99-516: The chalkhill blue ( Lysandra coridon ) is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae . It is a small butterfly that can be found throughout the Palearctic realm , where it occurs primarily in grasslands rich in chalk. Males have a pale blue colour, while females are brown. Both have chequered fringes around their wings. Subspecies include: Lysandra coridon has a wingspan of 30–36 millimetres (1.2–1.4 in). These small butterflies present
198-477: A biodiversity hotspot . In Southeastern Asia, high mountain ranges form tongues of Palearctic flora and fauna in northern Indochina and southern China . Isolated small outposts ( sky islands ) occur as far south as central Myanmar (on Nat Ma Taung , 3,050 m; 10,010 ft), northernmost Vietnam (on Fan Si Pan , 3,140 m; 10,300 ft) and the high mountains of Taiwan . The realm contains several important freshwater ecoregions as well, including
297-505: A chrysalis . When metamorphosis is complete, the pupal skin splits, the adult insect climbs out, expands its wings to dry, and flies off. Some butterflies, especially in the tropics, have several generations in a year, while others have a single generation, and a few in cold locations may take several years to pass through their entire life cycle. Butterflies are often polymorphic , and many species make use of camouflage , mimicry , and aposematism to evade their predators. Some, like
396-637: A diapause (resting) stage, and the hatching may take place only in spring. Some temperate region butterflies, such as the Camberwell beauty , lay their eggs in the spring and have them hatch in the summer. Butterfly larvae, or caterpillars, consume plant leaves and spend practically all of their time searching for and eating food. Although most caterpillars are herbivorous, a few species are predators : Spalgis epius eats scale insects , while lycaenids such as Liphyra brassolis are myrmecophilous , eating ant larvae. Some larvae, especially those of
495-419: A sexual dimorphism . The males having pale silvery-blue upperside of the wings with a submarginal line of grey spots on the hindwings and a thin brown and white chequered fringe. Females have dark brown upperside of wings, with marginal orange spots and also with chequered fringes. The underside of the wings show a light ochre colouration, several dark spots surrounded by white, a submarginal line of black marks,
594-493: A butterfly cannot fly until the wings are unfolded. A newly emerged butterfly needs to spend some time inflating its wings with hemolymph and letting them dry, during which time it is extremely vulnerable to predators. The colourful patterns on many butterfly wings tell potential predators that they are toxic. Hence, the genetic basis of wing pattern formation can illuminate both the evolution of butterflies as well as their developmental biology . The colour of butterfly wings
693-570: A butterfly through metamorphosis has held great appeal to mankind. To transform from the miniature wings visible on the outside of the pupa into large structures usable for flight, the pupal wings undergo rapid mitosis and absorb a great deal of nutrients. If one wing is surgically removed early on, the other three will grow to a larger size. In the pupa, the wing forms a structure that becomes compressed from top to bottom and pleated from proximal to distal ends as it grows, so that it can rapidly be unfolded to its full adult size. Several boundaries seen in
792-417: A common family. In some species, such as the great spangled fritillary , the eggs are deposited close to but not on the food plant. This most likely happens when the egg overwinters before hatching and where the host plant loses its leaves in winter, as do violets in this example. The egg stage lasts a few weeks in most butterflies, but eggs laid close to winter, especially in temperate regions, go through
891-576: A few butterflies (e.g., harvesters ) eat harmful insects, and a few are predators of ants , while others live as mutualists in association with ants. Culturally, butterflies are a popular motif in the visual and literary arts. The Smithsonian Institution says "butterflies are certainly one of the most appealing creatures in nature". The Oxford English Dictionary derives the word straightforwardly from Old English butorflēoge , butter-fly; similar names in Old Dutch and Old High German show that
990-444: A few species. Some butterflies have organs of hearing and some species make stridulatory and clicking sounds. Many species of butterfly maintain territories and actively chase other species or individuals that may stray into them. Some species will bask or perch on chosen perches. The flight styles of butterflies are often characteristic and some species have courtship flight displays. Butterflies can only fly when their temperature
1089-403: A good model organism to help develop conservation programs for more At Risk species. All three countries have done research into the conservation of the calcareous grassland. Protecting this species would also lead to helping protect higher trophic level individuals that are located in this ecosystem. The chalkhill blue experienced a significant decline in population number in the 1950s. There
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#17327835339371188-606: A hard-ridged outer layer of shell, called the chorion . This is lined with a thin coating of wax which prevents the egg from drying out before the larva has had time to fully develop. Each egg contains a number of tiny funnel-shaped openings at one end, called micropyles ; the purpose of these holes is to allow sperm to enter and fertilize the egg. Butterfly eggs vary greatly in size and shape between species, but are usually upright and finely sculptured. Some species lay eggs singly, others in batches. Many females produce between one hundred and two hundred eggs. Butterfly eggs are fixed to
