Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Patagonian Grayling
Etcheverrius chiliensis
GUERIN-MENEVILLE, 1830
Family -
NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe -
PRONOPHILINA
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Etcheverrius chiliensis,
Bariloche, 1100m, Argentina
© Timothy Boucher |
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.
Etcheverrius
are very similar in appearance and behaviour to the alpine
Graylings
Oeneis,
Chazara and
Berberia of the northern hemisphere, which also evolved in cold, arid
montane habitats, but are only distantly related. Phylogenetic studies based on
DNA sequencing published by Pena, Wahlberg
et al
in 2006 have shown that Etcheverrius should be
placed in the subtribe Pronophilina, a group of high altitude genera endemic to
the neotropics.
There
are 2
Etcheverrius species - tandilensis which is
endemic to Argentina, and
chiliensis which is found both in Argentina and
Chile.
Habitats
This species is found on the arid steppes of Patagonia, at altitudes between
about 800-1500m.
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
To be completed.
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