''Eurytela dryope'', the golden piper, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

of the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

, found in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian peninsula and

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Description

Wingspan: 40–50 mm in males and 45–55 mm in females. The male and female are very similar in appearance.Williams, M. (1994). ''Butterflies of Southern Africa; A Field Guide''. Southern Book Publishers. . 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. The underside of the wings is variegated in shades of brown.

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:''Eurytela''
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' *''E. d. angulata'' Aurivillius, 1898 – eastern and southern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape *''E. d. brittoni'' Gabriel, 1954 – south-western Saudi Arabia, Yemen *''E. d. dryope'' (Cramer, 775 – Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, southern Nigeria, Cameroon, central and northern Democratic Republic of the Congo *''E. d. lineata'' Aurivillius, 1898 – Madagascar, Comoros

Distribution

''E. d. angulata'' is found in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, East Africa, southern

DRC The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and on the eastern side of South Africa from

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

, the

Magaliesberg The Magaliesberg (historically also known as ''Macalisberg'' or ''Cashan Mountains'') of northern South Africa, is a modest but well-defined mountain range composed mainly of quartzites. It rises at a point south of the Pilanesberg (and the Pi ...

, Mpumalanga, Eswatini, KwaZulu-Natal, to Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape.Biodiversity data provided by: Data contributors to the Southern African Butterfly Conservation Assessment (SABCA) (list of contributors accessible here: http://sabca.adu.org.za/thanks.php), a joint project of the South African National Biodiversity Institute, the Animal Demography Unit, University of Cape Town, and the Lepidopterists' Society of Africa (accessed via SABCA's online virtual museum

28-02-2011). A photographic record was made further south than Port St Johns during the South African Butterfly Conservation Assessment. ''E. d. brittoni'' is found in the south-west of the Arabian peninsula. ''E. d. dryope'' from

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

and northern DRC. ''E. d. lineata'' is found in

Life cycle

Eggs

The eggs are covered in longitudinal rows of hairy spines.Woodhall, S. (2008). ''What's that Butterfly?''. Struik Publishers, Cape Town. .

Larvae

The larvae are spiny with large head processes and feed on ''

Tragia glabrata ''Tragia durbanensis'', the stinging nettle creeper, is a twining herb in the family Euphorbiaceae,Pooley, E. (1998). ''A Field Guide to Wild Flowers; KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Region''. . with a restricted distribution in southern Africa.S ...

'', '' Dalechampia capensis'', and ''

Ricinus communis ''Ricinus communis'', the castor bean or castor oil plant, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus, ''Ricinus'', and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of cas ...

''.

Pupae

The pupae are greenish in colour and have greatly expanded wing cases.

Adults

The flight period is year round, peaking between November and June. They have a leisurely, gliding flight, settling frequently, usually with open wings. The adults feed on

fermenting Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...

fruit, tree sap and nectar. They are found in forests and wooded, frost-free savanna. This species can tolerate drier conditions than the pied piper (''

Eurytela hiarbas ''Eurytela hiarbas'', commonly known as the pied piper, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its wingspan is 45–50 mm in males and 48–55 mm in females. It has continuous broods, peaking between N ...

'').

Gallery

File:Golden_Piper_larva_Athlone_D_24_01_2011.JPG, Captive raised ''E. d. angulata'' larva (green) File:Golden_Piper_larva_side_Athlone_D_18_02_2011.JPG, Captive raised ''E. d. angulata'' larva (dark) File:Eurytela dryope00.jpg, Pupa of a captive raised ''E. d. angulata'' File:Golden_Piper_pupa_Athlone_D_26_01_2011.JPG, ''ditto''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5414138 Butterflies described in 1775 Biblidinae Taxa named by Pieter Cramer