Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Cramer's Paradise
Skipper
Phocides pigmalion
CRAMER, 1779
Family - HESPERIIDAE
subfamily -
PYRGINAE
Tribe - EUDAMINI
introduction
|
habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
Phocides pigmalion pigmalion, Rio
Madre de Dios, Peru
Introduction
Skippers in the genus Phocides
bear a remarkable resemblance
to their distant cousins
Jemadia,
Tarsoctenus
and
Elbella,
all of which are members of a different subfamily, the Pyrrhopyginae. This may
indicate that the butterflies are involved in a mimicry complex, as it is
difficult to see why two very similar patterns could otherwise have evolved.
Most Pyrrhopyginae ( e.g.
Pyrrhopyge
and
Yanguna )
exhibit aposematic colouration, implying that the subfamily are generally unpalateable or toxic to
birds, so it seems likely that Phocides are
Batesian
mimics, and that Jemadia,
Tarsoctenus and Elbella are
Mullerian
mimics.
The
easiest way to distinguish
Phocides
from the others is to look at the metallic turquoise-white stripes in the basal
area of the forewings. These radiate from the base in
Phocides,
but are vertical in the Pyrrhopygine genera.
Phocides pigmalion is a very
widespread species, distributed from Mexico to Bolivia. There are 6 recognised
subspecies, including a race from Florida known as the Mangrove Skipper P. pigmalion
okeechobee. In the latter, and
P. pigmalion batabanoides from the Bahamas,
the hyaline windows on the forewings are absent, and the blue
streaks are very suffused.
Phocides pigmalion pigmalion, Satipo, Peru
Habitats
This species is found in a wide range of habitats including mangrove forest, tropical and subtropical
rainforest, and humid deciduous forest, at altitudes between
sea level and about 900m.
Lifecycle
The caterpillar when
fully grown is plump, with a very narrow neck, and a large dark red head. The
body is dark red with a pink spiracular line, and a series of 7 bright yellow
vertical lines on each side. It rests by day in a shelter constructed from
folded leaves bound with silk, and feeds at night. In Florida and the Caribbean
the larvae feed on mangroves - Rhizophora ( Rhizophoraceae ), but they are
thought to feed on Psidium and
Eugenia ( Myrtaceae ) elsewhere in the species'
range.
Adult behaviour
The
butterflies are normally found as solitary males imbibing
mineralised water from wet ground at the edge of small streams.
They are usually very easy to approach. Females reportedly nectar
at the flowers of Citrus and
Bougainvillea.
Phocides
pigmalion
Satipo, Peru.
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