Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Ornate Junea
Junea doraete
HEWITSON. 1858
Family -
NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe -
PRONOPHILINA
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Junea
doraete feeding at dung, Manu cloudforest, 3370m, 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.
Junea are allied to Pseudomaniola, Thiemeia
and Daedalma. These genera are all characterised by
having scalloped wing margins and prominent ocelli.
There are 2 species of
Junea, namely doraete
and dorinda.
Both have brown uppersides marked with whitish spots that form a single row on
the outer forewings of dorinda,
and a double row on doraete.
Junea doraete occurs
from Colombia to southern Peru, and possibly Bolivia.
Habitats
This scarce and rarely glimpsed species frequents
the transitional zone where the paramo / puna grasslands merge with stunted
cloudforest at altitudes between 2800-3500m in the Andes. I have only
encountered doraete twice - at Pululuhua Crater in Ecuador, and
at Manu cloudforest in the eastern Andes of southern Peru.
Lifecycle
The lifecycle appears to be unrecorded.
The following
generalisations are applicable to the subtribe Pronophilina and are probably applicable to
Junea:
The
eggs are globular, 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
At Pululuhua Crater in Ecuador I found a male
doraete
aggregating with Lasiophila
and Lymanopoda species,
all feeding at the corpse of a small snake which had been run over by
a vehicle. In Manu in Peru I found 4 males feeding at mammal dung
by the roadside at an altitude of 3370m. They were so engrossed in
feeding that they were oblivious of my presence,
and even ignored heavy vehicles that passes close by. However they
were extremely sensitive to changes in temperature and light
level, flying up to
settle on the trunks of stunted trees whenever cloud caused
the temperature to drop slightly. The return of sunshine a
few minutes later caused them to return and recommence feeding at
the dung.
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