Hypolimnas bolina
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| iGreat Eggfly | ||||||||||||||||
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 Great Eggfly (male)
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| Hypolimnas bolina (Linneaus, 1758) |
The Great Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina ) (also called Blue Moon Butterfly in New Zealand or Common Eggfly[1]) is a species of nymphalid butterfly.
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[edit] Systematics
Hypolimnas bolina is divided into eight subspecies:
- Hypolimnas bolina bolina (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Hypolimnas bolina nerina (Fabricius, 1775)
- Hypolimnas bolina montrouzieri Butler
- Hypolimnas bolina pulchra Butler
- Hypolimnas bolina pallescens Butler
- Hypolimnas bolina lisianassa (Cramer)
- Hypolimnas bolina jacintha (Drury, 1773)
- Hypolimnas bolina kezia (Butler)
[edit] Appearance
The Great Eggfly is a black bodied butterfly with a wingspan of about 7–8½ cm. The species has a high degree of sexual dimorphism. The female is mimetic with multiple morphs.[2]
[edit] Male
The upperside of the wings are jet black which is offset with 3 pairs of white spots. 2 on the forewing and 1 on the hind. These white spots are suffused with purple. In addition the upperside of the hind wing bears a series of small white dots.
[edit] Female
The upperside of the wings of the female is a brownish black and do not have any spots like those of the male. The edges bear white markings which are similar to the Common Indian Crow.
[edit] Distribution
Great Eggflies are found in Madagascar in the west through to South and South-East Asia and occurs in parts of Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
[edit] Habitat
The Great Eggfly is a fairly common butterfly found in lightly wooded country, decidous forests, thick and moist scrub and the greener parts of human habitation.
[edit] Life cycle and ecology
Great Eggflies are known for maternal care with the females guarding leaves where eggs have been laid. They are also very territorial. The female hovers over a plant to check for ants which will eat her eggs. After selecting a plant which has no ants on it, she lays a single but often 2 - 5 eggs on the undersides of the leaves.
Host plants include Fleuria interrupta, Sida rhombifolia, Elatostemma cuneatum, Portulaca oleracea, Laportea interrupta[3] and Triumfetta pentandra[4]
[edit] Eggs
The eggs are a pale, glassy green with longitudinal ridges except on the top.
[edit] Caterpillar
After about 4 days the eggs hatch. The caterpillars immediately disperse. They are black with an orange head. The last segment is also orange. The head bears a pair of long branched black horns. The body surface is also covered with long, branched, orangish black spines. These spines look whitish and transparent immediately after molting but soon become the usual orange. In later instars the spiracles are surrounded by thin, dirty orange rings. Infection by Wolbachia bacteria is known to excluslusively kill male specimens [5][1].
[edit] Pupa
The pupa is suspended by just one point. It is brown with a grey tinge on the wings. The abdominal segments have distinct tubercules. The surface of the pupa is rough.
[edit] Foodplants
The caterpillars feed on Elatostema cuneatum, Fleurya interrupta and Pseuderanthemum variabile.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Liza Gross, "Conflict within the Genome: Evolving Defenses to Suppress the Male Killers", PLoS Biology, 4(9):e308, 2006.
- ^ Clarke C, Sheppard PM.(1975) The genetics of the mimetic butterfly Hypolimnas bolina (L.). Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 272(917):229-65
- ^ Bell, T. R. 1910. Common Butterflies of the Plains of India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 20(2):287-289
- ^ Rajagopalan, A. 2005 A new food plant of the Great Eggfly. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 102(3):355
- ^ Dyson EA, Kamath MK, Hurst GD (2002) Wolbachia infection associated with all-female broods in Hypolimnas bolina (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): evidence for horizontal transmission of a butterfly male killer. Heredity. Mar;88(3):166-71
