Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Cheers Susie It was the best sunrise for quite a while. It's mainly been dark, misty or raining recently so it was nice to have a good one for a change.

I've still got a few speces left from Bristol Zoo and I've managed to identify most of them but there are one or two left that I just don't know where to begin looking or don't seem to match anything I've found. So I hand over and ask for any suggestions...

Not sure where to start

Papillo bootes - best I can do - is it the same as the above?

Any help gratefully recieved and then I can hit the books and get on with the research.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Padfield]

I think the second one is P. helenus - a species I have seen in India. I'll have to go to the books for the first.

Guy

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Wurzel,

Try Parides zacynthus for the first. I agree with Guy for the second.

Kind regards. Mark

[Wurzel]

Cheers for your ID help Guy and Mark
I checked out the second one and P.helenus looks spot on.

I was thinking cattlehearts for the first one and then when Mark suggested Parides zacynthus I looked for it and I thought great. Something was nagging at me today though and so I checked again and there were more pink spots on the underwing and the white markings didn't seem to go far enough towards the margin on the forewing? So I went through every single entry under Parides on Wikipedia but none seemed to match. In the end I just entered Parides into google an almost identical image appeared in the suggested box on the side of the screen - it seems to be Parides arcas? I hope that's right and I'm not putting too much faith in other users of the internet

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Wurzel,

As I'm sure you have already gathered, there are some very similar species in the Parides genus. I think Parides arcas is correct for your image. On checking the two main supplier catalogues both currently list arcas but not zacynthus.

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

[Wurzel]

Cheers again for your help Mark, without your suggestion I wouldn't have got anywhere I'm going to have a little break from Parides as I see them everytime I shut my eyes

Glasswing – Greta oto (Geyer, 1837)

It is found in the neotropics from Mexico to Panama and is a “brushfooted” butterfly from the Dananinae family and this is the most common species of about 30 in the genus. The most obvious feature of this species is its translucent wings, caused by a lack of scales on the wings. It is thought that this offers some advantage as camouflage as it can blend into any background an idea which seems more likely when its habit of flying in the darkest parts of the forest under-storey is taken into consideration. They are very hard to follow when they complete their slow flight between light and dark breaks in butterfly houses let along huge forests!

However what confuses me is that it is toxic as well but I suppose it’s covering all the angles when it comes to avoiding being eaten. The alkaloids that make it toxic it gets from the nectar of its food plants and not only do they use it for defence but the males also convert it into pheromones to attract the females. The androconical scales located on their wings are plume like but are often hidden from view (as they rest with wings tightly shut) until courtship when they open their wings and allow the “scent” to spread and apparently they display lekking behaviour. This was mentioned on Wikipedia but I didn’t see it elsewhere. If like birds, lekking involves males congregating at a particular point and then displaying in front of a collection of females. The male(s) with the best display(s) end up with more than their fair share of female attention. Despite their slow, deep flight they are also migratory and I’ve seen it mentioned that they can fly up to 12 kilometres/miles (depending on which source I looked at) as part of long migrations.

All of these fascinating behaviours and stunningly different appearance means that I’m even more gutted now as I only got one photo of this species . I regretted not getting more as soon as I got back from the Zoo, but even more so now. As it seems to be one of the commoner species in butterfly houses I should get other chances to get some photos despite my tendency to over look it while waiting for something I haven’t seen before like the Leopard Lacewing etc.

Have a goodun
Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Happy February

Moving house tomorrow/today and looking forward to two weeks of boxes, cleaning, reciting my new address again and again and intermittent broadband

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Philzoid]

A very interesting discussion on the glasswing Wurzel, especially the reference to butterfly developing toxicity from a nectar source rather then the usual route of larvae accumulating the toxins from their foodplant. Does the female have this toxin too or only the males to use it for / convert it into pheromone

As it seems to be one of the commoner species in butterfly houses

I've made 4 visits to Wisley already this year (I feel a picture posting coming on .... three new species ) but I still haven't seen it

Phil

[ChrisC]

good luck with the move Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Cheers Philzoid - as far as I'm aware the females also use it but only as a toxin. The posting was cracking - if I hadn't have been moving I'd have made a comment, perhaps I still will.

Cheers Chris - the move went well but I'm still surrounded in boxes - I might make a house inside a house out of them

Small Blue Grecian...

Or more correctly Heliconius sara (Fabricius, 1793) of which there are approx 10 subspecies and I have my suspicions that this is the subspecies theudela although that’s more of a guess really than anything else. The species itself can be confused with H.wallacei when looking at the upperside although the diagnostic feature is that H.wallacei has red streaks near the underside base of the wings whereas H.sara has spots. It is found along the edges and more open areas of lowland jungles from Guatemala to Southern Amazonia.

