| Golden piper | |
|---|---|
| |
| |
| E. d. angulata, both from Ilanda Wilds, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa | |
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Eurytela |
| Species: | E. dryope
|
| Binomial name | |
| Eurytela dryope (
Cramer, [1775])
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Eurytela dryope, the golden piper, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, 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 the Congo, Angola, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, 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 the 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, Eswatini, 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) -
Captive raised E. d. angulata larva (dark) -
Pupa of a captive raised E. d. angulata -
ditto
References
- ^ a b c d e f Eurytela at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
- ^ a b c Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Williams, M. (1994). Butterflies of Southern Africa; A Field Guide. Southern Book Publishers. ISBN 1-86812-516-5.
- ^ a b 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),[ permanent dead link] 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, [1] 28-02-2011).
- ^ a b c d Woodhall, S. (2008). What's that Butterfly?. Struik Publishers, Cape Town. ISBN 978-1-77007-486-6.