Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Streaked Pale Mountain Satyr
Lymanopoda
huilana
WEYMER, 1890
Family -
NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe -
PRONOPHILINA
Lymanopoda
huilana,
Ecuador ©
Tony Hoare
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.
There
are a number of
Lymanopoda
species characterised by having a combination of obscurely marked straw-coloured
undersides, and whitish uppersides reminiscent of Pierines. Amongst
these are
nivea,
huilana,
nevada,
lactea
and
eubagioides.
Lymanopoda huilana is found in Colombia and Ecuador.
Habitats
This is a high altitude cloudforest species, occurring at elevations between
about 2000-3000m.
Lifecycle
The lifecycle appears to be unrecorded.
The following
generalisations are applicable to the subtribe Pronophilina and probably also apply to
Lymanopoda:
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
Like other
Lymanopoda
species,
huilana
is usually seen as singletons amidst mixed Pronophiline
aggregations "mud-puddling" at damp spots along roadsides or the edges of streams.
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