Carminda paeon (Godart, 1824)

Aguiar, Tamara M. C., Barbosa, Eduardo P., Zacca, Thamara, Rosa, Augusto H. B., Santos, Jessie P. & Freitas, André V. L., 2025, Immature stages, population ecology and natural history of the genus Carminda Ebert & Dias (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae), Revista Brasileira de Entomologia (e 20250024) 69 (3), pp. 1-18 : 2-8

Carminda paeon (based on material from Serra do Japi, Jundiaí):

Egg ( Fig. 1A, B , 2A, B ): White and ellipsoid, smooth under light microscopy, with a reticle of thin ridges forming a pattern of irregular pentagonal, hexagonal and heptagonal cells visible with SEM ( Fig.2A, B ). Diameter: 0.76 - 0.85 mm (n = 4), height: 0.81 - 0.89 mm (n = 4). Duration: 5 – 10 days (n = 4).

First instar ( Fig.1C, D , 2 C-H, 3): Head capsule width 0.54 – 0.61 mm (n = 9); head scoli: 0.07 – 0.11 mm (n = 9). Head black with a pair of short scoli on vertex.Each with two narrow setae. Third stemma larger than other stemmata. Body light green, with white longitudinal stripes; caudal filaments very short. Legs and prolegs light green. Setae black, all dorsal and subdorsal setae clubbed at tip. Maximum length of 5 mm (n = 4). Duration 5 – 10 days (n = 4). Head and body chaetotaxy are presented in Fig. 3 .

Second instar ( Fig. 1E, F ): Head capsule width: 0.86 – 0.94 mm (n = 10); head scoli: 0.15 – 0.23 mm (n = 8). Head light brown, covered with small white bumps, with two short, pointed beige scoli on vertex. Body green,with light green poorly marked longitudinal zigzag stripes and a dark green dorsal longitudinal stripe; caudal filaments short.Legs and prolegs light green. Maximum length of 9 mm.(n = 6). Duration 5 – 9 days (n = 4).

Third instar ( Fig. 1G, H ): Head capsule width: 1.39 – 1.54 mm (n = 10); head scoli: 0.27 – 0.34 mm (n = 8). Head light brown, with two short, pointed beige scoli on vertex. Body olive green, with brownish zigzag longitudinal patterns and a poorly marked dorsal longitudinal brown stripe; caudal filaments short. Legs and prolegs light green. Maximum length of 15 mm (n=5). Duration 5 – 10 days (n = 4).

Fourth (last) instar ( Fig. 1I, J ): head capsule width: 1.92 – 2.32 mm (n = 5); head scoli: 0.45 – 0.57 mm (n = 2). Head light brown, with two short, pointed beige scoli on vertex. Body light brown, with several zigzag longitudinal stripes and a poorly marked dorsal longitudinal brown stripe; caudal filaments short. Legs and prolegs light beige. Maximum length of 23 mm (n = 6). Duration 12 – 14 days (n = 4).

Pupa ( Fig. 1K, L, M ): Short and smooth; mostly chestnut brown with light brown stripes bordering the wing caps and venation; short pointed ocular caps; cremaster brown in ventral portion; dorsal abdomen with a paired series of beige subdorsal stripes. Some sparse short stalked-palmate bristles in dorsal abdomen. Maximum length of 8 mm (n = 5). Duration 15 – 21 days (n = 4).

Behavior and natural history. Oviposition behavior was not observed in nature, and the host plant in the field is unknown. In the laboratory, larvae refused several species of grasses but easily accepted an unidentified species of Chusquea bamboo (present in the study sites) and Bambusa gracilis ( Poaceae ). Larvae are isolated and move slowly. Adults ( Fig. 1N ) are present in several different types of forests, from coastal lowlands to mountains.Adults of both sexes were usually observed flying in clearings and forest edges from ground level to the canopy.No courtship behavior was observed. Carminda paeon has a wide geographic distribution and is found in several different habitats, including primary and secondary forests, clearings and even on forest edges. The species is multivoltine, with adults being observed in all months ( Fig. 13 ).

Adult population biology. In total, 131 individuals were captured over 13 years of sampling in Serra do Japi, 114 in the canopy (67 males, 39 females and eight with sex not recorded) and 17 in the understory (five males, 10 females and two with sex not recorded), indicating a clear preference for the canopy (X 2 =140.7, P<0.001, DF=1).No recaptures were recorded. Adults were low in abundance for most of the thirteen years of sampling, being more abundant in 2014 and 2017 ( Fig. 13 ). The sex could be attributed to 121 of the captured individuals, which comprised 72 males and 49 females, a male biased sex ratio (1.47:1, X 2 =4.37, P=0.036; DF=1). Forewing length of females varied from 1.5 to 2.0 cm (mean= 1.93 cm, SD=0.096, n=46) and of males from 1.7 to 2.0 cm (mean= 1.87 cm, SD=0.087, n=62), with females being significantly larger than males (Mann-Whitney U test; U = 958, z = 3.37, p <0.001) .

Figures

Figure 1 Immature stages of Carminda paeon. (A, B) Egg, lateral and subdorsal; (C, D) First instar, dorsal and lateral; (E, F) Second instar, dorsal and lateral; (G, H) Third instar, dorsal and lateral; (I, J) Fourth (last) instar, dorsal and lateral; (K, L,M) Pupa, lateral, ventral and dorsal; (N) Adult male (photo by Ricardo Costa).

Figure 2 Scanning Electron Microscopy of the egg and first instar of Carminda paeon. (A) Egg; (B) Close view of egg showing the micropile; (C) First instar head capsule frontal view; (D) General view of first instar, lateral; (E-H) Close views of lateral first instar, from head to final abdomen.

Figure 3 Larval chaetotaxy of first instar of Carminda paeon. (A) Head in frontal view; (B) head in lateral view; (C) body diagram in lateral view. For chaetotaxy abbreviations, see Stehr (1987) and Murray (2001).

Figure 13 Annual variation in the abundance of Carminda paeon (solid line) and Carminda griseldis (dashed line) recorded during thirteen years (2011-2024) of bait trap monitoring in Serra do Japi, Jundiaí, São Paulo Stat