| Adelotypa annulifera | |
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| Species: | Adelotypa annulifera |
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| A. annulifera (Godman, 1903) | |
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Adelotypa annulifera is a species of riodinid butterfly found in South America (Guyana, Bolivia, [1] Peru [2] ). It was first described by Frederick DuCane Godman in 1903. [1]
In 2016, researchers Phil Torres and Aaron Pomerantz in the Tambopata National Reserve in Peru discovered that the caterpillars of A. annulifera engaged in myrmecophily. They live on the shoots of bamboo species in the genus Guadua , providing sugary secretions to ants in exchange for protection. Four ant species have been observed tending the caterpillars: Ectatomma tuberculatum , Pheidole sp., Megalomyrmex balzani, and Paraponera clavata . Adult butterflies exhibited kleptoparasitism by taking fluids from nectaries also fed on by ants, without providing a reward to the ants. [2]
Caterpillars are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera.
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 comprises the large superfamily Papilionoidea, which contains at least one former group, the skippers, and the most recent analyses suggest it also contains the moth-butterflies. Butterfly fossils date to the Paleocene, about 56 million years ago.
Lepidoptera is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described species of living organisms. It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world. The Lepidoptera show many variations of the basic body structure that have evolved to gain advantages in lifestyle and distribution. Recent estimates suggest the order may have more species than earlier thought, and is among the four most speciose orders, along with the Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Coleoptera.
The large blue is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The species was first defined in 1758 and first recorded in Britain in 1795. In 1979 the species became extinct in Britain but has been successfully reintroduced with new conservation methods. Currently large blue is classified as "near threatened" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Today P. arion can be found in Europe, the Caucasus, Armenia, western Siberia, Altai, north-western Kazakhstan and Sichuan.
Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies, with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly species.
Riodinidae is the family of metalmark butterflies. The common name "metalmarks" refers to the small, metallic-looking spots commonly found on their wings. The 1532 species are placed in 146 genera. Although mostly Neotropical in distribution, the family is also represented both in the Nearctic and the Palearctic.
Junonia coenia, known as the common buckeye or buckeye, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in all parts of the United States except the northwest, and is especially common in the South, the California coast, and throughout Central America. Its habitat is open areas with low vegetation and some bare ground. Its original ancestry has been traced to Africa, which then experiences divergence in Asia.
Paratrechina is one of seven ant genera in the Prenolepis genus-group from the subfamily Formicinae. Six species are included in Paratrechina; one of which, the longhorn crazy ant, is a widespread, pantropical pest.
Myrmecophily is the term applied to positive interspecies associations between ants and a variety of other organisms, such as plants, other arthropods, and fungi. Myrmecophily refers to mutualistic associations with ants, though in its more general use, the term may also refer to commensal or even parasitic interactions.
Phengaris rebeli, common name mountain Alcon blue, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It was first found and described in Styria, Austria, on Mount Hochschwab around 1700. Although it was initially classified as a subspecies of P. alcon, a European researcher, Lucien A. Berger, designated it as a separate species in 1946. Genetic similarities between P. rebeli and P. alcon have led many researchers to argue that the two are the same species and differences are due to intraspecific variation.
Arhopala is a very large genus of gossamer-winged butterflies (Lycaenidae). They are the type genus of the tribe Arhopalini. In the relatively wide circumscription used here, it contains over 200 species collectively known as oakblues. They occur from Japan throughout temperate to tropical Asia south and east of the Himalayas to Australia and the Solomon Islands of Melanesia. Like many of their relatives, their caterpillars are attended and protected by ants (myrmecophily). Sexual dichromatism is often prominent in adult oakblues.
Philip James DeVries is a tropical biologist whose research focuses on insect ecology and evolution, especially butterflies. His best-known work includes symbioses between caterpillars, ants and plants, and community level biodiversity of rainforest butterflies.
Myrmecophagy is a feeding behavior defined by the consumption of termites or ants, particularly as pertaining to those animal species whose diets are largely or exclusively composed of said insect types. Literally, myrmecophagy means "ant eating" rather than "termite eating". However, the two habits often overlap, as both of these eusocial insect types often live in large, densely populated nests requiring similar adaptations in the animal species that exploit them.
Myrmica sabuleti is a species of ant in the genus Myrmica. The species is indigenous to Europe, and most colonies are polygynous. Caterpillars of the large blue butterfly parasitically prey on this ant. The caterpillar hatches on Wild Thyme buds and then at the fourth-instar stage tricks the ants into believing it is one of their own larvae. The worker ants then carry the caterpillar to their nest, where it feeds on the ant grubs for 10 months before pupating and emerging as a butterfly.
The bright copper is a butterfly belonging to the family Lycaenidae.
The silky hairstreak or chlorinda hairstreak is a butterfly belonging to the family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by Emile Blanchard in 1848. It occurs in Australia. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Pseudalmenus, described by Hamilton Herbert Druce in 1902.
Corades enyo, the Enyo satyr, is a species of butterfly found in the high elevations of the Andes in Colombia and Peru. It is found in the cloud forests at altitudes of 2,200–3,000 metres (7,200–9,800 ft). They belong to subtribe Pronophilina of the subfamily Satyrinae. The caterpillars grow on Chusquea species of bamboo.
Phil Torres is a scientist, journalist, and explorer. He runs a YouTube channel, The Jungle Diaries, where he shares videos of his fieldwork in the Neotropics.
Singing caterpillars is a term coined by Philip James DeVries, referring to the fact that the larvae of ant-associated butterfly species of the families Riodinidae and Lycaenidae produce substrate borne sounds that attract ants. The study of these symbiotic associations was pioneered by Phil DeVries in Central America, and Naomi Pierce in Australia. Recently, Lucas Kaminski and collaborators are expanding the studies of riodinid-ant symbioses in Brazil.
Eurybia elvina, commonly known as the blind eurybia, is a Neotropical metalmark butterfly. Like many other riodinids, the caterpillars are myrmecophilous and have tentacle nectary organs that exude a fluid similar to that produced by the host plant Calathea ovandensis. This mutualistic relationship allows ants to harvest the exudate, and in return provide protection in the form of soil shelters for larvae. The larvae communicate with the ants by vibrations produced by the movement of its head. The species was described and given its binomial name by the German lepidopterist Hans Stichel in 1910.
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