Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Marica Blue Ringlet
Chloreuptychia
marica
WEYMER, 1911
Family -
NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe -
EUPTYCHIINA
introduction
|
habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
|
 |
|
Chloreuptychia
marica, Rio Madre de Dios, 400m, Peru |
Introduction
There are about
400 described species in the subtribe Euptychiina, which includes all of the
neotropical "ringlet" butterflies.
Until
fairly recently almost all were included in the genus
Euptychia,
but revisions by Forster ( 1964 ) and Lamas ( 2004 ) divide this
"convenience" genus into a number of smaller genera, on the basis of
anatomical differences and larval foodplant relationships.
There
are about 42 species of "blue ringlets", now variously allocated to the genera
Caeruleuptychia,
Cepheuptychia
and
Chloreuptychia.
The 12 species in the
genus
Chloreuptychia
are characterised by having a reflective blue sheen on the underside, and on the
upperside hindwings. Other shared characteristics include the ovoid shape of the
forewing, and the presence of a pair of elongated silvery ocelli within the
series of eyespots on the underside hindwings.
All Chloreuptychia
species feed as larvae on grasses ( Poaceae ).
Chloreuptychia marica
occurs in eastern Peru.
Habitats
This species is confined to primary rainforest habitats at altitudes
between about 100-600m.
Lifecycle
I have no data regarding marica,
but it is reasonable to assume that the lifecycle is similar to that of
Chloreuptychia arnaca,
which is described below :
The eggs are globular, shining white in colour, and laid singly on
grasses. Chloreuptychia arnaca lays
on
Eleusine,
Oplismenus
and
Ichnanthus, usually where they grow
around the base of trees, but it is quite possible that
marica uses different grass species.
The caterpillar is
mottled in shades of brown, and has a row
of diamond-shaped marks along the back. The head is black with a
pair of short horns which bear auxiliary spines, and the tip of the abdomen bears a pair of
caudal prongs. In common with almost all other Satyrines, the
larvae hide feed nocturnally. It is likely that
marica is very similar, but may
differ in colour.
The
pupa of arnaca is mottled in shades
of brown. All Chloreuptychia pupae
are wedge-shaped, with a blunt head. They are formed attached by
the cremaster to a stem, and project horizontally.
Adult behaviour
The butterflies inhabit the understorey, and are usually only seen
along the darker and narrower trails. 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
orange vertical
lines on the underside are an example of disruptive colouration -
they help to break up the outline of the wings into separate
shapes, making the butterfly more difficult for a predator to detect.
The ocelli are probably a secondary
defence - if a bird succeeds in detecting where
the butterfly has settled, it would probably aim it's attack at
the most visible feature, i.e. the ocelli. The fact that there are
multiple ocelli probably adds to the bird's confusion, delaying the attack
momentarily, and allowing the butterfly to escape with nothing worse than a nicked
wing.
The adults do not visit
flowers, feeding instead at decomposing fungi, rotting fruits,
and bird droppings. They spend most of their time sitting
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.
|
