Butterflies of the
Amazon and Andes
Puna Clouded Yellow
Colias euxanthe
FELDER & FELDER, 1865
Family - PIERIDAE
subfamily - COLIADINAE
Colias euxanthe hermina, male, Shismay, Peru �
Adrian Hoskins
Introduction
Butterflies in the
subfamily
Coliadinae, commonly known as Brimstones, Sulphurs, Grass Yellows
and Clouded Yellows, are found in all parts of the world, and total
about 300 species. The majority are migratory in behaviour -
Colias crocea for example migrates each
summer from north Africa to England, and
Phoebis agarithe migrates seasonally from the Amazon lowlands
to moderate altitudes in the Andes.
Colias euxanthe is
one of several Clouded Yellow species which breed at high altitudes
in the Andes, and is also migratory in behaviour, crossing
seasonally from north to south along the Andean range, and also from
the Pacific slope to the eastern Andes.
The butterfly occurs in Ecuador, Peru and
Bolivia.
Colias euxanthe hermina, female, Shismay, Peru �
Adrian Hoskins
Habitats
This species breeds on dry puna grasslands and lightly grazed
pastures at elevations between 2800-4000 metres, in areas bathed in
the warm sunshine above the cloud line for most of the year.
Lifecycle
The lifecycle
appears to be unrecorded, but the following characteristics are
typical of the genus Colias, and are
therefore probably applicable to euxanthe
:
The
eggs are bottle-shaped, ribbed vertically, in most species are
creamy yellow or pale green when first laid, but later turn orange
or dark crimson. They are nearly always laid singly, on the leaves
of the larval foodplants.
The
caterpillars are typically green, with a white or yellow lateral
line that is sometimes edged with by a series or black or pinkish
dashes. The spiracles are usually highlighted in yellow or orange.
The larval foodplants of
Colias species are varied, North American
Colias species for example feed on
plants including Leguminous herbs such as
Lotus, Vicia,
Trifolium and
Astragalus, and on dwarf sallows Salix,
and bilberry Vaccinium. The pabula used
by most neotropical species are unknown.
The
chrysalis is usually green or straw coloured, and fixed vertically
to a stem by the cremaster and a silken girdle.
Adult behaviour
Migrating adults fly rapidly across
the Andean grasslands, stopping momentarily to nectar at any available
flowers, and often patrolling back and forth along ridges.
At an altitude of about 3500m, on a
plateau on the eastern Andes of southern Peru, I found what appeared
to be a breeding site. At least 15 adults were flying in a small
cultivated area of irrigated grassland. The crop was an unidentified
grass, amongst which were growing various wild flowers. The
butterflies periodically took to flight, always keeping low to the
ground, flying rapidly from flower to flower, nectaring at gentians (
Gentianaceae ).
At another site, on steep Andean
mountainsides in central Peru, I found a very isolated colony, with
6-8 adults on the wing, in a small field, lightly grazed by horses.
Here, euxanthe shared it's habitat with
it's larger and brighter relative Colias lesbia.
Colias euxanthe hermina, male, Shismay, Peru �
Adrian Hoskins
|