Butterfly-ant relationships: host ant specificity of Phengaris 'rebeli' Hirschke [Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae] in Pieniny Mts [Southern Poland]

• Autorzy: Sielezniew M , Dziekanska I.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Phengaris ‘rebeli’ Hirschke is a globally threatened obligatorily myrmecophilous and xerothermophilous butterfly. Caterpillars are initially endophytic and feed in flowerheads of Gentiana cruciata L. but they complete their development as social parasites of Myrmica Latr. ants. Relationships with hosts are specific and show geographical variation in Europe. Knowledge on them is vital for effective conservation. In Poland ‘P. rebeli’ was recorded from a dozen or so sites in the SE part of the country and from one locality in the Pieniny Mts. – a low calcareous mountain range on the Polish-Slovak border that constitutes a distinct geobotanical unit with specific climate and diversity of habitats. Present studies aimed to identify hostants of the butterfly in the Pieniny Mts.A total number of 30 Myrmica colonies were searched in 2008 near larval food plants bearing eggs of ‘P. rebeli’ in the previous season. We observed caterpillars and pupae of the butterfly exclusively in nests of M. schencki Em., i.e. 4 of 4 of them were infested. However, we did not find prematures of P. ‘rebeli’ with M. sabuleti Mein., M. rugulosa (Nyl.) and M. rubra (L.) which were also present in the turf. This makes the Pieniny population completely distinct from previously studied populations in SE Poland and similar to those known from Lithuania, France and Spain. It is probably related to the variation in chemical mimicry of P. ‘rebeli’ caterpillars. Our finding contributes to knowledge on the pattern of host-ant use of the butterfly in Europe and is also important for conservation on a local scale.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

butterfly-ant relationship; ant; Phengaris rebeli; Lepidoptera; Lycaenidae; Maculinea rebeli; endangered butterfly; social parasitism; myrmecophily; Myrmica schencki; Pieniny Mountains; Poland

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Polish Journal of Ecology
• Rocznik: 2009
• Tom: 57
• Numer: 2
• Opis fizyczny: p.403-409,fig.,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Sielezniew M

• University of Bialystok, Swierkowa 20B, 15-950 Bialystok, Poland

autor

Dziekanska I.