1287-405: A large genetic distance between the two species and that there was allopatric speciation from L. coridon . L. slovacus seems to show that there was sympatry with L. coridon but the genetic analysis could not prove this hypothesis, so the researchers made the conclusion that this particular species was a local population that has an atavism of bivoltinism . The expansion of
1386-489: A large number of plants. Butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran suborder Rhopalocera , characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises the superfamilies Hedyloidea (moth-butterflies in the Americas) and Papilionoidea (all others). The oldest butterfly fossils have been dated to
1485-508: A leaf before eggs are laid on it. Many butterflies use chemical signals, pheromones ; some have specialized scent scales ( androconia ) or other structures ( coremata or "hair pencils" in the Danaidae). Vision is well developed in butterflies and most species are sensitive to the ultraviolet spectrum. Many species show sexual dimorphism in the patterns of UV reflective patches. Colour vision may be widespread but has been demonstrated in only
1584-416: A leaf with a special glue which hardens rapidly. As it hardens it contracts, deforming the shape of the egg. This glue is easily seen surrounding the base of every egg forming a meniscus. The nature of the glue has been little researched but in the case of Pieris brassicae , it begins as a pale yellow granular secretion containing acidophilic proteins. This is viscous and darkens when exposed to air, becoming
1683-547: A longer lifespan of several months as adults. The thorax of the butterfly is devoted to locomotion. Each of the three thoracic segments has two legs (among nymphalids , the first pair is reduced and the insects walk on four legs). The second and third segments of the thorax bear the wings. The leading edges of the forewings have thick veins to strengthen them, and the hindwings are smaller and more rounded and have fewer stiffening veins. The forewings and hindwings are not hooked together ( as they are in moths ) but are coordinated by
1782-452: A necessity for their successful establishment. Many butterflies, such as the painted lady , monarch, and several danaine migrate for long distances. These migrations take place over a number of generations and no single individual completes the whole trip. The eastern North American population of monarchs can travel thousands of miles south-west to overwintering sites in Mexico . There is
1881-435: A preference towards grasslands that have short grass with many flowering plants. L. coridon is a sedentary organism which means that they do not travel very far within their habitat range. These individuals have the tendency to stay within their habitat patch rather than perform long migrations to find new habitats. Note that information in this section applies to Great Britain and some details may not be consistent with
1980-658: A reverse migration in the spring. It has recently been shown that the British painted lady undertakes a 9,000-mile round trip in a series of steps by up to six successive generations, from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle — almost double the length of the famous migrations undertaken by monarch. Spectacular large-scale migrations associated with the monsoon are seen in peninsular India. Migrations have been studied in more recent times using wing tags and also using stable hydrogen isotopes . Butterflies navigate using
2079-412: A segmented palp. Adjoining these is the labium-hypopharynx which houses a tubular spinneret which is able to extrude silk. Caterpillars such as those in the genus Calpodes (family Hesperiidae) have a specialized tracheal system on the 8th segment that function as a primitive lung. Butterfly caterpillars have three pairs of true legs on the thoracic segments and up to six pairs of prolegs arising from
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#17327835339372178-416: A series of marginal orange spots on the hindwings and a blue dusting near the body. As with many blue butterflies, separation from similar species in the field is on the underside markings. Aberrations are common. L. coridon Poda (81 c, d). male above light blue green with a silvery glitter, the black margin of the forewing broad, the hindwing with dark dots at the margin. The underside light violet-grey on
2277-435: A silken girdle may be spun to keep the pupa in a head-up position. Most of the tissues and cells of the larva are broken down inside the pupa, as the constituent material is rebuilt into the imago. The structure of the transforming insect is visible from the exterior, with the wings folded flat on the ventral surface and the two halves of the proboscis, with the antennae and the legs between them. The pupal transformation into
2376-447: A slight violet sheen is present, especiallv in the outer area of the wings; this is corydonius H.-Schaff. (= olympica Led.) (81 d).[ now Lysandra caucasica (Lederer, 1870) — The blue colour of the male may occasionally appear also in the female, being sometimes restricted to the base — ab. semibrunnea Mill. (= semi-syngrapha Tutt) — sometimes occupying the whole upperside: ab. syngrapha Kef. (= mariscolore Gerh.). (81 d). On
2475-410: A time-compensated sun compass. They can see polarized light and therefore orient even in cloudy conditions. The polarized light near the ultraviolet spectrum appears to be particularly important. Many migratory butterflies live in semi-arid areas where breeding seasons are short. The life histories of their host plants also influence butterfly behaviour. Butterflies in their adult stage can live from
