Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Striped Falcon
Corades ulema
HEWITSON, 1850
Family -
NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe -
PRONOPHILINA
Corades ulema, Manu cloudforest,
Peru
Introduction
There are 1100
known species of Satyrinae in the neotropical region. About 570 of these are
placed in the
subtribe Pronophilina - a diverse group of high altitude
cloudforest butterflies, all of which are confined to the neotropical region. The vast majority
are found only in the Andes, but 4 species are known from
the Atlantic cloudforests of Brazil, and there are a further 6 species that are endemic to Guatemala, Costa
Rica or Mexico. More oddly there is one genus
Calisto
that is found exclusively on the Caribbean islands of Cuba and Hispaniola.
The
genus Corades
comprises of 23 known species, but 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 distinctively shaped hindwings. The pattern on the underside 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, and 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, Ecuador
© Tony Hoare
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.
The following
generalisations are applicable to the subtribe Pronophilina and are probably applicable to
Corades
:
The
eggs are round, white or pale greenish white, and laid singly on the foodplants or on surrounding vegetation. The
larvae are typically pale brown, marked along the back and sides with narrow dark
stripes, and tapering towards each end. The head is large in
proportion to the body and has two short forward-pointing horns. The tip of the
abdomen is equipped with a pair of caudal prongs which are used to flick the frass away
from the feeding area.
The
larvae 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.
|
