Butterflies of the World - Lifecycle, Ecology, Taxonomy, Conservation, Photography, Butterfly Holidays, Photo Galleries, Book Reviews and more.........
Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.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 PAGE 3
A gallery of photographs by Adrian Hoskins
Photographs taken in the Andes mountains of Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru.
Also visit :
Moths of the Andes - a gallery of photographs
Species Index - butterflies of the world
 
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Click on thumbnails to see more photos, and detailed descriptions of the distribution, habitats, lifecycle and behaviour of each illustrated species......
 
Rusty-tipped Page
Siproeta epaphus
 
This is one of the most distinctive and instantly recognisable species in the neotropics, found mainly in disturbed forests and open grassy mid-elevation habitats. The butterflies are usually encountered as singletons, flying in bright sunshine in open situations. They have a rapid fluttering and gliding flight, and commonly visit flowers in pastures, along forest edges, and along roadsides and riverbanks. Males are sometimes seen imbibing mineral-laden moisture from damp roads or rocky overhangs.
Great Tiger Mimic
Pterourus zagreus
 
This large relative of the Swallowtails is a mimic of the highly toxic Danaine Lycorea halia. Both species are members of the "tiger complex", a mimicry-ring comprising of many dozens of dark butterflies, all marked with orange and cream. The majority are highly distasteful to birds, and are mimicked by smaller numbers of palatable species. Birds leave the palatable species alone, having learnt that tiger marked butterflies are in most cases distasteful.
 
Orcynia Hairstreak
Contrafascia imma
 
Hairstreaks are highly seasonal in the Amazon and Andes, being very common in the late dry season, but decidedly scarce at other times. Many can only be identified by enlisting the expertise of specialists. Several species nectar at Lantana and Eupatorium flowers, but the majority feed on dissolved minerals which they imbibe from damp soil, rotting vegetation, or from the surface of leaves. Many species have brilliant metallic blue uppersides, but the wings are normally kept closed when the butterfly settles.
 
Andromica Glasswing
Greta andromica
 
There are many superficially similar Glasswings in Venezuela, but fortunately identification is made easier by examining the pattern of veins, which is different in every genus. Butterflies in the genus Greta are migratory, and occur at all elevations. In cloudforests the adults are attacked by Ceratopogonid midges, which feed on the blood in the butterfly's wing veins and eyes. Like other Ithomiines, Glasswings are toxic to birds.
 
Nabokov's Lycid
Nabokovia cuzquenha
 
In the neotropical region, which encompasses Mexico, Central America and the whole of South America, there are 113 members of the subfamily Polyommatinae. The genus Nabokovia contains 3 species - ada, faga and cuzquenha all of which inhabit high altitude grasslands. N. cuzquenha is found at altitudes between about 3000-3700m in the puna grasslands of Peru. The butterflies are active in warm sunny weather, when they perch on the terminal leaves of small bushes, or visit flowers for nectar. They usually feed with the wings in a half-open position.
 
 
Keferstein's Admiral
Hypanartia kefersteini
 
The 14 Hypanartia species are denizens of the temperate Andean cloudforests and the Cordilleras of Central America. H. kefersteini occurs from Mexico to southern Peru. Males habitually visit runnels, seepages along roadsides, and the wet rocky edges of mountain streams. They flit nervously from spot to spot until they find a patch of ground rich in dissolved minerals, where they drink, while periodically fanning their wings.
 
 
Falcate Dismorphia
Lieinix nemesis
 
Lieinix nemesis occurs from Mexico to Peru in mid-elevation cloud-forest habitats, from about 600-1800m above sea level. Males are usually encountered singly, imbibing moisture from damp ground, and are strongly attracted to urine or sunlit patches of damp rotting leaf litter. They are docile in behaviour - if disturbed they meander about for a few moments, fluttering slowly just above the surface of the ground, but soon resettle nearby.
 
