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Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.
Butterflies of the Amazon rainforest
 
Banded White Ringlet
Pareuptychia ocirrhoe FABRICIUS, 1776
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily - SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe - EUPTYCHIINA
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Pareuptychia ocirrhoe, Rio Madre de Dios, Peru
 
Introduction
 
There has been, and still is, considerable contention regarding the classification of the  400 currently known members of the sub-tribe Euptychiina, which includes all of the neotropical "ringlet" butterflies. This is reflected for example in the words of d'Abrera, who when referring to the hundreds of specimens illustrated in his "Butterflies of the Neotropics : Part V ( Satyridae )" states "I cannot tell with certainty whether the taxa figured are species, races, or infrasubspecific forms".
 
Until fairly recently almost all were included in the genus Euptychia, but the revisions by Forster ( 1964 ) and more recently by Lamas ( 2004 ) divide this "convenience" genus into a number of arguably valid smaller genera, one of which is the Pareuptychia - a group of 8 species characterised by having white wings marked with broad dark brown bands.
 
Pareuptychia ocirrhoe, previously known as Euptychia / Cissia hesione, is one of the commonest and most widespread of the "white ringlets", found from Mexico to northern Argentina.
 
Habitats
 
The habitats of this species are diverse, and include lowland primary and secondary rainforest, cloudforest up to about 1500m, and disturbed habitats such as farmland in wooded areas.
 
Lifecycle
 
The eggs are globular, black, and laid on the grass Eleusine where it grows around the base of trees or bushes. They are parasitised by Trichogrammatid and Scelionid wasps.
 
The fully grown caterpillar is bright green, tapering towards the head and tail, the latter having two small caudal forks. The head is green, with two small reddish horns. The larvae are solitary, feed nocturnally, and take about 8 weeks to reach full development. If disturbed they become rigid and drop to the ground, behaving like pieces of broken stem. They are parasitised by Braconid wasps, a single larva playing host to up to 25 of their grubs.
 
The chrysalis is smooth, pale green in colour, and is suspended by the cremaster from stems or stout leaves.
 
Adult behaviour

 

The butterflies are solitary in behaviour, but invariably several will be found within the same vicinity. They fly in cloudy or sunny conditions, and can be found deep within the forest, or in open areas such as forest edges or along  sunlit forest tracks.

 

Pareuptychia ocirrhoe is present throughout the year, but tends to be more abundant during the rainy season, and is most active when the sun reappears following heavy rainfall.

 

In common with other neotropical Ringlets they feed as adults on juices extracted from fungi and rotting fruit.

 

I have seen adults being attacked and consumed by robber flies ( Asilidae ), and note that DeVries has also recorded this behaviour, which suggests that the butterflies may be a major constituent of the pabulum of these large flies.

 

 

Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007-2008, and must not be reproduced or published in part or in whole elsewhere in any form without written permission from Adrian Hoskins. Breach of copyright will be pursued by litigation.

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