Ability of males of two theclini species (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) to discriminate between sexes and different types of females based on the colour of their wings

Michio Imafuku,Tasuku Kitamura

doi:10.14411/eje.2015.034

Abstract

Many territorial species of butterfly are sexually dimorphic in their wing colours, and males of such species frequently fight each other, probably attracted by the rival's wing colour. On the other hand, male behaviour should be directed to acquiring mates to increase their fitness, and thus should be sensitive to (usually cryptic) female wing colour. The present experiments aimed to determine whether the conspicuous male colour or cryptic female colour is more attractive to the territorial males of two lycaenid species, Chrysozephyrus smaragdinus and Neozephyrus japonicus. A pair of female and male wing models was presented simultaneously in the field to a male. The results indicate that the males of both species were preferentially attracted by the female wing model. In N. japonicus, in which the wing colour of females is polymorphic, males preferred particular types of female wings, in that they were more strongly attracted to the type-B model with a blue patch on the forewing than the type-O model, which lacked a blue patch.

Highlights

Conspicuous and sometimes brilliant colours of butterflies are thought to play a role in their intraspecific communication, especially in the location of mates by males (Silberglied, 1977, 1984)
For Neozephyrus japonicus, the female wing model of type B with a blue patch and green male wing model were compared in a total of 10 tests (Fig. 2B)
From the results of the present experiments it is concluded that males of the two theclini species tested, Chrys ozephyrus smaragdinus and Neozephyrus japonicus, can discriminate between the sexes of the same species using wing colour and prefer female wings even though these are cryptic in colour

Summary

Introduction

Conspicuous and sometimes brilliant colours of butterflies are thought to play a role in their intraspecific communication, especially in the location of mates by males (Silberglied, 1977, 1984). Males of patrolling species fly around searching for potential mates and are expected to be sensitive to the wing colours of conspecific females. This has been shown for many species: Heliconius erato (Linnaeus) (Crane, 1955), H. melpomene (Linnaeus), H. cydno Doubleday (Jiggins et al, 2001), Argynnis paphia (Linnaeus) (Magnus, 1958), P. protodice Boisduval & Leconte (Rutowski, 1981) and Eurema lisa (Boisduval & Leconte) (Rutowski, 1977). The list of animals approached or inspected by a territorial Hipparchia semele (Linnaeus) male includes species of butterflies, 2 species of moths, more than species of other insects including coleopterans, hymenopterans, dipterans, neuropterans and orthopterans, and 4 species of birds (Tinbergen et al, 1942). A territorial male of Nymphalis antiope (Linnaeus) inspected birds, humans, light-coloured objects placed on a ledge and falling leaves, which they prodded two to three times before they reached the ground (Bitzer & Shaw, 1983)

Methods

Results

Conclusion