Marchall's Andean White
Hesperocharis marchallii
 
The genus Hesperocharis includes 12 known species, all of which have creamy white or yellow uppersides, usually with the forewing apex black or brownish. On the undersides, all species have dark veins and chevrons, although they vary in prominence from one species to another. The short antennae are also characteristic of the genus. H. marchallii occurs from Colombia to Bolivia, and inhabits cloudforests at altitudes between about 1800-2400m.
 
 
Ocnus Ringlet
Magneuptychia ocnus, f. gracilis
 
The 40 Magneuptychia species are small to medium sized insects, having earthy-brown wings, traversed by a pair of almost parallel median lines, and with a series of black submarginal ocelli, each centred with white dots. M. ocnus occurs throughout the Amazonian region and on the slopes of the Andes at elevations up to about 1800m. Wet season and lowland forms are larger and more heavily marked, and often have a slight bluish-purple sheen on the underside. The butterflies are usually encountered in three's and four's in well forested areas.
 
Andean Grass Yellow
Eurema salome
 
These small butterflies have yellow uppersides, with dark apical markings. The hindwings are rounded in most Eurema species, but in salome, xantochlora and arbela the termen is projected to a point. E. salome can easily be recognised by the mottled orange-brown markings on the underside hindwings. It is a pre-montane cloudforest species, occurring along roadsides and forest edges at elevations between about 700-2000m from Mexico to Peru.
 
White-spot Falcon
Corades medeba
 
This species inhabits Andean cloudforests at elevations between about 1800-2400m in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.. The butterflies are encountered singly, usually as males attending dung, or imbibing moisture at roadsides. At such times they remain largely oblivious of any threats, even allowing vehicles to park within a metre or so without attempting to take flight. If deliberately molested they fly up, but settle nearby on on ferns or bushes.
 
Irmina Sister
Adelpha irmina
 
The jagged orange bands on the forewings of irmina immediately distinguish it from most other Adelpha species. There are only two other species with which it can be confused : irma, which is smaller and has a small orange subapical spot on the upper forewings; and saundersi, which has large silver spots in the basal area of the underside hindwings. This is a butterfly of pre-montane cloudforests, found at elevations between about 1300-1900m on the eastern slopes of the Andes from Colombia to southern Peru.
 
Common Swordtail
Protographium agesilaus
 
Many Papilionids including P. agesilas are migratory in behaviour, following river courses as they travel. Males can often be seen in small groups on sandbanks, filter-feeding on dissolved minerals by continually pumping water through their bodies. They often gather in aggregations of up to about 15 butterflies, usually with other white Swordtails such as Eurytides dolicaon and Protesilaus protesilaus. It is notable that nearly all of the butterflies in a group face the same direction - into the wind - when settled.
 
Julia, or Flambeau
Dryas iulia
 
The dazzling orange Julia lays it's eggs on the tendrils of Passiflora vines. Males often drink at mud-puddles, and are regularly observed sipping liquid from the corner of the eyes of the yellow-throated caiman in Brazil, or from the eyes of turtles in Peru. Females behave quite differently, visiting flowers, but instead of drinking nectar they feed on dissolved pollen, from which they obtain nutrients essential to egg production.
 
Marbled Leafwing
Hypna clytemnestra
 
The upperside of this species is black, with broad creamy white bands across the forewings. Like most members of the Charaxinae, it has a cryptic underside pattern, resembling a dead withered leaf. The butterfly is scarce, and spends most of it's life high in the forest canopy, but occasionally descends to feed at rotting fruit or at sap runs. It occurs from Mexico to Argentina.
 
 
Malachite
Siproeta stelenes
 
The beautiful Malachite is usually seen singly, but is a widespread and common species in secondary forest habitats throughout the neotropics. Some biologists consider it to be a Batesian mimic of the toxic Heliconiine Philaethria dido, but this is unlikely, as the 2 species occupy different habitats. The spiny larvae of the Malachite feed on Acanthaceae. The adults nectar at Lantana and other flowers, and also feed at fallen fruit, carrion and dung.
 

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