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Where does a Japanese Lycaenid butterfly live?

Where does a Japanese Lycaenid butterfly live?

The caterpillars of this species (and of all the butterflies in the family Lycaenidae) are flattened and woodlouse-shape in appearance. * Where to find them: In hilly parts of Honshu from Kanto westward, in evergreen broadleafed forests, from June to October.

What is the prominent Colour of a Lycaenid butterfly?

blue
The butterfly Mimeresia neavei (Joicey & Talbot, 1921) is the only species in the exclusively African subtribal clade Mimacraeina (Lipteninae: Lycaenidae: Lepidoptera) having sexual dimorphism expressed by structurally blue-colored male and pigmentary colored orange–red female phenotypes.

What is the relationship between ants and butterflies?

Lycaenid butterflies and ants are representative examples of mutualism, in which different species benefit from the activities of the other.

Where do gossamer winged butterflies live?

Quick Facts
Distribution Different parts of the United States of America like Alberta, British Columbia, northern Saskatchewan, southern Maine
Habitat In and close to evergreen forests
Lifespan of adults Approximately three weeks
Host plants Lupines, Gambel oak, California juniper, red cedar, Utah juniper, and horseshoe vetch

Where are large blue butterflies found?

Currently large blue is classified as “near threatened” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Today P. arion can be found in Europe, the Caucasus, Armenia, western Siberia, Altai, north-western Kazakhstan and Sichuan.

Are there predatory butterflies?

In the Americas, there is but a single species of carnivorous butterfly. Throughout the range of the Harvester in eastern North America, various species of wooly aphids are utilized for food. …

What is the largest family of butterflies?

Nymphalidae
The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies.

Do butterflies use ants as babysitters?

The butterflies need the ants as they use them for free childcare. As a consequence, the ants will carry the caterpillars back into their nest. Some species of blue butterfly mimic ant larvae so well that the ants will bring them food and care for them until they are ready to pupate and turn into a chrysalis.

What is the relationship between ants and caterpillars?

The ants (Ectatomma tuberculatum) have a symbiotic relationship, known as myrmecophily, with the caterpillars. The caterpillars have evolved a special structure called the “dorsal nectary organ” which produces sugars and amino acids for the ants.

What do gossamer winged butterflies eat?

aphids
Their food plants include trees, shrubs, and annual legumes. The larvae of some species are carnivorous and may require a diet of aphids or ant larvae. The latter may be devoured while adult ants take secretions from special so-called milk glands on the butterfly larva.

Do gossamer winged butterflies migrate?

Adult Life Cycle Stage Many Gossamer butterflies have eyespots and hair like tails on their hindwings., which are usually on the opposite end of their real eyes and antennae. These butterflies don’t migrate but live, reproduce and overwinter locally without coming or going to other areas.

What are the characteristics of Lycaenidae butterflies?

The Lycaenidae Family of butterflies are the second largest family of butterflies in the world consisting of over 6000 species. Members of this family are also called the ‘gossamer winged butterflies’. They represent around 40% of all known butterfly species. the harvesters (Miletinae). Adults are small, usually under 5 centimetres in length.

What is the Lycaenidae family?

The Lycaenidae are members of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Worldwide in distribution, this family has approximately 4,700 species that are unevenly distributed.

Do Lycaenidae need ants?

Not all Lycaenidae butterflies need ants, but about 75% of species associate with them. In some species, larvae are attended and protected by ants while feeding on the host plant and the ants receive sugar-rich honeydew from them throughout the larval life.

What do lycaenids eat?

Lycaenids are diverse in their food habits and apart from phytophagy, some of them are entomophagous, feeding on aphids, scale insects, and ant larvae. Some lycaenids even exploit their association with ants by inducing ants to feed them by regurgitation, a process called trophallaxis.