Blues (butterfly)
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Blues (butterfly)
Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly species. The family comprises seven subfamilies, including the blues (Polyommatinae), the coppers (Lycaeninae), the hairstreaks (Theclinae), and the harvesters (Miletinae). Description, food, and life cycle Adults are small, under 5 cm usually, and brightly coloured, sometimes with a metallic gloss. Larvae are often flattened rather than cylindrical, with glands that may produce secretions that attract and subdue ants. Their cuticles tend to be thickened. Some larvae are capable of producing vibrations and low sounds that are transmitted through the substrates they inhabit. They use these sounds to communicate with ants.Pierce, N. E.; Braby, M. F.; Heath, A.; Lohman, D. J.; Mathew, J.; Rand, D. B. & Travassos, M. A. (2002)"The ecol ...
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Large Blue
The large blue (''Phengaris arion'') is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The species was first defined in 1758 and first recorded in Britain in 1795. In 1979 the species became mostly extinct in Britain but has been successfully reintroduced with new conservation methods. The species 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. The large blue can be distinguished by its unique speckled black dots on its wings with a blue background. The large blue butterfly is well known in behavioural ecology as it is a brood parasite of a single species of red ant, ''Myrmica sabuleti''. Subspecies *''P. a. arion'' Mainland Europe, western Siberia, Altai, north-western Kazakhstan *''P. a. delphinatus'' (Fruhstorfer, 1910) *''P. a. zara'' Jachontov, 1935 Caucasus, Armenia *''P. a. buholzeri'' Rezbanyai, 1978 * ''P. a. ...
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Entomophagous
Entomophagy (, from Greek ἔντομον ', 'insect', and φαγεῖν ', 'to eat') is the practice of eating insects. An alternative term is insectivory. Terms for organisms that practice entomophagy are ''entomophage'' and ''insectivore''. Entomophagy is sometimes defined to also include the eating of arthropods other than insects, such as arachnids and myriapods; eating arachnids may also be referred to as arachnophagy. In non-humans Entomophagy is widespread among many animals, including non-human primates. Animals that feed primarily on insects are called insectivores. Insects, nematodes and fungi that obtain their nutrition from insects are sometimes termed ''entomophagous'', especially in the context of biological control applications. These may also be more specifically classified into predators, parasites or parasitoids, while viruses, bacteria and fungi that grow on or inside insects may also be termed ''entomopathogenic'' (see also entomopathogenic fungi). I ...
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Atlides Halesus
The great purple hairstreak (''Atlides halesus''), also called the great blue hairstreak, is a common gossamer-winged butterfly species in parts of the United States. It is actually a Neotropical species; its North American range only includes the warm-temperate and subtropical parts of that continent, and it ranges southwards almost to the Isthmus of Panama. The type specimen, however, was shipped to Europe from the Colony of Virginia, probably around the time of the United States Declaration of Independence. The common names refer to the butterfly's two main colors – dusky purple on the underside, and iridescent blue above. Particularly the males are very colorful in flight – brilliant blue and velvety black, with bright red and golden markings – but when sitting down they show their inconspicuous dusky purple underside. On each hindwing, there are two tails, with one short and one long tail, lending itself to the name "hairstreak". Several subspecies are recognize ...
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Arhopala
''Arhopala'' is a very large genus of gossamer-winged butterflies (Lycaenidae). They are the type genus of the tribe Arhopalini. In the relatively wide circumscription used here, it contains over 200 species collectively known as oakblues. They occur from Japan throughout temperate to tropical Asia south and east of the Himalayas to Australia and the Solomon Islands of Melanesia. Like many of their relatives, their caterpillars are attended and protected by ants (myrmecophily). Sexual dichromatism is often prominent in adult oakblues.Brower (2008) The genus' delimitation versus ''Amblypodia'' and ''Flos'' has proven to be problematic; not all issues are resolved and the assignment of species to these genera must be considered somewhat provisional. Systematics As circumscribed here, this genus includes many formerly independent genera. Junior synonyms of ''Arhopala'' are: * ''Acesina'' Moore, 1884 * ''Aurea'' Evans, 1957 * ''Daranasa'' Moore, 1884 (''lapsus'') * ''Darasana'' Moor ...
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Liphyra Brassolis
''Liphyra brassolis'', the moth butterfly, is a butterfly found in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia that belongs to the lycaenid family. The larvae are predatory and feed on ant larvae. This is one of the largest species of lycaenid butterflies. Several disjunct populations across its wide distribution range are considered as subspecies. Never a common butterfly, specimens of this species are highly prized by collectors. Description Forewing: costa arched; apex subacute; termen convex; tornus rounded; dorsum sinuate, ciliated, about three-fourths the length of the costa; cell about half the length of the wing; vein 6 out of 7 beyond apex of cell, upper discocellular therefore absent, middle and lower discocellulars subequal, vertical; vein 7 ends on termen well below apex of wing; vein 8 out of 7, from apical half, ends on costa before apex of wing; vein 9 out of 7 from just before middle; veins 10 and 11 free; vein 12 terminates well beyond end of cell on costa. Hind ...
