Table Of ContentJournaloftheLepidopterists'Society
54(3),2001,88-90
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE IMMATURE STAGES AND OVIPOSTION BEHAVIOR OF
PYRRHOGYRA OTOLAIS (NYMPHALIDAE)
Harold F Greeney
YanayacuBiologicalStationandCenterforCreativeStudies,Cosanga,Ecuador
c/oCarrionNo.21-01yJuanLeonMera,Quito,Ecuador
AND
Nicole M. Gerardo
DepartmentofZoology, UniversityofTexas,Austin,Texas78712, USA
ABSTRACT. ThemorphologyandbehavioroftheimmaturestagesofPyrrhogyraotolais (Nymphalidae) aredescribed.Theearlystages
arecomparedwiththoseoiPyrrhogyracrameri. AnunidentifiedspeciesofSerjania(Sapindaceae)isthelarvalhostplantinEcuador.Theovipo-
sitionbehaviorandhabitsoftheadultsarediscussed.
Additionalkeywords: Ecuador,larva,pupa,Serjania,Sapindaceae.
The entirely neotropical genus Pyrrhogyra Hiibner Six eggs and a second instarwere collectedbycutting
encompasses between nine andtwelve species (DAbr- off the leaves to which they were attached. Larvae
era 1987) distributed from Mexicothrough Central and were reared in individual plastic cups. Fresh leaves
South America, with the highest diversity in northern were added and frass was removed semi-daily Subse-
South America. Atleast four species occurin ourstudy quently, larvaeinvarious stadiawerefoundandreared
area. Ourcurrentunderstandingofspeciesrelationships in a similar fashion. Vouchers of each stadium were
withinthis genus ispoor (DAbrera 1987) andlarval de- preserved. Sevenlarvaewererearedtoadults. Allhead
scriptions andhostplantrelationshipswillprovideuseful capsules, pupal exuviae, and vouchers are in the per-
information for correctiyseparating species. Adults are sonal collection ofthe seniorauthor.
fastflyers andare frequentlyencountered in forestlight
Results
gapswhere theyfeedondung, fruit (DeVries 1987) and
carrion (pers. obs.). Knownhostplants are allwidiindie Larval host plant. Serjania sp. (Sapindaceae) is the
familySapindaceae (DeVries 1987) anddielarvae show larvalhostplant ofP. otolais at ourstudysite in eastern
close behavioral and morphological affinities to such Ecuador. The strikinglycolored, new, redleaves ofthis
genera as Catonephele Hiibner, Nessaea Hiibner, Cal- plant are easilyseen inlight-gap areas ofthe forest and
licore Hiibner, Diaethria Billberg, Teinenis Hiibner,Eu- in the forest understory. New leaves are present from
nica Hiibner, andEpiphile Doubleday(DeVries 1987). Novemberto January. The fact that adult P. otolais are
Pyrrhogyra otolais Bates is distributed from Mexico presentformostoftheyearinthisareaandcanbequite
to Peru, andseems confinedtowet forests oflowerele- common, suggests diatadults are fairlylong-lived.
vations. Despite this widespread butterfly's formal de- Oviposition behavior. Upon locating a potentially
scription nearly 150years ago, its earlystages andhost- suitable ovipositionplant, the two observedfemalesbe-
plant relationships have remained undescribed. This gan flyingrapidlyintight circles aroundtheplant. Dur-
studypresentsobservationsonhostplantuse,larvalmor- ingthisperiodtheylandedonleaves ofanyplant in the
phologyandbehavior, aswellas ovipositionbehavior. vicinity. Afterseveral minutes theybegan landingmore
and more frequently on the host plant. While on the
Materialsand Methods
planttheywalked about forseveral seconds rapidlytap-
All observations and rearings were conducted at the pingtheirforelegsontheleaf.Afterasingleeggwaslaid,
La Selva Biological Station located in the Sucumbios theyrepeateddierapidflightandleaf-tappingsequence
providenceofeasternEcuador.Thestationislocatedap- for about 30 seconds before laying anodier egg. Eggs
proximately 75 km east-soudi-east ofCoca at an eleva- were always laid singly on the fresh red leaves ofnew
tionofapproximately250m.Allstudieswereconducted shoots, but multiple eggswere eventuallyplacedonthe
adjacent to the oxbowlake Garza Cocha. The forest in same leaf. Most commonly eggs were placed dorsally
this area is predominantly intact, though some areas along the mid-rib of the leaf, but were occasionally
havebeenclear-cutforcoffee andmaniocplantations. placedatthebaseofthepetioleoronthestem nearby.
On 14 November 1997, at 1330, two female P. oto- Egg. (n = 20+, Fig. la). Pale-yellowtowhite, darken-
laiswereobservedtoovipositonasmallseedlingofan ing slowlyafterbeinglaid, shape atruncatedconewith
unidentified species of Serjania Mill. (Sapindaceae). stronglongitudinalridgesandmanycloselyspacedcross
Volume 54, Number 3 89
= 7+). Similarto earlythirdinstarbutwith orange bod-
ies,dorsalportionsofT3-A7paleyellowwithdarkbrown
markings. Fourth instar. (n = 10+, Fig. lc) Headas de-
scribedfortiiirdinstars; bodyas abovewiththeaddition
ofsmall, single scoli nearthe base ofeach proleg. Fifth
instar (n = 17). Headbright orange except forthe scoli
andallspines,nowhitepatchbelowtherosetteatthetip
ofdiescoli;bodydiffersfromfourthinstarinbeingmore
brightlyorange andthe dorsal areas ofsegments T3-A7
brightyellowwithdarkbrownorblackmarkings.