2574-541: A total of about 20,000 species. Traditionally, butterflies have been divided into the superfamilies Papilionoidea and the moth-like Hedyloidea . Recent work has discovered that Hedylidae, the only family within Hedyloidea, is nested within the Papilionoidea, meaning that Papilionoidea would be synonymous with Rhopalocera. The relationships between the rest of the 6 families are extremely well resolved, which
2673-470: A trend towards multivoltinism . Courtship is often aerial and often involves pheromones . Butterflies then land on the ground or on a perch to mate. Copulation takes place tail-to-tail and may last from minutes to hours. Simple photoreceptor cells located at the genitals are important for this and other adult behaviours. The male passes a spermatophore to the female; to reduce sperm competition, he may cover her with his scent, or in some species such as
2772-486: A tubular proboscis which is curled up at rest and expanded when needed to feed. The first and second maxillae bear palps which function as sensory organs. Some species have a reduced proboscis or maxillary palps and do not feed as adults. Many Heliconius butterflies also use their proboscis to feed on pollen; in these species only 20% of the amino acids used in reproduction come from larval feeding, which allow them to develop more quickly as caterpillars, and gives them
2871-437: A water-insoluble, rubbery material which soon sets solid. Butterflies in the genus Agathymus do not fix their eggs to a leaf; instead, the newly laid eggs fall to the base of the plant. Eggs are almost invariably laid on plants. Each species of butterfly has its own host plant range and while some species of butterfly are restricted to just one species of plant, others use a range of plant species, often including members of
2970-422: A week to nearly a year depending on the species. Many species have long larval life stages while others can remain dormant in their pupal or egg stages and thereby survive winters. The Melissa Arctic ( Oeneis melissa ) overwinters twice as a caterpillar. Butterflies may have one or more broods per year. The number of generations per year varies from temperate to tropical regions with tropical regions showing
3069-450: Is above 27 °C (81 °F); when it is cool, they can position themselves to expose the underside of the wings to the sunlight to heat themselves up. If their body temperature reaches 40 °C (104 °F), they can orientate themselves with the folded wings edgewise to the sun. Basking is an activity which is more common in the cooler hours of the morning. Some species have evolved dark wingbases to help in gathering more heat and this
Chalkhill blue - Misplaced Pages Continue
3168-405: Is also one of the world's most endangered biogeographic regions; only 4% of the region's original vegetation remains, and human activities, including overgrazing , deforestation , and conversion of lands for pasture, agriculture, and urbanization, have degraded much of the region. Formerly the region was mostly covered with forests and woodlands, but heavy human use has reduced much of the region to
3267-442: Is an ab. syngrapha with the ocelli as in ab. tiphys , etc. — Egg greenish white, with minute pale reticulation, the meshes being hexagonal. Larva bright blue-green, beneath paler, the dorsal line appearing dark owing to the dorsal vessel, accompanied by chains of yellow spots, a similar but duller row of spots above the abdominal legs. Until June on Hippocrepis, Coronilla, Astragalus. Vicia, etc. Visited by Formica flava, which
3366-417: Is an area that is connected. Another type would be the loss of habitat which can lead to large habitat areas being fragmented, this loss can occur due to human interaction with the ecosystem in way that isolates populations of the species. The loss of habitat changes the number of individuals that the area can support or blocks the population off from a larger population. The limiting number of individuals in
3465-458: Is attracted by the dorsal gland. Pupa rather slender, smooth, dirty yellowish brown, with dark dorsal line and on the wing-cases pale smears, free on the ground, often under stones. The butterflies occur from June till August, being rare in some places, exceedingly abundant in others; they are everywhere found in particular localities. They have a rapid flight, which is also more sustained than in most other Blues, and go early to sleep, settling for
3564-458: Is derived from tiny structures called scales, each of which have their own pigments . In Heliconius butterflies, there are three types of scales: yellow/white, black, and red/orange/brown scales. Some mechanism of wing pattern formation are now being solved using genetic techniques. For instance, a gene called cortex determines the colour of scales: deleting cortex turned black and red scales yellow. Mutations, e.g. transposon insertions of
3663-752: Is endemic to Europe. There are a few exceptions to where it is located in Central Europe: it is not found in the countries of Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, the Iberian Peninsula (except in its northern provinces), some Mediterranean islands (found in Corsica and Sardinia), and most of southern Italy. This particular species of butterfly has a preference for dry calcareous grasslands , at an elevation of 100–2,000 metres (330–6,560 ft) above sea level. This species also has
3762-403: Is especially evident in alpine forms. As in many other insects, the lift generated by butterflies is more than can be accounted for by steady-state, non-transitory aerodynamics . Studies using Vanessa atalanta in a wind tunnel show that they use a wide variety of aerodynamic mechanisms to generate force. These include wake capture , vortices at the wing edge, rotational mechanisms and
