Caterpillars of Eumaeus childrenae (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) feeding on two species of cycads (Zamiaceae) in the Huasteca region, Mexico.

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

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...

Host-ant specificity of endangered large blue butterflies (Phengaris spp., Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in Japan

Large blue butterflies, Phengaris (Maculinea), are an important focus of endangered-species conservation in Eurasia. Later-instar Phengaris caterpillars live in Myrmica ant nests and exploit the ant colony's resources, and they are specialized to specific host-ant species. For example, local extinction of P. arion in the U. K. is thought to have been due to the replacement of its host-ant speci...

Chemical disguise as particular caste of host ants in the ant inquiline parasite Niphanda fusca (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae).

The exploitation of parental care is common in avian and insect 'cuckoos' and these species engage in a coevolutionary arms race. Caterpillars of the lycaenid butterfly Niphanda fusca develop as parasites inside the nests of host ants (Camponotus japonicus) where they grow by feeding on the worker trophallaxis. We hypothesized that N. fusca caterpillars chemically mimic host larvae, or some par...

Leaf anatomy of a late Palaeozoic cycad

Today, cycads are a small group of gymnospermous plants with a limited distribution in the (sub)tropics, but they were major constituents of Mesozoic floras. Fossil leaves sporadically found in latest Carboniferous and Permian floras have putatively been ascribed to cycads. However, their true affinity remains unclear due to the lack of anatomical evidence. Virtually all modern cycads have pinn...