Having researched and written about various mimics in the last couple of weeks I wasn’t surprised to find out that H.sara is toxic. I’d already noted the boldly marked upper and under side which suggests “true” toxicity in these neo-tropical species and H.sara retains the toxins from feeding during the larval stage. For butterfly photographers the stunning livery isn’t the only attraction as they are very long lived as they feed on nectar, in some cases reaching a grand old age of several months. They also show communal roosting and even better studies have shown that they use the “travelling salesman algorithm”. This means that they memorise the locations of food sources in their home ranges in association with their communal roost. They can then plan out the most efficient circuit which they then fly each day. So if you’re making a couple of visits to the same butterfly house you can try and work out where they will be and get set up ready.

One of the most interesting and possibly shocking behaviours exhibited by H.sara is pupal mating. The male emerges first and flies seeking out a pheromone released by the female pupae. In other species which show pupal mating the male will then settle down and wait for the female to start emerging and then he will mate with her whilst she is still emerging. In H.sara the males will actually break open the pupa and as soon as the genitals are accessible he will copulate!
And with that graphic image I’ll leave it there for now...

Have a goodun
Wurzel

[Philzoid]

Excellent report there Wurzel .
In the Wisley butterfly house they use feeding tables which are constantly stocked with artificial nectar (sugar solution?) so I wouldn't expect the butterflies to go on a feeding circuit, but I might be wrong .

The pupal mating is amazing and raises some questions. I expect the female would be very close to emergence allowing the pupal skin to be thin enough for the male to break into? The male would also have to avoid damaging the hooks/claspers which anchor the case to a silken pad otherwise a break-in might case difficulty for the female to emerge? I also suspect that the male would have to 'hold his horses' until the female had released meconium. Premature release of meconium can occur if pupae are handled roughly or even just handled in some cases, and this can spell the death of the insect by glueing it into its case . It would be interesting to know whether this pupal mating process causes losses or have those species that have evolved to use it got it off to a fine art.?

[Wurzel]

Cheers Philzoid

Thanks for the questions I did a bit more reading on this so hopefully I've found some answers...

"I expect the female would be very close to emergence"...in most pupal mating species the male will actually wait until the female is just emerging. With H.sara they too wait and then sort of help her on the way.

"I also suspect that the male would have to 'hold his horses' until the female had released meconium"... the various sources I found seemed to suggest that the females do release meconium while still copulating although they release it more slowly than if they were emerging unencumbered. From further reading it doesn't seem to be as rough and tumble as I first thought with the mating pair staying joined for a comparatively long period during which time the female completes emergence and her wings can dry out. I suppose in a way it's more efficient as the deed is done in what would otherwise be wasted time. It's not like the female can go anywhere immediately after emergence and so if she gets mating over and done with then as soon as she can fly she can start feeding and the eggs will develop sooner.

"those species that have evolved to use it got it off to a fine art.?"...in order for it still to be happening they must have got it, like you say, down to a fine art and also it must provide some advantage. This is merely me thinking aloud without any research to back it up...but if the male comes to her and copulates directly then she uses less energy seeking a mate and also instead of being more vulnerable at two distinct times at her life (mating and emergence) she's only vulnerable once, an original two for one as it were .

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Philzoid]

Thanks for the trouble in trying to find out answers to my questions .

The more I read this the more questions I seem to find. Firstly you say that the male helps the female break out, but how?. Butterflies don't have jaws and I can't imagine their limbs are strong enough to tear open a pupal skin . Perhaps it’s the female who senses the presence of the male and breaks out (flexsure of the abdomen) … either to facilitate the mating process or to get away before he has his way (are most females in the butterfly world choosy on who they copulate with expecting to be wooed by flight and scent?). If she does exercise a choice then her breaking the skin would be feasible argument. If the male does breaks in because it's in his advantage to mate with as many females as possibly (I assume pupal mating in not exclusive in this species?) she may under those circumstances have little choice but to accept his availability and get it over and done with? No advantage to her perhaps but no disadvantage to the species as such (hence this strategy has been able to evolve)

Another question:- being caught in a 'compromising position' by a potential predator before you have the ability to fly may be disadvantageous, although you state the fact that they are distasteful/poisonous, which could negate against that scenario?

Isn't nature fascinating

[Wurzel]

No worries Philzoid WRT pupal mating possibly meaning less risk I thought as I wrote it that "surely it wouldn't mater as they're poisonous" but then perhaps they could be unlucky enough to meet a predator that hasn't made the association yet?

