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Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.
Butterflies of the Andes
 
Golden Mountain Satyr
Lymanopoda translucida  WEYMER, 1912
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily - SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe - PRONOPHILINA
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Lymanopoda translucida umbratilis, Manu cloudforest, 2000m, Madre de Dios, Peru
 
Introduction
 
This very attractive little species belongs to a group of Satyrines known as Pronophilina. All of the 556 species in this subtribe are high altitude cloudforest species, and all are confined to the neotropics. The vast majority of Pronophilines are found in the Andes mountains, but there are 4 known from the Atlantic cloudforests of Brazil, and 6 that are endemic to Guatemala, Costa Rica or Mexico. More oddly there is one Pronophiline genus, Calisto, that is endemic to the Caribbean islands - the majority of butterflies in that genus being found in the Dominican Republic or Cuba.
 
The genus Lymanopoda comprises 57 small species ( average wingspan 60mm ), all of which share the same wing shape. Several have only been discovered since the 1990's and it is certain that additional species will be found as the cloudforests are more intensively explored. All species in this genus are restricted to the Andes, with the exceptions of cinna which is Guatemalan, and euopis which is Costa Rican.
 
There are possibly several other species which could easily be confused with translucida, but of these I can only find illustrations of ferruginosa, which is slightly darker and duller in colour, and has more a rounded apex to the forewing.
 
Lymanopoda translucida has several colour forms - the variety illustrated above seems to be the most frequent, but here are also paler and more contrasty forms including one marked in chocolate brown on a white ground colour. Only exhaustive breeding or DNA analysis will confirm whether these are forms, subspecies or entirely different species.
 
The butterfly illustrated occurs in southern Peru and Bolivia.
 
Habitats
 
This species breeds in grassy cloudforest habitats at altitudes of about 1900-3000m.
 
Lifecycle
 
The lifecycle is unknown. All Pronophilines, as far as is known, feed as larvae on bamboo Chusquea, but it is possible that other larval pabula including grasses and sedges could be used by some genera.
 
Adult behaviour

 

Males are usually encountered singly, imbibing moisture from damp rocky roadsides, often in the company of other Pronophilines. They are quite active in sunny conditions, but will remain stationary if they find a rich source of dissolved minerals, and will then remain in the same spot for several minutes even if mist encroaches.

 

The female appears to be unknown, but is likely to be slightly larger, paler and less contrasty in colour.

 

 
 
Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007-2008, and must not be reproduced or published in part or in whole elsewhere in any form without written permission from Adrian Hoskins. Breach of copyright will be pursued by litigation.
 
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