Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
White-dusted
Mountain Satyr
Lymanopoda obsoleta
WESTWOOD, 1851
Family -
NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe -
PRONOPHILINA
Lymanopoda
obsoleta, male, Manu cloudforest, 2000m, 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
Lymanopoda
is comprised of 57 small species. They are typically brown
in colour, and have small ocelli or spots arranged in a characteristic
undulating line across both wings. In some species such as
apulia
and
albomaculata
these spots are extremely conspicuous, while in others including
obsoleta they are reduced to the point of being almost obsolete.
Lymanopoda obsoleta
occurs in Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
Habitats
This is a high altitude cloudforest species, found at elevations between about
1800-2600m.
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
Males of this and most other
Lymanopoda species can be seen
imbibing mineralised moisture from unmade road surfaces, damp
ground beside small streams,
and sometimes from dung or carrion. They are most commonly
observed when conditions are hazy or slightly overcast. In warm
sunny weather they tend to retire into the forest edge vegetation.
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