Abstract
The lentil (Lens culinaris) is identified as a new host plant of the lepidopteran Tomares ballus. Five larvae of T. ballus were found on 19 May, 2007 in a crop of "castellana" lentils in Toledo Province, Spain and reared in the laboratory. The larval brown spiracles are slightly darker than the rest of the pupa. Traditional cultural practices reduce the insect's probability of completing its life-cycle. We present flight phenology data for T. ballus from the unedited Atlamar database (1,073 records from 1887 to 2003), based on the 438 records for which the year, month and day are known. This period coincides with the flowering and formation of the legumes of various species of leguminosae, such as lentils. The peak activity of the imagos occurs in the second half of March and the first half of April, and the last larvae must be present in the field until the beginning of June.
Highlights
Tomares ballus (Fabricius, 1787) is a species of butterfly of the Lycaenidae family that occurs in the western Mediterranean
The aim of this paper is to identify this legume as a new host plant for T. ballus, to assess its ecological and economic impact and to present some new data on the biology and morphology of the preimaginal stages of this lycaenid that could be of use for its identification
Larval morphology: The descriptions and figures of the preimaginal stages of T. ballus that appear in the bibliography are very limited
Summary
Tomares ballus (Fabricius, 1787) is a species of butterfly of the Lycaenidae family that occurs in the western Mediterranean. In Africa it is found in the north of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, and in Europe in Portugal, Spain and the French Mediterranean (Tolman and Lewington 2002) It has a wide distribution within the Iberian Peninsula that approximately coincides with the area with a Mediterranean climate (GarcíaBarros et al 2004). In most legume species that comprise its feeding spectrum, the caterpillars have to feed ectophytically, but in the case of Erophaca baetica the larvae of T. ballus are endophytic. This host plant is probably the most widely used in areas with a limy substrate throughout their distribution. In more recent publications concerning the morphology of the preimaginal stages, such as those of Jordano (1987) and Lockwood (2006), the presence of these structures is not explicitly confirmed; mention of them is by reference to the work of the aforementioned authors
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
