Does the presence of ant nests matter for oviposition to a specialized myrmecophilous Maculinea butterfly?

More than 50% of the lycaenid butterflies have an ant-associated lifestyle (myrmecophily) which may vary from coexistence to specific mutualistic or even parasitic interactions. Ant-related host-plant selection and oviposition has been observed in some myrmecophilous lycaenids. Therefore, it is rema...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2000-05, Vol.267 (1446), p.861-866
Main Authors: Dyck, Hans van, Oostermeijer, J. Gerard B., Talloen, Willem, Feenstra, Vivian, Hidde, Anne van der, Wynhoff, Irma
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal nesting
Animals
Ants
Butterflies
Butterflies - physiology
Ecosystem
Eggs
Female
Formicidae
Host plants
Insect colonies
Insect eggs
Insect larvae
Insect nests
Leerstoelgroep Resource Ecology
Lycaenidae
Maculinea
maculinea alcon
Myrmecophily
Oviposition
Oviposition - physiology
PE&RC
Plants
Resource Ecology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:More than 50% of the lycaenid butterflies have an ant-associated lifestyle (myrmecophily) which may vary from coexistence to specific mutualistic or even parasitic interactions. Ant-related host-plant selection and oviposition has been observed in some myrmecophilous lycaenids. Therefore, it is remarkable that there is no evidence for this behaviour in the highly specialized, obligate myrmecophilous butterflies of the genus Maculinea. In contrast with previous findings, our results provide evidence for ant-related oviposition patterns in Maculinea alcon in relation to the distribution of specific host-ant nests (i.e.Myrmica ruginodis) based on repeated egg counts during the flight period in two populations. We also show that ant-related oviposition can be counterbalanced by intraspecific competition and oviposition deterrency when host plants already carry several eggs. Therefore, the absence of a correlation between egg load and the presence of host-ant nests at the end of the flight period should be interpreted carefully. Whether ovipositional cues are obtained either directly (from ants or their nests) or indirectly (from vegetation structure), and whether alternative explanations based on the phenology and growth form of host plants are possible, is discussed.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2000.1082