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Text and photographs
protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins
2007, and must not be published
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Butterflies of
the Andes
Striped Falcon
Corades ulema
HEWITSON, 1850
Family -
NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe -
PRONOPHILINA
introduction
|
habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
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.
Website designed, produced and owned by
Adrian Hoskins
Corades ulema mirianae, Manu
cloudforest, Madre de Dios, Peru
Introduction
The
Pronophilina are an exclusively neotropical group of Satyrines, all of which
occur in cloudforests, at altitudes between 1800-3500 metres. The subtribe
includes 562 known species, all of which feed as larvae on
Chusquea
- a genus of bamboo ( Poaceae ).
The
genus Corades
comprises of 23 described species, although it is likely that more will be
discovered as remote cloudforest regions become more fully explored.
The
butterflies are instantly recognisable by their large size and very
distinctively shaped hindwings. The pattern on the underside hindwings varies
according to species. Many such as
iduna,
cybele
and medeba
are a unicolorous brown, peppered and striated with grey and black, while others
including ulema,
cystene
and chirone
are beautifully marbled or banded with cream.
The
uppersides of Corades
species are dark brown. In most species the forewings are marked with splashes
of orange or deep red. The upperside hindwings of several species including
chelonis,
enyo
and pax
are almost wholly reddish-orange. The upperside of
ulema
is a dingy earthy brown, heavily peppered on the forewings with ochreous.
Corades
ulema occurs in
Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
Corades ulema mirianae, Manu
cloudforest, Madre de Dios, Peru
Habitats
This species breeds in
the forested calderas of extinct volcanoes such as
Pululuhua Crater in Ecuador, and in cloudforests at altitudes
of 2000-2800m in Peru and Bolivia.
Lifecycle
The lifecycle appears to be unrecorded, but the following
generalisations are applicable to the subtribe Pronophilina, and probably apply
also to
Corades
:
The
eggs are usually white or pale greenish white, spherical, and laid singly either
on the foodplants or on surrounding vegetation.
The
caterpillars are typically pale brown, marked on the back and sides with
longitudinal dark lines, and taper towards both ends. The head is large in
proportion to the body, and has two short forward-pointing horns. The tip of the
abdomen has a pair of caudal forks, used to flick the frass ( droppings ) away
from the feeding area.
The
caterpillars of all known Pronophilina feed on
Chusquea
- a genus of bamboo which grows in thickets, mainly along the courses of
streams.
Adult behaviour
The butterflies are encountered singly and infrequently, and perch on foliage at heights of about 3 or 4 metres above the ground. In mid-late afternoon the males will sometimes descend to imbibe moisture at the edge of shallow streams, particularly where they ford unsurfaced roads in well forested areas.
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