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2. Adaptations of Coccinella magnifica, a myrmecophilous coccinellid to aggression by wood ants (Formica rufa group). II.. Larval behaviour, and ladybird oviposition location1
- Creator:
- Sloggett, John J. and Majerus, Michael E.N.
- Type:
- article, model:article, and TEXT
- Subject:
- occinella magnifica, Coccinella septempunctata, Formica rufa, ant-tended aphids, myrmecophily, and oviposition
- Language:
- English
- Description:
- Like adults, larvae of the myrmecophilous ladybird Coccinella magnifica are rarely attacked by Formica rufa ants on foraging trails, but more often attacked on ant-tended aphid colonies. Larvae of the non-myrmecophile Coccinella septempunctata, to which C. magnifica was compared, were more readily attacked by ants in both situations. To avoid or counter ant aggression when foraging for aphids, C. magnifica larvae exhibit three main tactics: they may feed on un- or non-tended aphids; when feeding on tended colonies they often carry prey away, minimising time spent there; and if attacked, they use limited chemical defence. No novel behaviours were found in C. magnifica larvae, not occurring to some extent in C. septempunctata. Coccinella magnifica eggs were laid distant to ant-tended aphids, although closer to un- or non-tended aphids.
- Rights:
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ and policy:public
3. Behavioural evidence for a putative oviposition-deterring pheromone in the butterfly, Phengaris (Maculinea) teleius (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
- Creator:
- Sielezniew, Marcin and Stankiewicz-Fiedurek, Anna M.
- Type:
- article, články, model:article, and TEXT
- Subject:
- Zoologie, zoologie, entomologie, host plant marking behaviour, host plant selection, Maculinea teleius, myrmecophily, oviposition, oviposition-deterring pheromone, Phengaris teleius, Sanguisorba officinalis, social parasite, 2, and 59
- Language:
- English
- Description:
- 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., Marcin Sielezniew, Anna M. Stankiewicz-Fiedurek., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
- Rights:
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ and policy:public
4. Differences in the development of the closely related myrmecophilous butterflies Maculinea alcon and M. rebeli (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
- Creator:
- Sielezniew, Marcin and Stankiewicz, Anna M.
- Type:
- article, model:article, and TEXT
- Subject:
- Lycaenidae, Maculinea alcon, Maculinea rebeli, Myrmica ants, myrmecophily, host-ant specificity, growth rate, larval diapause, Gentiana pneumonanthe, Gentiana cruciata, endangered species, and Poland
- Language:
- English
- Description:
- The initially phytophagous caterpillars of Maculinea alcon and M. rebeli complete their development in Myrmica ant colonies as social parasites. Recent genetic studies show no differences at the species level among various populations of each butterfly taxa. Usually M. alcon and M. rebeli are identified by habitat and larval food plants (Gentianaceae) and host ant specificity is also considered to be an important feature. However most of the ecological characteristics overlap at least in some parts of their distributions. The developmental and survival characteristics of caterpillars reared by different Myrmica species were compared in laboratory experiments and in the field. Morphologically indistinguishable M. alcon and M. rebeli, which originated from Polish populations, are very similar in terms of host specificity i.e. larvae survived both with M. scabrinodis and M. sabuleti. However they showed different growth characteristics. The earlier flight period of M. rebeli, which is synchronized with the phenology of Gentiana cruciata, resulted from the quick growth of caterpillars in Myrmica nests in the pre-winter phase, when they gained about half of their final body biomass. After the end of winter they recommenced growth almost immediately. M. alcon larvae entered diapause shortly after adoption by ants and began to increase in weight significantly just one month after the onset of spring, which synchronized their development with that of their larval food plant, G. pneumonanthe. Therefore neither population group is transferable between habitats and should still be regarded, at least, as distinct conservational units.
- Rights:
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ and policy:public
5. Myrmica sabuleti (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) not necessary for the survival of the population of Phengaris (Maculinea) arion (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in eastern Poland: Lower host-ant specificity or evidence for geographical variation of an endangered social parasite?
- Creator:
- Sielezniew, Marcin and Stankiewicz, Anna M.
- Type:
- article, model:article, and TEXT
- Subject:
- Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Phengaris arion, Maculinea, Myrmica rugulosa, Myrmica hellenica, Myrmica schencki, Myrmica sabuleti, myrmecophily, host specificity, and social parasitism
- Language:
- English
- Description:
- Larvae and pupae of the obligatorily myrmecophilous Phengaris (Maculinea) arion were found for the first time in nests of Myrmica rugulosa, M. hellenica and M. schencki at a site in eastern Poland. M. sabuleti, commonly considered as a major host of the butterfly and whose abundance is vital for the survival of P. arion populations, was shown to be very rare and not used. Estimated mean density of Myrmica nests was very low, which suggests that relatively vast areas are necessary to support a viable population of P. arion in similar sandy habitats. This may explain the decline and rarity of the butterfly in the whole region, even though its relationships with ants seem not to be very specific there.