3861-410: Is extruded and inserted into the female's vagina. A spermatophore is deposited in the female, following which the sperm make their way to a seminal receptacle where they are stored for later use. In both sexes, the genitalia are adorned with various spines, teeth, scales and bristles, which act to prevent the butterfly from mating with an insect of another species. After it emerges from its pupal stage,
3960-451: Is good, especially in some species in the blue/violet range. The antennae are composed of many segments and have clubbed tips (unlike moths that have tapering or feathery antennae). The sensory receptors are concentrated in the tips and can detect odours. Taste receptors are located on the palps and on the feet. The mouthparts are adapted to sucking and the mandibles are usually reduced in size or absent. The first maxillae are elongated into
4059-581: Is native to the Americas, but in the nineteenth century or before, spread across the world, and is now found in Australia, New Zealand, other parts of Oceania, and the Iberian Peninsula . It is not clear how it dispersed; adults may have been blown by the wind or larvae or pupae may have been accidentally transported by humans, but the presence of suitable host plants in their new environment was
Chalkhill blue - Misplaced Pages Continue
4158-511: Is of Least Concern, and this is due to this species not having a significant decline in population in the last ten years, which would be a decline by 25% in the number of adults. Since this species is of Least Concern there are few conservation efforts being put forth. But in certain areas that have been having large decline or had large decline implemented conservation efforts. This species is considered by researchers to be an indicator species of calcareous grassland habitat quality and could also be
4257-471: Is on the whole paler, the dark marginal border of the forewing being lighter in consequence of an intermixture of the ground-colour; from Italy.The Greek form graeca Ruhl-Heine is quite similar. — rezniceki Bartel, [now L. hispana var. rezniceki Bartel, 1904] from Northern Italy, is a transition to the previous; according to the description the upperside of the males is still paler. — albicans H.-Schaff. [ now Lysandra albicans (Gerhard, 1851] (81 d)
4356-465: Is restricted to the males, and studies have suggested that the nutrients collected may be provided as a nuptial gift , along with the spermatophore, during mating. In hilltopping , males of some species seek hilltops and ridge tops, which they patrol in search for females. Since it usually occurs in species with low population density, it is assumed these landscape points are used as meeting places to find mates. Butterflies use their antennae to sense
4455-698: Is summarized in the below cladogram. Papilionidae [REDACTED] Hedylidae [REDACTED] Hesperiidae [REDACTED] Pieridae [REDACTED] Nymphalidae [REDACTED] Lycaenidae [REDACTED] Riodinidae [REDACTED] Butterfly adults are characterized by their four scale-covered wings, which give the Lepidoptera their name ( Ancient Greek λεπίς lepís, scale + πτερόν pterón, wing). These scales give butterfly wings their colour: they are pigmented with melanins that give them blacks and browns, as well as uric acid derivatives and flavones that give them yellows, but many of
4554-405: Is taken up by the gut, but there may also be large silk glands, and special glands which secrete distasteful or toxic substances. The developing wings are present in later stage instars and the gonads start development in the egg stage. When the larva is fully grown, hormones such as prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) are produced. At this point the larva stops feeding, and begins "wandering" in
4653-687: Is the lightest form, which is almost white above; it flies on limestone in Spain, sometimes as the only form, sometimes in the company of hispana (Ribbe). — caucasica Led. (= ossmar Gerh.) [now Lysandra caucasica (Lederer, 1870)] (81 e) extends on to the Asiatic continent, flying in Armenia and at the Black Sea. The upperside of the male is brighter blue. — In specimens from the Taurus Mts. even
4752-624: Is the same scheme that persists today, with relatively minor revisions, and the addition of two more realms: Oceania and the Antarctic realm . The Palearctic realm includes mostly boreal/subarctic-climate and temperate-climate ecoregions, which run across Eurasia from western Europe to the Bering Sea . The boreal and temperate Euro-Siberian region is the Palearctic's largest biogeographic region, which transitions from tundra in
4851-539: The Bering land bridge , and have very similar mammal and bird fauna, with many Eurasian species having moved into North America, and fewer North American species having moved into Eurasia. Many zoologists consider the Palearctic and Nearctic to be a single Holarctic realm . The Palearctic and Nearctic also share many plant species, which botanists call the Arcto-Tertiary Geoflora . The lands bordering
4950-647: The Himalayas , and North Africa . The realm consists of several bioregions : the Euro-Siberian region; the Mediterranean Basin ; North Africa ; North Arabia ; and Western , Central and East Asia . The Palaearctic realm also has numerous rivers and lakes, forming several freshwater ecoregions. The term 'Palearctic' was first used in the 19th century, and is still in use as the basis for zoogeographic classification. In an 1858 paper for
