First description of the early stage biology of the genus Mygona: The natural history of the satyrine butterfly, Mygona irmina in eastern Ecuador
1Yanayacu Biological Station and Center for Creative Studies, Cosanga, Ecuador, c/o 721 Foch y Amazonas, Quito,
Ecuador
2Biology 0314, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia St., Reno, Nevada 89557
3Zoological Museum of the Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, 30-060 Kraków, Poland
Abstract
The immature stages and natural history of Mygona irmina Doubleday (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Pronophilina) from northeastern Ecuadorian cloud forests are described based on 17 rearings. The dwarf bamboo, Chusquea c.f. scandens Kunth (Poaceae, Bambusoidea) is the larval food plant. Eggs are laid singly on the bottom side of mature host plant leaves. Larvae take 102-109 days to mature from egg to adult. Adults are encountered most frequently on sunny days, flying rapidly over areas dominated by their food plant or feeding on the ground at mammal feces. Males are often encountered inside large forest gaps near patches of bamboo guarding perches in the mid-canopy.
Keywords: Andes, bamboo, Chusquea, cloud forest, larva, Poaceae, pupa
Correspondence:
arevmmoss@yahoo.com,
bnolaclimber@gmail.com,
cpyrcztomasz@hotmail.com
Editor: Jim Miller was editor of this paper.
Received: 15 November 2009 | Accepted: 2 November 2010 | Published: 17 January 2011
Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.
ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 11, Number 5
Greeney HF, Dyer LA, Pyrcz TW. 2011. First description of the early stage biology of the genus Mygona: The natural history of the saturnid butterfly, Mygona irmina in eastern Ecuador. Journal of Insect Science 11:5 available online: insectscience.org/11.5
 Figure 1 |
 Figures 2 |
 Figure 3 |
 Figure 4 |
 Figures 5 |
 Figure 6 |
 Figure 7 |
 Figures 8 |