Microhabitat preferences of Maculinea teleius (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in a mosaic landscape

Functional conservation units for the endangered Alcon Blue butterfly Maculinea alcon in Belgium (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

To organize and prioritise species-specific conservation efforts, we delineate ‘functional conservation units’ for the threatened Alcon Blue butterfly Maculinea alcon in Belgium. We used detailed distribution data on the butterfly, its host plant and its habitat, present-day population sizes and its mobility and colonization capacity to determine functional conservation units (FCUs) on differen...

Adoption of parasitic Maculinea alcon caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) by three Myrmica ant species

Maculinea butterflies are parasites of Myrmica ant nests. The Alcon blue, Maculinea alcon, is unusual in that it parasitizes the nests of several Myrmica species, using M. rubra, M. ruginodis and M. scabrinodis as hosts in different parts of Europe. In Denmark it uses M. rubra and M. ruginodis, but never M. scabrinodis. Some populations use one of these species exclusively, despite the presence...

Wolbachia Infections Mimic Cryptic Speciation in Two Parasitic Butterfly Species, Phengaris teleius and P. nausithous (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

Deep mitochondrial divergence within species may result from cryptic speciation, from phylogeographic isolation or from endosymbiotic bacteria like Wolbachia that manipulate host reproduction. Phengaris butterflies are social parasites that spend most of their life in close relationship with ants. Previously, cryptic speciation has been hypothesised for two Phengaris species based on divergent ...

A phylogenetic revision of the Glaucopsyche section (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), with special focus on the Phengaris-Maculinea clade.

Despite much research on the socially parasitic large blue butterflies (genus Maculinea) in the past 40 years, their relationship to their closest relatives, Phengaris, is controversial and the relationships among the remaining genera in the Glaucopsyche section are largely unresolved. The evolutionary history of this butterfly section is particularly important to understand the evolution of li...

IS CYCASIN IN Eumaeus minyas (LEPIDOPTERA: LYCAENIDAE) A PREDATOR DETERRENT?