5049-479: The Lycaenidae , form mutual associations with ants. They communicate with the ants using vibrations that are transmitted through the substrate as well as using chemical signals. The ants provide some degree of protection to these larvae and they in turn gather honeydew secretions . Large blue ( Phengaris arion ) caterpillars trick Myrmica ants into taking them back to the ant colony where they feed on
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#17327835339375148-500: The Mediterranean Sea in southern Europe, north Africa, and western Asia are home to the Mediterranean Basin ecoregions, which together constitute the world's largest and most diverse mediterranean climate region of the world, with generally mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. The Mediterranean basin's mosaic of Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub are home to 13,000 endemic species. The Mediterranean basin
5247-528: The Paleocene , about 56 million years ago, though molecular likely originated in the Cretaceous . Butterflies have a four-stage life cycle , and like other holometabolous insects they undergo complete metamorphosis . Winged adults lay eggs on the food plant on which their larvae , known as caterpillars , will feed. The caterpillars grow, sometimes very rapidly, and when fully developed, pupate in
5346-629: The Proceedings of the Linnean Society , British zoologist Philip Sclater first identified six terrestrial zoogeographic realms of the world: Palaearctic, Aethiopian/ Afrotropic , Indian / Indomalayan , Australasian , Nearctic , and Neotropical . The six indicated general groupings of fauna, based on shared biogeography and large-scale geographic barriers to migration. Alfred Wallace adopted Sclater's scheme for his book The Geographical Distribution of Animals , published in 1876. This
5445-474: The Weis-Fogh ' clap-and-fling ' mechanism. Butterflies are able to change from one mode to another rapidly. Butterflies are threatened in their early stages by parasitoids and in all stages by predators, diseases and environmental factors. Braconid and other parasitic wasps lay their eggs in lepidopteran eggs or larvae and the wasps' parasitoid larvae devour their hosts, usually pupating inside or outside
5544-455: The ZW sex-determination system where females are the heterogametic sex (ZW) and males homogametic (ZZ). Butterflies are distributed worldwide except Antarctica, totalling some 18,500 species. Of these, 775 are Nearctic ; 7,700 Neotropical ; 1,575 Palearctic ; 3,650 Afrotropical ; and 4,800 are distributed across the combined Oriental and Australian / Oceania regions. The monarch butterfly
5643-402: The monarch and the painted lady , migrate over long distances. Many butterflies are attacked by parasites or parasitoids , including wasps , protozoans , flies , and other invertebrates, or are preyed upon by other organisms. Some species are pests because in their larval stages they can damage domestic crops or trees; other species are agents of pollination of some plants. Larvae of
5742-600: The non-coding DNA around the cortex gene can turn a black-winged butterfly into a butterfly with a yellow wing band. When the butterfly Bicyclus anynana is subjected to repeated inbreeding in the laboratory, there is a dramatic decrease in egg hatching. This severe inbreeding depression is considered to be likely due to a relatively high mutation rate to recessive alleles with substantial damaging effects and infrequent episodes of inbreeding in nature that might otherwise purge such mutations. Although B. anynana experiences inbreeding depression when forcibly inbred in
5841-531: The sclerophyll shrublands known as chaparral , matorral , maquis , or garrigue . Conservation International has designated the Mediterranean basin as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots . A great belt of deserts , including the Atlantic coastal desert , Sahara Desert, and Arabian Desert , separates the Palearctic and Afrotropic ecoregions. This scheme includes these desert ecoregions in
5940-628: The temperate rain forests of the Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests ecoregion. Central Asia and the Iranian plateau are home to dry steppe grasslands and desert basins, with montane forests, woodlands, and grasslands in the region's high mountains and plateaux. In southern Asia the boundary of the Palearctic is largely altitudinal. The middle altitude foothills of the Himalaya between about 2,000–2,500 m (6,600–8,200 ft) form
6039-540: The Apollos ( Parnassius ) plugs her genital opening to prevent her from mating again. The vast majority of butterflies have a four-stage life cycle: egg , larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis) and imago (adult). In the genera Colias , Erebia , Euchloe , and Parnassius , a small number of species are known that reproduce semi-parthenogenetically ; when the female dies, a partially developed larva emerges from her abdomen. Butterfly eggs are protected by
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#17327835339376138-520: The Pyrenees to Orenburg. Although the species is very uniformly developed, quite a number of forms have been provided with names, being partly based on very minute differences. We deal first with the variation of the upperside. — hispana H.-Schiff. (= arragonensis Gerh.),[ now Lysandra hispana (Herrich-Schäffer, [1851])] from Spain, is paler with the distal margin more strongly spotted. — apennina [ now Lysandra apennina (Zeller, 1847 ])(81 d)
6237-430: The abdomen, generally with short prolegs on segments 3–6 and 10; the three pairs of true legs on the thorax have five segments each. Many are well camouflaged; others are aposematic with bright colours and bristly projections containing toxic chemicals obtained from their food plants. The pupa or chrysalis, unlike that of moths, is not wrapped in a cocoon. Many butterflies are sexually dimorphic . Most butterflies have
