When monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in eastern North America undertake their annual fall migration to wintering sites in central Mexico, they face numerous obstacles, and many do not survive the journey. Large water crossings in particular have long been known to be a source of mortality during migration; before the winter destination of eastern monarchs was known, Beal (1946) reported that he often found monarchs and other insects ‘cast up’ on the shore of Lake Erie. On one afternoon in September 1943, he collected 57 monarchs ‘ just above the water line’ over 1.5 miles (2.41km) of beach (Beall, 1946). Other evidence that water crossings are risky comes from the monarch’s reluctance to cross water during unfavorable winds (Schmidt-Koenig, 1985) and the fact that monarchs tagged along the Atlantic coastline have an extremely low recovery rate at the Mexican overwintering site (Garland & Davis, 2002; Brindza et al., 2008; McCord & Davis, 2010). Large water bodies therefore appear to lead to substantial mortality of migrating monarchs. What is missing, however, from the collective evidence for the effect of water barriers, is first-hand accounts of mortality at such barriers. In this report, we summarize a series of observations submitted to the citizen-science program, Journey North (http://www.learner.org/ jnorth/), regarding a mass mortality of migrating monarch butterflies at a location on the shore of Lake Michigan (Fig. 1) following an intense wind storm. The storm in question was actually three backto-back low-pressure systems that swept through the Midwest region of the US beginning on October 14, 2011. The national weather service for the Grand Rapids (MI) area described the systems as follows: The first low produced rain and cloud cover resulting in temperatures around normal from the 14th through the 17th. The rain was light with multi-day totals mostly under an inch. Strong winds of 25 to 35mph (blowing westerly) were also felt across the area with winds gusting between 40 and 50 mph from late on the 14th into the 15th. The second low pressure system, which was more intense than the first, came a day later. Temperatures fell to below normal through the 22nd as heavy rain and strong (westerly) winds again lashed the area. Rainfall totals for the storm, mostly on the 19th and 20th, ranged from over an inch to nearly 3 inches across southwest lower Michigan. Winds gusted to between 40 and 50 mph with isolated sites experiencing gusts to near 60 mph. A third system came a day later; thunder and hail were reported at times from the 23rd through the 29th. This was accompanied by light to moderate rainfall. Temperatures were around or below normal through the end of October 2011 (National Climatic Data Center, 2012). The magnitude and duration of these storms can also be seen in a chart of the daily average and maximum wind speeds from the
{"title":"Mortality of migrating monarch butterflies from a wind storm on the shore of Lake Michigan, USA","authors":"E. Howard, A. K. Davis","doi":"10.5962/p.266481","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5962/p.266481","url":null,"abstract":"When monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in eastern North America undertake their annual fall migration to wintering sites in central Mexico, they face numerous obstacles, and many do not survive the journey. Large water crossings in particular have long been known to be a source of mortality during migration; before the winter destination of eastern monarchs was known, Beal (1946) reported that he often found monarchs and other insects ‘cast up’ on the shore of Lake Erie. On one afternoon in September 1943, he collected 57 monarchs ‘ just above the water line’ over 1.5 miles (2.41km) of beach (Beall, 1946). Other evidence that water crossings are risky comes from the monarch’s reluctance to cross water during unfavorable winds (Schmidt-Koenig, 1985) and the fact that monarchs tagged along the Atlantic coastline have an extremely low recovery rate at the Mexican overwintering site (Garland & Davis, 2002; Brindza et al., 2008; McCord & Davis, 2010). Large water bodies therefore appear to lead to substantial mortality of migrating monarchs. What is missing, however, from the collective evidence for the effect of water barriers, is first-hand accounts of mortality at such barriers. In this report, we summarize a series of observations submitted to the citizen-science program, Journey North (http://www.learner.org/ jnorth/), regarding a mass mortality of migrating monarch butterflies at a location on the shore of Lake Michigan (Fig. 1) following an intense wind storm. The storm in question was actually three backto-back low-pressure systems that swept through the Midwest region of the US beginning on October 14, 2011. The national weather service for the Grand Rapids (MI) area described the systems as follows: The first low produced rain and cloud cover resulting in temperatures around normal from the 14th through the 17th. The rain was light with multi-day totals mostly under an inch. Strong winds of 25 to 35mph (blowing westerly) were also felt across the area with winds gusting between 40 and 50 mph from late on the 14th into the 15th. The second low pressure system, which was more intense than the first, came a day later. Temperatures fell to below normal through the 22nd as heavy rain and strong (westerly) winds again lashed the area. Rainfall totals for the storm, mostly on the 19th and 20th, ranged from over an inch to nearly 3 inches across southwest lower Michigan. Winds gusted to between 40 and 50 mph with isolated sites experiencing gusts to near 60 mph. A third system came a day later; thunder and hail were reported at times from the 23rd through the 29th. This was accompanied by light to moderate rainfall. Temperatures were around or below normal through the end of October 2011 (National Climatic Data Center, 2012). The magnitude and duration of these storms can also be seen in a chart of the daily average and maximum wind speeds from the","PeriodicalId":90983,"journal":{"name":"The journal of research on the Lepidoptera","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71207066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