Pupa, (n = 11, Fig. Id) Mostly lime-green with
brown markings along the ridges, cremaster dark
brown, strongthoracickeel comingto an abruptpeak
around the mesothorax, strong ridge along the dorsal
edge of the wing pads extending onto the head and
eyes, another strong ridge across the dorsum of the
second abdominal segment. All individuals that pu-
pated in the laboratory did so on the side ofthe con-
tainer andwere attached at nearly right angles to the
sides ofthe containerbutcurveddownward. Onlyone
pupawas found in the field, and this was attached to
Fig. 1. Egg and larval head capsules ofP. otolais. (a) egg: not the near-horizontal surface ofthe hostplantleaf.
drawn to scale (b) Second instar (c) Fourth instar (d) Pupa: not Larvalbehavior.Typicalofothernymphalidgenera,
drawntoscale.
first and secondinstarlarvae reston"frass chains"built
fromtheedgeoftheleaf(DeVries 1987, Otero&Aiello
ribs, aslightconstrictionnearthetopgivesthemalmost 1996). Later instars rest along the midrib of the leaf
abellshape. Firstinstarshatchbyflippingopentheen- when notfeeding. Theyrestwiththe head orientedto-
tiretopoftheegglikealid. Larvaewereneverobserved wards the apex ofthe leaf, and angled so that the scoli
to eattheeggshelluponemergence. projectforwards.Whendisturbed,larvaerearbackonto
Larva. Firstinstar(n = 6). Headdarkbrownandde- theirprolegs andthrashwildlyabout, occasionallyrais-
voidofscoli;bodylightyellowwithdarksetae. Secondin- ingtheirterminalabdominalsegments simultaneously.
star(n = 9, Fig. lb). Headblackwitii dorso-lateralscoli;
bodysame coloras firstinstar, allsegmentswithpairs of DlSCUSSON
short,roundedscolidorsaUy,allwithbulboustips,brown As noted for other species ofPijrrhogyra (DeVries
atbaseandwhiteatapex;A7andA8withmiddorsalscoli 1987), the earlystages off! otolais showaffinities tothe
formedbyrosettes of3 and5 spines respectively. Early earlystagesofothersapindaceousfeederssuchasTeme-
thirdinstar (n = 7). Headblackwith dorso-lateral scoli nis Hiibner and Epiphile Doubleday (Nymphalidae).
curving backwards, each scolus with several irregularly First, second, andearlythirdinstarsarealmostidentical
placedchalazaealongdieshaftandendinginarosetteof to those ofP. crameri Aurivillius, which can be found
fivespines,shaftofeachscoluswhiteimmediatelybelow during the same time ofyear in this area. Pyrrhogyra
apical rosette; body dull yellow, T3-A6 dorsally dark cramerilarvae,however,feedonPaullinia Linn. (Sapin-
greenish-gray color with fine white patterning; A1-A6 daceae). The second andtiiirdinstars canbe separated
withapairofsmallwhitespots dorsallyoneithersideof from those ofP. otolais by the presence ofonly three
midline, all segments with dorsal, bifid scoli on either spines in the middorsal rosette ofsegmentA8. Thebe-
side of midline forming a row along the body similar havior of these two species while resting as larvae on
rowsofsinglescolilaterallyandventro-laterally;Tlwith their host plant and as adults is very similar. Adults of
single middorsal scolus; T2withthree-prongedmiddor- both species are seen frequently patrolling light gaps,
salscolus;T3withfive-prongedmiddorsalscolus;A2-A8 usuallyperchingseveral meters fromthe ground.
each with single, bifid, middorsal scolus; A9 with mid- Acknowledgments
dorsal rosette of four scoli; A7 with middorsal, three-
branched scolus in addition to the bifid scolus; A8 with WethankR. HillandS.Wheelerfortheirhelpincollectinglarval
hostplants,andR.RagusoandM.S.Singerforcriticalcommentson
additional five branched scolus; all scoli black and themanuscript. H. Greeneygivesaspecialthanksto BobandKatt
sparselycoveredwithsmallchalazae.Latethirdinstar(n Azar for their encouragement and financial support. N. Gerardo
90 Journalofthe Lepidopterists' Society
atbhraonakds.tWheeTthhoamnkasthWeaPtsBoNnHFSoufonrdathteiiorncofonrtisnuupepdorstuipnpgorhte.rstudies DeVrhiiessto,ryP,.VJ.ol1.981,7.PaTphileiobnutitdearef,liPeiseroifdaCeo,stNaymRpihcaalainddaet.hePirrinnacteutroanl
Univ. Press,Princeton,NewJersey.
Literature Cited Otero,L.D.&A.Aiello. 1996.Descriptionsofdieimmaturestages
oiAdelphaalala(Nymphalidae). Lepid.Soc.50:329^336.
D'AbBrrearsas,oliB.dae1,98A7c.raBeuitdtaeref,li&esNoyfmtphheaNleiodtareop(ipcaarltiRm.e)g.ioHni.llPaHrotusIIeI,. Receivedforpublication 6April1999J:. revisedandaccepted25Oc-
tober1999.
Victoria,Australia.