Bibliografia

• Adamski P., Witkowski Z.J. 2007 – Effectiveness of population recovery projects based on captive breeding – Biol. Cons. 140: 1–7.
• Akino T., Knapp J.J., Thomas J.A., Elmes G.W. 1999 – Chemical mimicry and host specificity in the butterfly Maculinea rebeli, a social parasite of Myrmica ant colonies – Proc. R. Soc. Lond. Series B, 266: 1419–1426.
• Als T.D., Nash D.R., Boomsma J.J. 2002 – Geographical variation in host-ant specificity of the parasitic butterfly Maculinea alcon in Denmark – Ecol. Entomol. 27: 403–414.
• Als T.D., Vila R., Kandul N., Nash D.R., Hsu Yen, Mignault A., Boomsma J.J., Pierce N.E. 2004 – The evolution of alternative parasitic life histories in large blue butterflies – Nature, 432: 386–390.
• Buszko J. 1997 – A distribution atlas of butterflies in Poland 1986-1995 – Turpress, Toruń, 170 pp.
• Czechowski W., Radchenko A., Czechowska W. 2002 – The ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Poland – MIZ PAN, Warszawa, 200 + 1 pp.
• Elmes G.W., Thomas J.A., Wardlaw J.C. 1991a – Larvae of Maculinea rebeli, a largeblue butterfly, and their Myrmica host ants: wild adoption and behaviour in ant-nest – J. Zool. London, 223: 447–460.
• Elmes G.W., Wardlaw J.C., Thomas J.A. 1991b – Larvae of Maculinea rebeli, a largeblue butterfly, and their Myrmica host ants: patterns of caterpillars growth and survival – J. Zool. London, 224: 79–92.
• Elmes G.W., Thomas J.A., Hammarstedt O., Munguira M.L., Martin, van der Made J.G. 1994 – Differences in host-ants specificity between Spanish, Dutch and Swedish populations of the endangered butterfly Maculinea alcon (Denis et Schiff.) (Lepidoptera) – Memorabilia Zool. 48: 55–68.
• Elmes G.W., Thomas J.A., Wardlaw J.C., Hochberg M.E., Clarke R.T., Simcox D.J. 1998 – The ecology of Myrmica ants in relation to the conservation of Maculinea butterflies – J. Insect Cons. 2: 67–78.
• Elmes G.W., Akino T., Thomas J.A., Clarke R.T., Knapp J.J. 2002 – Interspecific differences in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of Myrmica ants are sufficiently consistent to explain host specificity by Maculinea (large blue) butterflies – Oecologia, 130, 525–535.
• Elmes G.W., Wardlaw J.C., Schönrogge K., Thomas J.A., Clarke R.T. 2004 – Food stress causes differential survival of socially parasitic caterpillars of Maculinea rebeli integrated in colonies of host and non-host Myrmica ant species – Entomol. Exp. Appl. 110: 53–63.
• Fric Z., Wahlberg N., Pech P., Zrzavý J. 2007 – Phylogeny and classification of the Phengaris-Maculinea clade (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae): total evidence and phylogenetic species concepts – Syst. Entomol. 32: 558–567.
• IUCN 2008 – 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species – www.iucnredlist.org.
• Meyer-Hozak C. 2000 – Population biology of Maculinea rebeli (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) on the chalk grasslands of Eastern Westphalia (Germany) and implications for conservation – J. Insect Cons. 4: 63–72.
• Pecsenye K., Bereczki J., Tihanyi B., Toth A., Peregovits L., Varga Z. 2007 – Genetic differentiation among the Maculinea species (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in eastern Central Europe – Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 91: 11–21.
• Razowski J. 2000 – Flora i fauna Pienin [Flora and fauna of the Pieniny Mountains] – Monogr. pien. 1, 333 pp. (in Polish).
• Schönrogge K., Wardlaw J.C., Peters A.J., Everett S., Thomas J.A., Elmes G.W. 2004 – Changes in chemical signature and host specificity from larval retrieval to full social integration in the myrmecophilous butterfly – J. Chem. Ecol. 30: 91–107.
• Settele J., Kühn E., Thomas J.A. 2005 – Studies on the Ecology and Conservation of Butterflies in Europe. Vol.2: Species ecology along a European Gradient: Maculinea Butterflies as a Model – Pensoft Publishers, Sofia - Moscow, 289 pp.
• Sielezniew M., Stankiewicz A.M. 2006 – Ekologiczne, prawne i praktyczne aspekty ochrony motyli w Polsce na przykładzie modraszków Maculinea spp. (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) [Ecological, legal and practical aspects of butterfly conservation in Poland: a case study of Maculinea species (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)] – Wiad. Entomol. 25: 179–188 (in Polish).
• Sielezniew M., Stankiewicz A.M. 2007 – Differences in the development of the closely related myrmecophilous butterflies Maculinea alcon and M. rebeli (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) – Eur. J. Entomol. 104: 433–444.
• Stankiewicz A.M., Sielezniew M., Barański M. 2005a – The first record of Myrmica rugulosa Nylander, 1849 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as a host-ant of Maculinea rebeli Hirschke, 1904 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) – Pol. J. Entomol. 74: 99–103.
• Stankiewicz A.M., Sielezniew M., Buszko J. 2005b – Maculinea alcon and M. rebeli in Poland: distribution, habitats, host ant specificity and parasitoids. (In: Studies on the Ecology and Conservation of Butterflies in Europe, vol. 2: Species ecology along a European Gradient: Maculinea Butterflies as a Model, Eds. J. Settele, E. Kühn, J.A. Thomas) – Pensoft Publishers, Sofia-Moscow, pp. 90–93.
• Stankiewicz A.M., Sielezniew M., Švitra G. 2005c – Myrmica schencki rears Maculinea rebeli in Lithuania: new evidence for geographical variation of host-ant specificity of an endangered butterfly – Myrmecol. Nachr. 7: 51–54.
• Steiner F., Sielezniew M., Schlick-Steiner B.C., Höttinger H., Stankiewicz A., Górnicki A. 2003 – Host specificity revisited: New data on Myrmica host ants of the lycaenid butterfly Maculinea rebeli – J. Insect Cons. 7: 1–6.
• Tartally A., Nash D.R., Lengyel S., Varga Z. 2008 – Patterns of host ant use by sympatric populations of Maculinea alcon and M. ‘rebeli’ in the Carpathian Basin – Insect. Soc. 55 (in press).
• Thomas J.A., Elmes G.W., Wardlaw J.C. 1998 – Polymorphic growth in larvae of the butterfly Maculinea rebeli, a social parasite of Myrmica ant colonies – Proc. R. Soc. London (B), 265: 1895–1901.
• Thomas J.A., Elmes G.W., Wardlaw J.C., Woyciechowski M. 1989 – Host specificity among Maculinea butterflies in Myrmica ant nests – Oecologia, 79: 425–457.
• Thomas J.A., Settele J. 2004 – Butterfly mimics of ants – Nature, 432: 283–284.
• Van Swaay C., Warren M. 1999 – Red data book of European butterflies (Rhopalocera) – Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, 260 pp.
• Warecki A., Sielezniew M. 2008 – Dryad Minois dryas (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) in south-eastern Poland: a recent range expansion or oversight of an endangered species? – Pol. J. Entomol. 3: 191–198.