Archonias Hübner, [1831]

Braby, Michael F. & Nishida, Kenji, 2010, The immature stages, larval food plants and biology of Neotropical mistletoe butterflies (Lepidoptera: Pieridae). II. The Catasticta group (Pierini: Aporiina), Journal of Natural History 44 (29 - 30), pp. 1831-1928 : 1892-1893

Archonias Hübner, [1831]

Archonias is closely related to Charonias Röber, 1908 (Braby et al. 2007). Most authors recognize at least two species (e.g. D’Abrera 1981; Le Crom and Llorente-Bousquets 2004), with A. tereas (Godart, 1819) ( Figure 12 ) as a species distinct from A. brassolis sensu stricto (Fabricius, 1776) ( Figure 13 ), which occurs widely in the lowland areas of the Amazon basin; however, Lamas (2004) subsumed all taxa under a single polytypic species, A. brassolis with more than 10 subspecies. Archonias butterflies form complex mimetic associations with other Lepidoptera , particularly Parides (Papilionidae) and Heliconius (Nymphalidae) ( Punnett 1915), and further work is needed to resolve the taxonomy of this genus. Archonias occurs from southern Mexico ( de la Maza 1987; Salinas et al. 2004) to Bolivia, Brazil and northern Argentina. It generally occurs at lower altitudes than most species of Catasticta , favouring low- to mid-elevation wet primary tropical forest between 300 m and 1200 m a.s.l. ( DeVries 1987; Le Crom and Llorente-Bousquets 2004). In Costa Rica, the subspecies A. brassolis approximata (Butler, 1873) ( Figure 12 ) occurs up to 1600 m (at Las Alturas in San Vito) ( Ehrlich et al. 1994) and is generally rare.

The larval food plants of Archonias are poorly known and the immature stages have not been described. Hoffmann (1933) made general reference to mistletoes comprising the larval food plants; Biezanko (1958) and Silva et al. (1968) subsequently listed Tripodanthus acutifolius (Ruiz and Pav.) Tiegh (Loranthaceae) as the food plant in Brazil for subspecies A. brassolis tereas (Godart, 1819) . Biezanko’s (1958) record presumably was the basis for Ehrlich and Raven’s (1965) listing of Tripodanthus for the genus. In Costa Rica, P. DeVries (personal communication 2004) once found a single mature larva at Monteverde (around 1500 m a.s.l.); the larva, which was located on a large, broad-leaved mistletoe (possibly Phoradendron ) that was attached to a branch of the host tree that had fallen to the ground, was subsequently reared to the adult stage. Schultze-Rhonhof (1935) noted that the pupa of Archonias is similar to that of related genera such as Melete , Pereute and Catasticta by the possession of conspicuous spines on the abdomen.

Adults of A. brassolis approximata ( Figure 12 ) are most frequently observed along rivers and streams, and the males establish territories during the early morning ( DeVries 1987). In Costa Rica, we have noted males of this subspecies usually perching on leaves of prominent vegetation approximately 1–3 m above ground level in relatively open areas near Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo on the Atlantic slope (450–1000 m a.s.l.). In Brazil, Brown (1992) noted that the males defend territories early in the morning. In Peru, we encountered males of subspecies A. brassolis negrina (C. and R. Felder, 1862) ( Figure 13 ) displaying territorial behaviour in dense riparian forest in the Chanchamayo district (800–1500 m a.s.l.) and near Tingo María (750 m a.s.l.) during November 2000. They typically established small territories along the banks of rivers or narrow creeks by perching with wings closed on leaves or tall grass blades close to ground, usually 1–3 m above ground level or occasionally higher, up to 6 m. They showed aggressive behaviour towards conspecific males and other butterflies entering the territory and would infrequently leave the perch to chase intruders. Activity was most pronounced during early to mid morning (08:30–09:30 h) when males readily flew among perching sites, but also basked by opening their wings widely (approximately 180°) or sometimes at smaller angles (90–135°) towards the sun. Flight was a slow flutter, similar to Pereute . During the afternoon (12:00–14:00 h), however, they were much less active and tended to remain settled in the shade with wings tightly closed and no conspecific interactions were observed, indicating that territorial behaviour had ceased by that time of day. Presumably the breeding sites occur further upslope from the valleys in which males congregate. A few freshly emerged males were also observed drinking from moist sand.

Figures

Figures 4–13. Adults of the Catasticta group. (4) Melete lycimnia isandra freshly emerged female, Costa Rica; (5) M. leucanthe male puddling, Peru; (6) Pereute callinice male puddling, Peru; (7) P. callinira male puddling, Peru; (8) P. cheops female freshly emerged, Costa Rica; (9) P. charops mass emergence, Costa Rica; (10) Leodonta tellane chiriquensis freshly emerged, Costa Rica; (11) Catasticta sisamnus sisamnus female freshly emerged, Costa Rica; (12) Archonias brassolis approximata male perching, Costa Rica; (13) A. brassolis negrina male basking (note beak mark on both wings), Peru. Note: Figure 9 photo, W. Haber.