Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
White-banded Nymph
Manerebia inderena
ADAMS, 1986
Family -
NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
subtribe -
EREBIINA
Manerebia inderena Ecuador,
© Tony Hoare
Introduction
There are 1100
known species of Satyrinae in the neotropical region.
The
subtribe Erebiina includes the
Erebia Mountain Ringlets of the Holarctic region, and 8
exclusively neotropical genera.
There are 44 species in the
genus Manerebia. All are small, dark brown butterflies.
Many are quite plain, marked only with inconspicuous ocelli. Others such as lisa, rubescens, leaena, fransiscae
and inderena
have a prominent cream or white band across the underside hindwing.
Manerebia
inderena is found on the eastern slopes of the Andes, in Colombia and Ecuador.
Habitats
This is a cloudforest species, found in disturbed grassy habitats along
roadsides at altitudes between about 1500-2400m.
Lifecycle
The lifecycle appears to be unrecorded.
The following
generalisations are applicable to the subtribe Pronophilina and probably also apply to
Steroma:
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 the tail. 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 that are used to flick the frass away
from the feeding area.
The
larvae of all known Pronophilina feed on
Chusquea
- a genus of bamboo that grows in thickets, mainly along the courses of
streams.
Adult behaviour
The butterflies are always seen singly, usually when imbibing
moisture from muddy ground, but I have seen other
Manerebia species at carrion and
dung in Ecuador, so it is reasonable to assume that this species
shares the same habits.
|