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Curetis Thetis
''Curetis thetis'', the Indian sunbeam, Retrieved April 20, 2018.Markku Savela's website on Lepidopterat Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera is a species of lycaenid or blue butterfly found in Indomalayan realm. Distribution The butterfly occurs in Peninsular India, south of the Himalayas, but not in the desert tracts or in areas with a scanty rainfall; parts of Assam; Saurashtra; Bengal, Sylhet onto Myanmar. It is also found in the Nicobar Islands. It is also found in Sri Lanka, Java, Philippines, northern Sulawesi and Selajar. Status It is not considered rare. Description Male Upperside dark cupreous red, glossy and shining. Forewing: base irrorated with dusky scales; costa edged with a narrow, inwardly jagged, jet-black band that broadens to the apex, thence continued along the termen, decreasing in width to the tornus; opposite the apex the inner edge of the black is acutely angulate. Hindwing: base and dorsum broadly but slightly irrorated (sprinkled) with dus ...
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Leaf Blue (Amblypodia Anita) W IMG 2700
''Amblypodia anita'', the purple leaf blue or leaf blue, is a lycaenid or blue butterfly found in South Asia and Southeast Asia, including Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Java. The species was first described by William Chapman Hewitson William Chapman Hewitson (9 January 1806, in Newcastle upon Tyne – 28 May 1878, in Oatlands Park, Surrey) was a British naturalist. A wealthy collector, Hewitson was particularly devoted to Coleoptera (beetles) and Lepidoptera (butterflies ... in 1862. Description References Amblypodia Fauna of Pakistan Butterflies of Asia Taxa named by Frederic Moore {{Theclinae-stub ...
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Eumaeus AtalaPCCP20040417-4033A
In Greek mythology, Eumaeus (; Ancient Greek: Εὔμαιος ''Eumaios'' means 'searching well') was Odysseus' swineherd and friend. His father, Ktesios son of Ormenos was king of an island called Syra (present-day Syros in the Greek islands of the Cyclades), although it has also been suggested that Eumaeus referred to Syracuse, Sicily. Mythology When he was a young child a Phoenician sailor seduced his nurse, a slave, who agreed to bring the child among other treasures in exchange for their help in her escape. The nurse was killed by Artemis on the journey by sea, but the sailors continued to Ithaca where Odysseus' father Laertes bought him as a slave. Thereafter he was brought up with Odysseus and his sister Ctimene (or Ktimene) and was treated by Anticleia, their mother, almost as Ctimene's equal. In Homer's ''Odyssey'', Eumaeus is the first person that Odysseus meets upon his return to Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan War. He has four dogs, 'savage as wild beasts,' wh ...
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Instar
An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or assume a new form. Differences between instars can often be seen in altered body proportions, colors, patterns, changes in the number of body segments or head width. After shedding their exoskeleton (moulting), the juvenile arthropods continue in their life cycle until they either pupate or moult again. The instar period of growth is fixed; however, in some insects, like the salvinia stem-borer moth, the number of instars depends on early larval nutrition. Some arthropods can continue to moult after sexual maturity, but the stages between these subsequent moults are generally not called instars. For most insect species, an ''instar'' is the developmental stage of the larval forms of holometabolous (complete metamorphism) or nymphal forms o ...
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Honeydew (secretion)
Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids and some scale insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the anus of the aphid. Honeydew is particularly common as a secretion in hemipteran insects and is often the basis for trophobiosis. Some caterpillars of Lycaenidae butterflies and some moths also produce honeydew. Honeydew producing insects, like cicadas, pierce phloem ducts to access the sugar rich sap. The sap continues to bleed after the insects have moved on, leaving a white sugar crust called manna. Ants may collect, or "milk", honeydew directly from aphids and other honeydew producers, which benefit from their presence due to their driving away predators such as lady beetles or parasitic wasps—see ''Crematogaster peringueyi''. Animals and plants in a mutually symbiotic arrangement with ants are called Myrmecophiles. In Madagascar, some gecko species in the genera ''Ph ...
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Myrmecophily
Myrmecophily ( , ) is the term applied to positive interspecies associations between ants and a variety of other organisms, such as plants, other arthropods, and fungi. Myrmecophily refers to mutualistic associations with ants, though in its more general use, the term may also refer to commensal or even parasitic interactions. The term "myrmecophile" is used mainly for animals that associate with ants. An estimated 10,000 species of ants (Formicidae) are known, with a higher diversity in the tropics.B. Holldobler and E.O. Wilson, The Ants, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1990. In most terrestrial ecosystems, ants are ecologically and numerically dominant, being the main invertebrate predators. As a result, ants play a key role in controlling arthropod richness, abundance, and community structure.K. Fiedler, B. Holldobler, and P. Seufert, "Butterflies and ants: The communicative domain," Cellular and molecular life sciences, vol. 52, 1996 ...
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