Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Jesia
Ringlet
Euptychia
jesia
BUTLER, 1869
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe -
EUPTYCHIINA
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Euptychia jesia,
Ecuador ©
Tony Hoare
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.
The
redefined genus Euptychia now
contains only 29 species, 16 of which have been discovered since
2002.
Euptychia jesia
is found from Mexico to Ecuador.
Habitats
The butterfly occurs in
wet tropical rainforest at elevations between 0-600m.
Lifecycle
The egg is smooth, globular and laid singly. The fully grown
caterpillar is green, mottled with darker and lighter green. It is covered with
fleshy warts, and is wonderfully well camouflaged as it rests on the leaves or
stems of its foodplant spikemoss Selaginella (
Selaginellaceae ).
Adult behaviour
Euptychia jesia
is usually seen along forest trails, and prefers flying in dappled
sunlight. During the heat of the day, the butterflies hide away in
shady areas of undergrowth. Normally they keep their wings firmly
closed when at rest, but immediately after ovipositing females
commonly bask for a few minutes with their wings fully outspread.
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