasions near a stream which runs to the Rio Alto Madre de
Dios.
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
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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