Eurytela dryope
| Golden piper | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| E. d. angulata, both from Ilanda Wilds, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Eurytela |
| Species: | E. dryope |
| Binomial name | |
| Eurytela dryope (Cramer, [1775]) | |
| Synonyms | |
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The Golden piper (Eurytela dryope) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family, found in sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian peninsula and Madagascar.[1]
Description
Wingspan: 40–50 mm in males and 45–55 mm in females.[2] The male and female are very similar in appearance.[3] The upperside of the wings is dark brown with a wide, yellow-orange band in the lower two-thirds of the forewing margin and the outer half of the hindwing.[3] The underside of the wings is variegated in shades of brown.[3]
Subspecies
Listed alphabetically.[1]
- E. d. angulata Aurivillius, 1898 – eastern and southern Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, South Africa: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape
- E. d. brittoni Gabriel, 1954 – south-western Saudi Arabia, Yemen
- E. d. dryope (Cramer, [1775]) – Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, southern Nigeria, Cameroon, central and northern Democratic Republic of Congo
- E. d. lineata Aurivillius, 1898 – Madagascar, Comoros
Distribution
E. d. angulata is found in Ethiopia, East Africa, southern DRC, Angola[1] and on the eastern side of South Africa from Limpopo, the Magaliesberg,[3] Mpumalanga, Swaziland, KwaZulu-Natal, to Port St Johns[3] in the Eastern Cape.[4] A photographic record was made further south than Port St Johns during the South African Butterfly Conservation Assessment.[4] E. d. brittoni is found in the south-west of the Arabian peninsula.[1] E. d. dryope from Sierra Leone to Cameroon and northern DRC.[1] E. d. lineata is found in Madagascar.[1]
Life cycle
Eggs
The eggs are covered in longitudinal rows of hairy spines.[5]
Larvae
The larvae are spiny with large head processes[5] and feed on Tragia glabrata, Dalechampia capensis, and Ricinus communis.[2]
Pupae
The pupae are greenish in colour and have greatly expanded wing cases.[5]
Adults
The flight period is year-round, peaking between November and June.[2] They have a leisurely, gliding flight, settling frequently, usually with open wings.[3] The adults feed on fermenting fruit, tree sap and nectar.[5] They are found in forests and wooded, frost-free savanna.[3] This species can tolerate drier conditions than the Pied piper (Eurytela hiarbas).[3]
Gallery
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Captive raised E. d. angulata larva (green coloured)
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Captive raised E. d. angulata larva (dark coloured)
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Pupa of a captive raised E. d. angulata
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eurytela dryope. |
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Eurytela, funet.fi
- 1 2 3 Woodhall, S. (2005) Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town. ISBN 1-86872-724-6.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Williams, M. (1994). Butterflies of Southern Africa; A Field Guide. Southern Book Publishers. ISBN 1-86812-516-5.
- 1 2 Biodiversity data provided by: Data contributors to the Southern African Butterfly Conservation Assessment (SABCA) (list of contributors accessible here: http://sabca.adu.org.za/thanks.php),[] a joint project of the South African National Biodiversity Institute, the Animal Demography Unit, University of Cape Town, and the Lepidopterists' Society of Africa (accessed via SABCA’s online virtual museum, http://sabca.adu.org.za/vm_redirect.php,[] 28-02-2011).
- 1 2 3 4 Woodhall, S. (2008). What's that Butterfly?. Struik Publishers, Cape Town. ISBN 978-1-77007-486-6.