F. Molleman, A. Kaasik, Melissa R. L. Whitaker, J. Carey
Quantification of chemical defence contributes to the study of animal signals, and to understanding trade-offs among defences and life history traits. Some tropical fruit-feeding butterfly species can be expected to have well-developed anti-predator defences because they are long-lived, are host-plant specialists, and/or have contrasting colourations that may be involved in mimicry relationships. Yet, as a group they are often assumed to be palatable, even without supporting data. Palatability is a continuum that embraces within and between prey-species variation, and therefore, both amongand within-species variation must be documented. Palatability of nine species of fruitfeeding butterfly in Uganda was rated using a novel assay. One hundred and twenty-five butterflies were homogenized, their ground tissues suspended in sugar water and these suspensions offered as small droplets to individual ants in Petri dishes. The time ants spent feeding on these droplets was measured. Danaine butterflies were used as unpalatable references, and sugar solution as a palatable reference. Ants tended to eat in significantly shorter bouts from danaines compared to fruitfeeding species, and feeding bouts on pure sugar solution were longest. Within fruit-feeding species, variation in the duration of ants’ feeding bouts was very substantial. There was also considerable variation among individual ants, such that large sample sizes would be needed to reliably distinguish palatability of different species of fruit-feeding butterflies. In explorative analyses, at least three fruitfeeding butterfly species that were assumed palatable appeared to be chemically defended. These results suggest that, in contrast to common assumptions, some tropical fruit-feeding butterflies use unpalatability for defence, perhaps contributing to their long life spans in the wild.
{"title":"Partitioning variation in duration of ant feeding bouts can offer insights into the palatability of insects: experiments on African fruit-feeding butterflies","authors":"F. Molleman, A. Kaasik, Melissa R. L. Whitaker, J. Carey","doi":"10.5962/p.266483","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5962/p.266483","url":null,"abstract":"Quantification of chemical defence contributes to the study of animal signals, and to understanding trade-offs among defences and life history traits. Some tropical fruit-feeding butterfly species can be expected to have well-developed anti-predator defences because they are long-lived, are host-plant specialists, and/or have contrasting colourations that may be involved in mimicry relationships. Yet, as a group they are often assumed to be palatable, even without supporting data. Palatability is a continuum that embraces within and between prey-species variation, and therefore, both amongand within-species variation must be documented. Palatability of nine species of fruitfeeding butterfly in Uganda was rated using a novel assay. One hundred and twenty-five butterflies were homogenized, their ground tissues suspended in sugar water and these suspensions offered as small droplets to individual ants in Petri dishes. The time ants spent feeding on these droplets was measured. Danaine butterflies were used as unpalatable references, and sugar solution as a palatable reference. Ants tended to eat in significantly shorter bouts from danaines compared to fruitfeeding species, and feeding bouts on pure sugar solution were longest. Within fruit-feeding species, variation in the duration of ants’ feeding bouts was very substantial. There was also considerable variation among individual ants, such that large sample sizes would be needed to reliably distinguish palatability of different species of fruit-feeding butterflies. In explorative analyses, at least three fruitfeeding butterfly species that were assumed palatable appeared to be chemically defended. These results suggest that, in contrast to common assumptions, some tropical fruit-feeding butterflies use unpalatability for defence, perhaps contributing to their long life spans in the wild.","PeriodicalId":90983,"journal":{"name":"The journal of research on the Lepidoptera","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71207108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Uncus shaped akin to elephant tusks defines a new genus for two very different-in-appearance Neotropical skippers (Hesperiidae: Pyrginae)","authors":"N. Grishin","doi":"10.5962/p.266487","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5962/p.266487","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":90983,"journal":{"name":"The journal of research on the Lepidoptera","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71207370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
. Catopsilia scylla was recorded for the first time in Sri Lanka in Februar)' 2008 and has been recorded since then in over 25 locations in the south-west quadrant of the island. Its larval food plant is Senna surattensis (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae), a widely planted introduced garden plant. The immature stages and behavior in Sri Lanka are documented here for the first time.