I think the males sort of use their genitals, catching the edge of the pupal covering and tearing at it. Unfortunately a lot of the surces I found described the act quite emotionally and didn't actually go into details of the mecahnics. Sorry these are just best guesses.

Lady

We’ve recently moved into a “tiny house” as my wife calls it, into the centre of Salisbury. I’ve gone from having a huge back garden with mature fruit trees, flower and veggie patches and shrubbed borders to a very small (possibly 2 metres square) patch of concrete.

Never mind as just over the road is the Harnham town path overlooking the water meadows which Constable once sat in to paint the Cathedral and a nearby local nature reserve. I know the area well as I spent a year living in Harnham when I was very small, and my wife and I and then my wife, daughter and I lived just over the road from where we’ve bought. I used to do a bird count once a month around the local streets and parks. Over the years that I did it I found Common Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail and Kingfishers along with a Wood Duck (this was at 5:30am whilst taking a walk with my wife who thought it would help with the labour pains! her idea not mine I hasten to add) and a Mandarin on the river. Some of the larger trees sheltered Willow-Chiffs, Spotted Flycatchers and most prominent in my mind one autumn there was a Fiercest.

However the thing that used to really throw me was that I swore that on some evenings I could hear a Barn Owl. “It couldn’t be” I’d tell myself and then go back to watching Daubentons feeding along one of the tributaries...

Today having sat down for the first time in what feels like two weeks I heard a Barn Owl again. So I opened up the kitchen door and there was Lady sitting on the wall and staring at me. My neighbour has had her for 25 years from the egg. When she hatched her wing was turned wrong and it took so long for him to turn it correctly that by then she wouldn’t accept anyone else. She was a bit moody today as she doesn’t like the cold weather and at her grand old age who can blame her although she still pays for her keep as a guard owl!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Susie]

She's a beauty, Wurzel, and looks in really good condition. How long do Barn Owls live?

[Wurzel]

My neighbour seems to think that she's possibly going to make it to 26 and I hope she does. She's certainly one of the most glamorous "pets" I've seen. The best thing about her being next door is that all those years ago when I thought I was hearing things I was actually making the correct identification

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Tiger Longwing

Correctly known as Heliconius hecale (Fabricius, 1776) or the Golden Helicon. It is found across Central America and down into South America, from Mexico to the Peruvian Amazon. It is in the family Nymphalidae but has the synonym Papilio hecale so there was some debate about its’ lineage and even now there is a suggestion that it’s more closely related to the Fritillaries – although I only saw this on one source.

It is found in forested areas flying rapidly in the canopy and often more erratically in the lower storey. Like other “long wings” it feeds on pollen as well as nectar. This makes it much more fecund and long lived than other species. Also like other members of the genus is shows circadian communal roosting.

Again it is part of a mimicry ring, with all 29 subspecies mimicking other toxic species (generally from the Ithomiines). These are toxic too and they gain their toxicity from feeding on the passion vine as larvae. This toxicity is carried on into the adult stage. They also, surprise surprise, engage in pupal mating. They are slightly more refined than H.sara though in that males will gather around a female pupal case and wait for her to start emerging. As she does they will fight each other off and the victor will mate whilst she is still largely in the pupal case and as her wings harden.

Have a goodun
Wurzel

[millerd]

Tiger Longwing

... it feeds on pollen as well as nectar. This makes it much more fecund and long lived than other species...

Wurzel

How does it ingest the pollen? Is it sucked up through the proboscis as well? I had no idea this organ had adapted to this feeding process in certain species. Does your source have any clarification - I'm fascinated!

Dave

[Wurzel]

I did a bit more digging into this Dave and it seems that feeding on pollen has evolved from proboscis grooming behaviour. They don't actually ingest the pollen,instead they collect it on their proboscis and then coil and uncoil their proboscis which starts to break down the pollen grains physical. At the same time they release saliva which contains protease enzymes. These break the pollen grains down chemically and then the amino acid rich solution is taken in like nectar would be.
Isn't evolution grand?!
Have a goodun

Wurzel
PS It does take a couple of hours for the process to work. I also saw reference to a Malayan moth (unfortunately it wasn't named) that takes blood meals like Mosquitoes (can't quite believe this so I'll read a big more about it)!!

PPS Just read about the Harvester butterfly which has a short proboscis which it uses to pierce wooly aphids and it then drinks their fluids!!

[millerd]

Thanks, Wurzel! That's an amazing adaptation - and the idea of a vampire moth and a carnivorous butterfly as well...

Cheers,

Dave