6336-405: The abdominal segments. These prolegs have rings of tiny hooks called crochets that are engaged hydrostatically and help the caterpillar grip the substrate. The epidermis bears tufts of setae , the position and number of which help in identifying the species. There is also decoration in the form of hairs, wart-like protuberances, horn-like protuberances and spines. Internally, most of the body cavity
6435-502: The adult colour pattern are marked by changes in the expression of particular transcription factors in the early pupa. The reproductive stage of the insect is the winged adult or imago . The surface of both butterflies and moths is covered by scales, each of which is an outgrowth from a single epidermal cell. The head is small and dominated by the two large compound eyes . These are capable of distinguishing flower shapes or motion but cannot view distant objects clearly. Colour perception
6534-467: The air for wind and scents. The antennae come in various shapes and colours; the hesperiids have a pointed angle or hook to the antennae, while most other families show knobbed antennae. The antennae are richly covered with sensory organs known as sensillae . A butterfly's sense of taste is coordinated by chemoreceptors on the tarsi , or feet, which work only on contact, and are used to determine whether an egg-laying insect's offspring will be able to feed on
6633-434: The ant eggs and larvae in a parasitic relationship. Caterpillars mature through a series of developmental stages known as instars . Near the end of each stage, the larva undergoes a process called apolysis , mediated by the release of a series of neurohormones . During this phase, the cuticle , a tough outer layer made of a mixture of chitin and specialized proteins , is released from the softer epidermis beneath, and
6732-401: The biotic components to support these new species. This would be physical features of the environment that separate populations of the same species. One type of would be mountain ranges which separate west and east population of L. coridon , and this separation causes there to be changes in the allele frequency of both population and there can be mixing of these populations only when there
6831-658: The blues, greens, reds and iridescent colours are created by structural coloration produced by the micro-structures of the scales and hairs. As in all insects, the body is divided into three sections: the head, thorax , and abdomen . The thorax is composed of three segments, each with a pair of legs. In most families of butterfly the antennae are clubbed, unlike those of moths which may be threadlike or feathery. The long proboscis can be coiled when not in use for sipping nectar from flowers. Nearly all butterflies are diurnal , have relatively bright colours, and hold their wings vertically above their bodies when at rest, unlike
6930-412: The boundary between the Palearctic and Indomalaya ecoregions. China , Korea and Japan are more humid and temperate than adjacent Siberia and Central Asia, and are home to rich temperate coniferous, broadleaf, and mixed forests, which are now mostly limited to mountainous areas, as the densely populated lowlands and river basins have been converted to intensive agricultural and urban use. East Asia
7029-441: The desiccated husk. Most wasps are very specific about their host species and some have been used as biological controls of pest butterflies like the large white butterfly . When the small cabbage white was accidentally introduced to New Zealand, it had no natural enemies. In order to control it, some pupae that had been parasitised by a chalcid wasp were imported, and natural control was thus regained. Some flies lay their eggs on
7128-419: The epidermis begins to form a new cuticle. At the end of each instar, the larva moults , the old cuticle splits and the new cuticle expands, rapidly hardening and developing pigment. Development of butterfly wing patterns begins by the last larval instar. Caterpillars have short antennae and several simple eyes . The mouthparts are adapted for chewing with powerful mandibles and a pair of maxillae, each with
7227-741: The family Hesperiidae (skippers). Molecular clock estimates suggest that butterflies originated sometime in the Late Cretaceous , but only significantly diversified during the Cenozoic, with one study suggesting a North American origin for the group. The oldest American butterfly is the Late Eocene Prodryas persephone from the Florissant Fossil Beds , approximately 34 million years old. Butterflies are divided into seven families that contain
7326-437: The family Lycaenidae which will sometimes predate this species. It could be a viable option that the parasitoids that did predate upon this species became extinct due to the fragmentation of their habitat in the past. Upon using allozyme analyses when looking at the species L. hispana and L. slovacus showed a difference in evolutionary history with L. coridon . The analysis showed that L. hispana has
7425-501: The fore- wing, brownish on the hindwing, variegated with white and bearing yellowish red submarginal spots; both wings very densely ornamented with ocelli. Female above russet grey-brown, beneath earth-brown and like the male with very numerous ocelli. The area of distribution is essentially smaller than in most Blues, being apparently entirely restricted to Central and South Europe. The species occurs from England, Pommerania, and St. Petersburg southwards to Spain. Italy and Brussa, and from
7524-409: The friction of their overlapping parts. The front two segments have a pair of spiracles which are used in respiration. The abdomen consists of ten segments and contains the gut and genital organs. The front eight segments have spiracles and the terminal segment is modified for reproduction. The male has a pair of clasping organs attached to a ring structure, and during copulation, a tubular structure
