Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 55(1), 2001, 15-43 BIODIVERSITY OF PYRRHOPyeINE SKIPPER BUTTERFLIES (HESPERIIDAE) IN THE AREA DE CONSERVACION eUANACASTE, COSTA RICA JOHN M . BURNS Department of Systematic Biology, Entomology Section, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560-0127, USA
[email protected] AND DANIEL H. JANZEN Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
[email protected] ABSTRACT. Twenty-two years of rearing 2192 pyrrhopygine caterpillars (and collecting far fewer adults) show that the Area de Conser vacion Guanacaste (ACG) supports at least 15 species, or some 60% of the Costa Rican pyrrhopygine fauna: 3 in (lowest elevation) dry forest Elbella scylla (Menetries) [of which E. dulcinea (Plotz) is a synonym], Mysoria amhigua (Mabille & Boullet), and Myscelus amystis hages God man & Salvin; 4 in (highest elevation) cloud forest- Pyrrhopyge creon H. Druce, P aesculapus Staudinger, P cosyra H. Druce, and Passova gellias (Godman & Salvin); and 10 in (middle elevation) rainforest-Pyrrhopyge zenodorus Godman & Salvin, P crida (Hewitson), P cosyra, P erythrosticta (Godman & Salvin) [lectotype designated], Parelbella macleannani (Godman & Salvin), Jemadia pseudognetus (Mabille) [rein stated status], another Jemadia belonging to aJ. hewitsonii species complex, Myscelus belti Godman & Salvin, M. perissodora Dyar [rein stated status]' and Passova gellias. No species spans all three ecosystems, and none occurs in both dry forest and rainforest. The caterpillars are mostly 0.1-3 m above the ground, even when individuals of their foodplants rise 20-40 m. Except for Myscelus and Passova, the caterpillars are showy because they are ringed, barred, or spotted (with a row of large round dots) in contrasting colors.