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Butterflies of the Andes
 
Red-banded Altinote
Altinote dicaeus LATREILLE, 1817
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily - HELICONIINAE
Tribe - ACRAEINI
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Altinote dicaeus callianira, male, San Pedro, Madre de Dios, Peru
 
Introduction
 
The tribe Acraeini is primarily African - there are for example 83 species in Kenya, and about 200 in the whole African continent. There are also a few species in Asia, and an estimated 55 in the whole of the neotropical region.
 
In the neotropics the tribe is represented by 3 genera, most members of which have a pattern of red or orange-yellow bands on the forewings. The genus Actinote comprises of thinly scaled butterflies whose wings have a translucent and shiny appearance. The other 2 genera, Abananote and Altinote, are heavily scaled and boldly marked, and often have a beautiful bluish sheen, particularly on the hindwings.
 
There are 17 described species in the genus Altinote, most of which are confined to the cloudforests of the Andes, although the range of 2 species extends north into Mexico.
 
Altinote dicaeus is probably the commonest and most well known species, found in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia.
 
Habitats
 
This species occurs in disturbed cloudforest habitats at altitudes between about 1200-1800m. Colonies are localised, and tend to be found in open sunlit situations, usually along roadsides, or close to farmland.
 
Lifecycle
 
I do not have data specific to dicaeus, but the following generalisations are applicable to the genus Altinote :
 
The eggs are usually yellowish, barrel-shaped, and laid in batches of between 50-100 on the leaves of Boehmeria ( Urticaceae), or on Eupatorium, Vernonia or Mikania, which are in the family Asteraceae.
 
The caterpillars, which feed gregariously until the final instar, are typically dull greenish or brownish in colour and adorned on the back and sides with rows of short branched blackish spikes. Some species have mildly urticating properties.
 
The pupae are whitish or pale yellow, marked with black spots or lines on the wing-cases, and short black spikes on the abdomen. They are suspended from stems or foliage.
 
Adult behaviour

 

The butterflies are most abundant in the rainy season, when they can be seen in groups of up to a dozen, visiting flowers, or flying in the morning sunshine.

 

The bold patterns, bright colours and slow fluttering flight of these butterflies suggests that they may be "advertising" their ( presumed ) toxic properties to escape predation by birds. The flowers at which they nectar - Eupatorium, contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids, chemicals that are widely used by Ithomiines and Danaines to manufacture toxins, so it is reasonable to assume that Altinote may also do so.

 

Males also commonly bask on unsurfaced roads, where they imbibe dissolved minerals from the damp ground. I have also found them drinking from the surface of rocks or heaps of shale immediately after rainfall.

 

 
 
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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