Reserva Mangaloma in Ecuador isn’t just amazing for avifauna, but is absolutely burgeoning with amazing butterflies. From the foothills to the highlands, we were treated to stunning tropical specimens. I may not be able to put a name to these faces (if you can, please do!) but they sure are purty…
Yellow-Edged Giant-Owl (Caligo atreus)
Pink-tipped Satyr (Cithaerias pireta)
Scarlet Peacock (Anartia amathea)
Smooth-banded Sister (Adelpha cytherea)
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.
The first one looks like an Owl Butterfly from the genus Caligo. They’re fairly commonly bred for butterfly houses around the country and I know my museum has several of them in our house. They’re huge!
Nate beat me to it – I think 1 is a Caligo sp. too.
Nice shots:
Here are possible ID
Number one : Caligo arteus
Number two: Pink-tipped Satyr (Cithaerias pireta)
Number three: Scarlet Peacock (Anartia amathea)
Number four: cant fid it
Number five: Genus Pirella ocreata (maybe)
Number six: Genus Pirella ocreata (maybe)
Number seven :Smooth-banded Sister
Thanks, gentlemen. Apparently, I didn’t even know the ones I thought I knew! Edits have been made.
wonderful pictures! how big was the giant owl?
Thanks, Arati. If I recall correctly, the owl was at least a foot long. It was a big sucker and completely unfazed by our presence.
The pink-tipped satyr is stunning. Thanks for sharing that with us.
I know it’s an old post, but…
4 is Oxeoschistus puerta isolda
5, 6 are Pierella helvina ocreata
Last is particularly interesting as a common but classic Choco species, not found further south. I’m thinking of visiting the reserve to survey butterflies this summer, any information about trails, especially if they reach ridge or hilltops, would be much appreciated…
Thanks, Keith. I haven’t been back to Mangaloma since 2010, but the trails definitely took us to ridges and hilltops. While I don’t know enough about butterflies to speak to their diversity at the reserve, I can vouch for their abundance!
Thanks Mike, that’s very helpful, we’ll see if we can fit in a visit! I’ll try to let you know if we find anything particularly exciting…