| Golden Piper | |
|---|---|
| Eurytela dryope angulata, both from Ilanda Wilds, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Eurytela |
| Species: | E. dryope |
| Binomial name | |
| Eurytela dryope (Cramer, [1775]) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Papilio dryope Cramer, [1775] |
|
The Golden Piper (Eurytela dryope) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family, found in sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian peninsula and Madagascar.[1]
Contents |
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]
Listed alphabetically.[1]
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, Swaziland, 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]
The eggs are covered in longitudinal rows of hairy spines.[5]
The larvae are spiny with large head processes[5] and feed on Tragia glabrata, Dalechamoia capensis, and Ricinus communis.[2]
The pupae are greenish in colour and have greatly expanded wing cases.[5]
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]