Details zur Publikation

Kategorie Textpublikation
Referenztyp Zeitschriften
DOI 10.1007/s00442-006-0404-5
Volltext Shareable Link
Titel (primär) Polymorphic growth in larvae of Maculinea butterflies, as an example of biennialism in myrmecophilous insects
Autor Witek, M.; Śliwińska, E.B.; Skórka, P.; Nowicki, P.; Settele, J.; Woyciechowski, M.
Quelle Oecologia
Erscheinungsjahr 2006
Department BZF
Band/Volume 148
Heft 4
Seite von 729
Seite bis 733
Sprache englisch
Keywords Bet-hedging; Biennialism;;Myrmecophilous insects; Polymorphic growth; Social parasites
Abstract

The presence of annual and biennial individuals within the same population has been recently demonstrated in the myrmecophilous butterflies Maculinea rebeli and Maculinea alcon, which present a cuckoo strategy inside Myrmica nests, and Maculinea arion which is a predatory species. Here, we present field and laboratory data on polymorphic larval growth in two other predatory species of Maculinea: M. teleius and M. nausithous. Body mass distributions of pre-pupation larvae were bimodal in both species. These results point to the existence of larvae that develop in 1 or 2 years. We also showed that the probability of pupation depended on larval body mass. In the case of M. teleius, the critical body mass at which larvae have a 50% probability of pupation is about 80 mg. We suggest that polymorphism in Maculinea may have evolved as an adaptation to life in ant nests, a habitat which protects them from predators and provides food. However, the quality of this resource is highly variable and unpredictable. According to the bet-hedging hypothesis, if the habitat is unpredictable, females should have an advantage by producing more variable offspring. In the case of Maculinea butterflies, this may involve maintaining larvae that develop in 1 or 2 years.

dauerhafte UFZ-Verlinkung https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=3133
Witek, M., Śliwińska, E.B., Skórka, P., Nowicki, P., Settele, J., Woyciechowski, M. (2006):
Polymorphic growth in larvae of Maculinea butterflies, as an example of biennialism in myrmecophilous insects
Oecologia 148 (4), 729 - 733 10.1007/s00442-006-0404-5