Abstract
Larvae of the endangered Scarce Large Blue butterfly, Phengaris (Maculinea) teleius, are initially endophytic, feeding upon developing seeds of Sanguisorba officinalis, but complete their development as social parasites preying on the brood of Myrmica ants. Females show very specific preferences, laying eggs exclusively in young flower heads of the food plant. In the present contribution we report the results of a detailed study of female behaviour at three sites differing in size and abundance of S. officinalis. Tracked individuals switched between feeding on nectar (nectaring), flight and oviposition. They fed exclusively on flowers of reddish, pink or violet colouration, favouring Viccia cracca and S. officinalis. However, females spent about one fifth of the time they were active ovipositing and laid about 20 eggs per hour. Oviposition visits to flower heads were highly stereotyped and followed a specific ritual. Examination of accepted, rejected and randomly sampled flower heads showed that females avoided those containing conspecific eggs and at a site where this was difficult due to a shortage of suitable flower heads, they tended to distribute their eggs evenly among the available flower heads. Our results indirectly indicate the existence of an oviposition-deterring pheromone (ODP) in P. teleius. This hypothetical marking ensures a more even distribution of eggs and possibly increases the chances of survival of caterpillars by reducing competition during both the phytophagous and myrmecophagous stages of development. There are few reports of butterflies producing ODPs and to our knowledge this is the first evidence of their presence in the family Lycaenidae.
Highlights
Many phytophagous animals show a high level of specialization in terms of their food resources (Jaenike, 1990)
There are examples of such behaviour among species overwintering as eggs, the caterpillars of which feed on herbaceous plants appearing only for a short time in spring, or when the larval food plants are relatively numerous in turf (Wiklund, 1984)
Certain individual plants may attract the attention of many females because of specific favourable microclimatic conditions e.g. Euphydryas aurinia (Rott.) in wet meadows prefer Succisa pratensis L. plants growing in places most appropriate for their caterpillars, which live gregariously and bask (Porter, 1982)
Summary
Many phytophagous animals show a high level of specialization in terms of their food resources (Jaenike, 1990) This is well illustrated by the larvae of holometabolous insects, e.g. Lepidoptera, whose caterpillars often feed only on a few species of plants belonging to a single family (oligophagous), or even genus (monophagous). Striking examples of such relationships can be found among European butterflies, whose food plant preferences are relatively well known (Tolman & Lewington, 2009). Some representatives of this group depend on one plant species. Oviposition is sometimes influenced directly or indirectly by infestations of other insects (Árnyas et al, 2009)
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