Introduction
There are 1100 known species of Satyrinae in the neotropical region. About 400 of these are placed in the Euptychiina. Butterflies within this tribe include the “ringlet” genera Euptychia, Magneuptychia, Harjesia, Cissia, Caeruleuptychia, Magneuptychia, Harjesia etc; together with Oressinoma and the various “wood nymph” genera i.e. Parataygetis, Posttaygetis and Taygetis. Most are inhabitants of the forest understorey and tend to fly close to the ground. They generally avoid sunlight and prefer to fly at dawn or on cloudy days when light levels and temperatures are low.
The genus Posttaygetis contains just a single species penelea. It cannot be confused with any other species.
Posttaygetis penelea is distributed from Costa Rica to Peru and Brazil.
Habitats
This species breeds in primary rainforest at altitudes between sea level and about 800m.
Lifecycle
To be completed.
Adult behaviour
This butterfly is a denizen of the dark undergrowth, and flies mainly in the early mornings, between about 0700-0900hrs. At other times it usually hides away amongst the rootlets of palms or amongst leaf litter around the base of trees. The adults fly only very short distances, rarely more than 2-3 metres at a time, and always close to the ground.