7623-555: The grass was growing. The earliest Lepidoptera fossils date to the Triassic - Jurassic boundary, around 200 million years ago. Butterflies evolved from moths, so while the butterflies are monophyletic (forming a single clade ), the moths are not. The oldest known butterfly is Protocoeliades kristenseni from the Palaeocene aged Fur Formation of Denmark, approximately 55 million years old, which belongs to
7722-548: The ground within the leaf litter of the host plants. The caterpillars are attended by several different ants of the genera Myrmica , Lasius , Formica , Plagiolepis , Tetramorium , Aphaenogaster and Tapinoma . This butterfly is usually seen on the wing from June to October. In the research into the effects of trophic interaction and fragmentation it was found that there are no known parasitoids that are specialized to this species, but there are other parasitoids that are related to other species that are part of
7821-580: The heavily developed rivers of Europe , the rivers of Russia , which flow into the Arctic , Baltic , Black , and Caspian seas, Siberia 's Lake Baikal , the oldest and deepest lake on the planet, and Japan's ancient Lake Biwa . One bird family, the accentors (Prunellidae), is endemic to the Palearctic region. The Holarctic has four other endemic bird families: the divers or loons (Gaviidae), grouse (Tetraoninae), auks (Alcidae), and waxwings (Bombycillidae). There are no endemic mammal orders in
7920-1030: The laboratory it recovers within a few generation when allowed to breed freely. During mate selection, adult females do not innately avoid or learn to avoid siblings, implying that such detection may not be critical to reproductive fitness. Inbreeding may persist in B anynana because the probability of encountering close relatives is rare in nature; that is, movement ecology may mask the deleterious effect of inbreeding resulting in relaxation of selection for active inbreeding avoidance behaviors. Butterflies feed primarily on nectar from flowers. Some also derive nourishment from pollen , tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, decaying flesh, and dissolved minerals in wet sand or dirt. Butterflies are important as pollinators for some species of plants. In general, they do not carry as much pollen load as bees , but they are capable of moving pollen over greater distances. Flower constancy has been observed for at least one species of butterfly. Adult butterflies consume only liquids, ingested through
8019-506: The majority of moths which fly by night, are often cryptically coloured (well camouflaged), and either hold their wings flat (touching the surface on which the moth is standing) or fold them closely over their bodies. Some day-flying moths, such as the hummingbird hawk-moth , are exceptions to these rules. Butterfly larvae , caterpillars , have a hard ( sclerotised ) head with strong mandibles used for cutting their food, most often leaves. They have cylindrical bodies, with ten segments to
8118-437: The margin is white instead of black, while in ab. punctata Tutt the margins are spotted. ab. calydonius Lowe has the ground darkened and the black borders enlarged. — Equally variable as the upperside is the under surface. The ground-cqjour beneath may be very dark (especially in certain females or remarkably pale; the latter is the case in ab. pallida Tutt. The ocelli may be distorted into rays: ab. striata Tutt. Some of
8217-401: The name is ancient, but modern Dutch and German use different words ( vlinder and Schmetterling ) and the common name often varies substantially between otherwise closely related languages. A possible source of the name is the bright yellow male of the brimstone ( Gonepteryx rhamni ); another is that butterflies were on the wing in meadows during the spring and summer butter season while
8316-546: The night with closed wings on stalks of grass or on the top of flowers while it is yet full day-light. This offers the best opportunity for collecting aberrations, since the ocelli of the underside are so clearly visible that one can pick out without difficulty and put into the cyanide bottle wliat one requires. This species can be found in the Palearctic realm (western Europe , southern Europe, central Europe, Asia Minor , south Urals , and northwest Turan ). The range of L. coridon occurs throughout Central Europe, and
8415-542: The northern reaches of Russia and Scandinavia to the vast taiga , the boreal coniferous forests which run across the continent. South of the taiga are a belt of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests and temperate coniferous forests . This vast Euro-Siberian region is characterized by many shared plant and animal species, and has many affinities with the temperate and boreal regions of the Nearctic realm of North America . Eurasia and North America were often connected by
8514-473: The ocelli may be united: ab. tiphys Esp. They may be increased in number: ab. luxurians Courv., or they may be reduced (ab. privata, unipucta, impuncta ) or all be absent: ab. cinnus Hbn. {= sohni Ruhl) (81 d). More over, all these variations may be more or less slightly developed or vestigial (ab. semiaurantia , caeruleomarginata , etc), or various aberrational characters may be combined in one individual, as for instance in ab. parisiensis Gerh., which
8613-401: The other hand the blue upperside of males dulled by a grey suffusion: ab. suffusa Tutt. Other accidental forms are males with red spots at the margin above: ab. suavis Schultz, and females with such spots: ab. aurantia Tutt. In ab. inaequalis Tutt the glossy blue colour forms irregular streaks on a dark ground. In ab. marginata Tutt the black margin is broadened. In ab. fowleri South