- Rights:
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ and policy:public
6. Simultaneous exploitation of Myrmica vandeli and M. scabrinodis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) colonies by the endangered myrmecophilous butterfly Maculinea alcon (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
- Creator:
- Sielezniew, Marcin and Stankiewicz, Anna M.
- Type:
- article, model:article, and TEXT
- Subject:
- Maculinea alcon, host-ant specificity, Myrmica scabrinodis, Myrmica vandeli, Ichneumon, myrmecophily, endangered species, and Poland
- Language:
- English
- Description:
- Host-ant specificity of Maculinea alcon, an endangered obligatory myrmecophilous lycaenid butterfly, was studied at two sites in southern Poland (Świętokrzyskie Mts near Kielce). M. alcon larvae and pupae were found in nests of both Myrmica vandeli and M. scabrinodis, which is the typical host in Poland and Southern Europe. To our knowledge this is the first record of M. vandeli as a host of M. alcon. Our results show that M. scabrinodis and M. vandeli are about equally suitable as hosts. We hypothesize that both host ant species are closely related and have similar chemical profiles, and that the M. alcon "scabrinodis-vandeli" populations we studied belong to the M. alcon "scabrinodis" race. More than half of the M. alcon pupae, both from M. vandeli and M. scabrinodis nests, were parasitized by a single wasp species of the genus Ichneumon, which also suggests that the cuticular chemistry of the two ant species is similar.
- Rights:
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ and policy:public
7. The ant-associations and diet of the ladybird Coccinella magnifica (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
- Creator:
- Sloggett, John J., Völkl, Wolfgang, Schulze, Werner, Schulenburg, Hinrich G.V.D., and Majerus , Michael E.N.
- Type:
- article, model:article, and TEXT
- Subject:
- Coccinella magnifica, myrmecophily, Formica rufa group, habitat preference, aphidophagy, geographic variation, and Coccinella septempunctata
- Language:
- English
- Description:
- The ladybird Coccinella magnifica is typically considered to be myrmecophilous, and primarily associated with the Formica rufa group of wood ants. It is regularly associated with ants of the F. rufa group in north-western Europe. The very limited data on the habitat preference of C. magnifica in the southern and eastern parts of its range indicate that its ant-associations change and that it may even be non-myrmecophilous in this region. C. magnifica might consist of geographically restricted species or semispecies, on the basis of its geographical variation in ant-association. Laboratory and field observations on north-western myrmecophilous populations C. magnifica appear to indicate it is a generalist predator of aphids. Coccinella magnifica's potential dietary breadth is similar to that of its congener Coccinella septempunctata, which has been used as a model of C. magnifica's non-myrmecophilous ancestor in evolutionary studies.
- Rights:
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ and policy:public
8. The long-awaited first instar larva of Paussus favieri (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussini)
- Creator:
- Di Giulio, Andrea, Maurizi, Emanuela, Hlaváč, Peter, and Moore, Wendy
- Type:
- article, model:article, and TEXT
- Subject:
- Carabidae, Paussini, flanged bombardier beetles, Paussus favieri, first instar larva, taxonomy, functional morphology, myrmecophily, Formicidae, and Pheidole pallidula
- Language:
- English
- Description:
- Paussus favieri Fairmaire is one of only two species of the myrmecophilous carabid tribe Paussini known from Europe. Larvae are known from only 10 of the 580 paussine species. As in many beetles with considerably modified later instar larvae, the first instars represent a valuable source of informative characters for taxonomy and phylogenetic analyses (primary chaetotaxy, eggbursters, etc.). Therefore, the discovery of the first instar larva of P. favieri is particularly important, as it represents only the second species for which this larval stage is known. In this paper we describe the behavior and morphology of the larval first instar of P. favieri (subtribe Paussina of Paussini) and compare it with that of Arthropterus sp. (subtribe Cerapterina), which is the only other 1st instar described in the Paussini. Most surprisingly, we found that the 1st instar of P. favieri lacks a prostheca, which was previously thought to be a synapomorphy of Paussina + Platyrhopalina. Rather, P. favieri has a unique mandibular structure that seems to be functionally analogous to the protheca. It is a long, broadly lanceolate, distinctly flattened structure apparently homologous to the medial mandibular seta (MN2*), which arises from an area behind the cutting edge of mandible. We predict that the function of the protheca and this similar structure in P. favieri are involved in a specialized feeding strategy that may include soliciting trophallaxis from their host ants. We also report some observations of the first instar hatching from the egg, feeding on liquid and a behaviour we interpret as a “calling behavior,” all of which were videotaped and posted on the Tree of Life Web Project.
- Rights:
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ and policy:public