{"title":"Catopsilia scylla (Linnaeus, 1763): A new record for Sri Lanka with notes on its biology, life history and distribution (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)","authors":"G. Poorten, N. V. D. Poorten","doi":"10.5962/p.266478","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5962/p.266478","url":null,"abstract":". Catopsilia scylla was recorded for the first time in Sri Lanka in Februar)' 2008 and has been recorded since then in over 25 locations in the south-west quadrant of the island. Its larval food plant is Senna surattensis (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae), a widely planted introduced garden plant. The immature stages and behavior in Sri Lanka are documented here for the first time.","PeriodicalId":90983,"journal":{"name":"The journal of research on the Lepidoptera","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71206991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"First record of the Lime Swallowtail Papilio demoleus Linnaeus, 1758 (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae) in Europe","authors":"D. Morgun, M. Wiemers","doi":"10.5962/p.266485","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5962/p.266485","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":90983,"journal":{"name":"The journal of research on the Lepidoptera","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71207347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"On the taxonomic status of Tirumala tumanana Semper, 1886 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Danainae)","authors":"K. Hashimoto, H. Schroeder, C. G. Treadaway","doi":"10.5962/p.266480","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5962/p.266480","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":90983,"journal":{"name":"The journal of research on the Lepidoptera","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71207051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The bionomics of Spindasis greeni Heron, 1896 and a review of the early stages of the genus Spindasis in Sri Lanka (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)","authors":"D. van der Poorten","doi":"10.5962/p.266489","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5962/p.266489","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":90983,"journal":{"name":"The journal of research on the Lepidoptera","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71207219","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Observations on the life history and field biology of an imperiled butterfly Philotiella leona (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from South Central Oregon","authors":"D. James","doi":"10.5962/p.266486","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5962/p.266486","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":90983,"journal":{"name":"The journal of research on the Lepidoptera","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71207359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aposematic butterflies, those that are unpalatable and warningly colored, may aggregate during overnight perching to reduce the risk of predation. The conditions under which they aggregate and the postures assumed by perching butterflies may indicate how aggregations are a useful defense against predators, including the use of the warning signal. Additionally, studying these aggregations allows for a better understanding of the conditions under which their warning signal may be used. We investigated the overnight perching behavior of the aposematic Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) in both the field and in an enclosure. We found that the butterflies begin perching very close to sunset, when their blue iridescent warning coloration may still be effective, and the aggregations consist of between two and 21 individuals, which may accelerate warning signal learning by naïve predators. In both the field and enclosure, aggregated butterflies perched with the plane of their wings surfaces in parallel which suggests they perch in ways that increase the size of the warning signal. Additionally, B. philenor individuals perch in conspicuous locations which may facilitate warning signal detection, learning, and recognition. Our investigations of B. philenor aggregations lend support to the hypothesis that aposematic butterflies aggregate to increase the effectiveness of the warning signal against visually hunting predators.
{"title":"Overnight perching aggregations of the aposematic Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor: Lepidoptera: Papilionidae): implications for predation risk and warning signal use","authors":"Kimberly V. Pegram, Hanh A. Han, R. Rutowski","doi":"10.5962/p.266477","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5962/p.266477","url":null,"abstract":"Aposematic butterflies, those that are unpalatable and warningly colored, may aggregate during overnight perching to reduce the risk of predation. The conditions under which they aggregate and the postures assumed by perching butterflies may indicate how aggregations are a useful defense against predators, including the use of the warning signal. Additionally, studying these aggregations allows for a better understanding of the conditions under which their warning signal may be used. We investigated the overnight perching behavior of the aposematic Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) in both the field and in an enclosure. We found that the butterflies begin perching very close to sunset, when their blue iridescent warning coloration may still be effective, and the aggregations consist of between two and 21 individuals, which may accelerate warning signal learning by naïve predators. In both the field and enclosure, aggregated butterflies perched with the plane of their wings surfaces in parallel which suggests they perch in ways that increase the size of the warning signal. Additionally, B. philenor individuals perch in conspicuous locations which may facilitate warning signal detection, learning, and recognition. Our investigations of B. philenor aggregations lend support to the hypothesis that aposematic butterflies aggregate to increase the effectiveness of the warning signal against visually hunting predators.","PeriodicalId":90983,"journal":{"name":"The journal of research on the Lepidoptera","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71206983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Distribution atlas of butterflies in Europe by O. Kudrna, A. Harpke, K. Lux, J. Pennerstorfer, O. Schweiger, J. Settele and M. Wiemers, 2011","authors":"K. Fiedler","doi":"10.5962/p.332182","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5962/p.332182","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":90983,"journal":{"name":"The journal of research on the Lepidoptera","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71216039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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