8712-459: The outside of caterpillars and the newly hatched fly larvae bore their way through the skin and feed in a similar way to the parasitoid wasp larvae. Predators of butterflies include ants, spiders, wasps, and birds. Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of
8811-630: The palearctic realm; other biogeographers identify the realm boundary as the transition zone between the desert ecoregions and the Mediterranean basin ecoregions to the north, which places the deserts in the Afrotropic, while others place the boundary through the middle of the desert. The Caucasus mountains, which run between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea , are a particularly rich mix of coniferous, broadleaf, and mixed forests, and include
8910-514: The population or the isolation can cause a decrease in the heterogeneity of population and leads to a decrease in fitness. Habitat fragmentation causes conservation efforts to be difficult because it has to be decided what areas get protect or have the best possible chance of helping increase a population without damaging the overall fitness of the population, so great care is taken when selecting what areas will be protected. According to IUCN Red List for Threatened Species, this particular species
9009-529: The proboscis. They sip water from damp patches for hydration and feed on nectar from flowers, from which they obtain sugars for energy, and sodium and other minerals vital for reproduction. Several species of butterflies need more sodium than that provided by nectar and are attracted by sodium in salt; they sometimes land on people, attracted by the salt in human sweat. Some butterflies also visit dung and scavenge rotting fruit or carcasses to obtain minerals and nutrients. In many species, this mud-puddling behaviour
9108-477: The quality of the habitats that were located in the United Kingdom. Both Germany and Poland came up with action plans such as that if conservation efforts where to take place that the ideal area for protection would be large habitats that were interconnected with other Grassland habitats that were fragmented, and had a high abundance of the juvenile host plant located within it or had the ability to support
9207-431: The quest for a suitable pupation site, often the underside of a leaf or other concealed location. There it spins a button of silk which it uses to fasten its body to the surface and moults for a final time. While some caterpillars spin a cocoon to protect the pupa, most species do not. The naked pupa, often known as a chrysalis, usually hangs head down from the cremaster, a spiny pad at the posterior end, but in some species
9306-752: The region, but several families are endemic: Calomyscidae ( mouse-like hamsters ), Prolagidae , and Ailuridae ( red pandas ). Several mammal species originated in the Palearctic and spread to the Nearctic during the Ice Age , including the brown bear ( Ursus arctos , known in North America as the grizzly), red deer ( Cervus elaphus ) in Europe and the closely related elk ( Cervus canadensis ) in far eastern Siberia, American bison ( Bison bison ), and reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus , known in North America as
9405-473: The species in other parts of its range. This species only produces one generation per year making them a univoltine , which means that this species only breeds once per year and will only produce one set of offspring. L. coridon is monophagous , which means that they only feeds on one specific species of plant. The larvae or caterpillars of this species feed on the leaves of horseshoe vetch ( Hippocrepis comosa ). When they are ready they pupate on
9504-459: The species travels from western Europe into eastern Europe from the ice-age refugium into the Balkans. The starting point for the expansion is in western Hungary traveling into the Balkans and then into Brandenburg and Poland. This expansion shows that are two routes due to the changes in gene allele frequencies and the degree of homogeneity of the species. The two routes are: 1.) Starting in
9603-576: The western tip of Hungary traveling into north-eastern Hungry along the Hungarian Mountains into eastern Slovakia 2.) Starts in western Hungary and travels along the eastern Alps into western Slovakia and Czech Republic The expansion caused there to be two unique genetic populations that were separated by mountain ranges. And the expansion also caused the movement of species that were only found in warmer areas to move into new habitats that were previously cooler in temperature and did not have
9702-513: Was a rise in population between 1981 and 2000. In this time period there was a significant increase in numbers and this led to the stabilization of the population in the 1990s. The UK Biodiversity Action Plan had monitoring plans in place to see these changes and the data that was collected during that time period showed that the increase in population number came from the use of controlling grazing levels, conservation designation, and agri-environment schemes entry and management. These practices improved
9801-502: Was not much affected by glaciation in the ice ages , and retained 96 percent of Pliocene tree genera, while Europe retained only 27 percent. In the subtropical region of southern China and southern edge of the Himalayas, the Palearctic temperate forests transition to the subtropical and tropical forests of Indomalaya , creating a rich and diverse mix of plant and animal species. The mountains of southwest China are also designated as
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