Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Ludo Grass Skipper
Lento ludo
EVANS, 1955
Family -
HESPERIIDAE
subfamily -
HESPERIINAE
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Lento ludo,
Manu cloudforest, 1700m, Peru |
Introduction
There are at least 1038 known species of of Grass Skippers ( Hesperiinae ) found
in the neotropical region.
The genus Lento comprises of 19 described species
found variously from Mexico to Argentina.
Lento ludo is distributed from Ecuador to Bolivia.
Habitats
This species was photographed by the roadside, at an altitude of about 1700m in
the cloudforests of the eastern Andes in southern Peru.
Lifecycle
Unknown, however the lifecycle will probably be similar to that of
other Hesperiine skippers :
The
eggs are typically laid on the sheaths or blades of grasses. The larvae almost
certainly shelter by day within a silked tube at the base of grasses, and emerge
at dusk to feed on a variety of grasses
( most Hesperiine larvae progress from finer grasses to coarser species as they
mature ). They are likely to be greenish in colour with fine longitudinal lines
and will possess caudal prongs - a pair of short anal projections that are used
to flick the droppings clear of the feeding site.
Adult behaviour
No
observations other than that the butterfly was active at
mid-morning in hazy sunlight, and was found nectaring at the
unidentified flowers in the photograph above.
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