Hypolimnas bolina

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Great Eggfly
Great Eggfly (male)
Great Eggfly (male)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Nymphalinae
Genus: Hypolimnas
Species: H. bolina
Binomial name
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.

Contents

[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

[edit] Race bolina

Female at Narendrapur near Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Female at Narendrapur near Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

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

Female at Sindhrot in Vadodara district of Gujarat, India.
Female at Sindhrot in Vadodara district of Gujarat, India.

The upper side of the wings are jet black, offset with three pairs of white spots – two on the forewing and one on the hind. These white spots are surrounded by purple iridescence. In addition, the upper side of the hind wing bears a series of small white dots.

[edit] Female

The upper side of the wings of the female is a brownish black and does not have any spots like those of the male. The edges bear white markings which are similar to those of the Common Indian Crow.

[edit] Gallery

Female at Vikhroli, Mumbai.

Female laying eggs in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Female laying eggs in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Female in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Female in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Female in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Great Eggfly female

Female of Common Eggfly mimicking Euploea core

Female of Common Eggfly taken in the Melbourne Zoo

Female Common Eggfly, race nerina

Male from Narenderpur near Kolkata

Male from Bracebridge, Kolkata

Male from Bracebridge, Kolkata

Male from Bracebridge, Kolkata

[edit] Distribution

Great Eggflies are found in Madagascar in the west, through to South and Southeast Asia, South Pacific islands (French Polynesia, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu) 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, deciduous forests, thick and moist scrub and the greener parts of human habitation.

[edit] Mimicry

To the west the female is monomorphic, mimicking species of the oriental and Australasian danaid genus Euploea. Eastwards H. bolina is frequently polymorphic and most forms are then non-mimetic. In areas where it resembles Euploea the butterfly has usually been designated a Batesian mimic.

[edit] Life cycle and ecology

Great Eggflies are known for maternal care, with the females guarding leaves where eggs have been laid. Males 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 at least one but often two to five eggs on the undersides of the leaves.

[edit] Host plants

Race bolina breeds on Fleuria interrupta, Sida rhombifolia,[3] Elatostemma cuneatum, Portulaca oleracea, Laportea interrupta,[4] Triumfetta pentandra,[5] and Asystasia species.

Other hosts include Elatostema cuneatum, Fleurya interrupta,Pseuderanthemum variabile and Synedrella nodiflora.

[edit] Eggs

The eggs are a pale, glassy green with longitudinal ridges except on the top.

Caterpillar of race bolina
Caterpillar of race bolina

[edit] Caterpillar

After about four 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 moulting, 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 exclusively kill male specimens.[6][1]

Pupa of race bolina
Pupa of race bolina

[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 tubercles. The surface of the pupa is rough. The butterfly emerges after seven to eight days as pupae (female development is always a bit longer).

[edit] Recent evolutionary changes

On the Samoan islands of Upolu and Savaii, a parasite (probably Wolbachia) had been killing the male members of Hypolimnas bolina. The problem was so severe that by the year 2001, males made up only 1% of the population. However, in 2007, it was reported that within a span of just 10 generations (less than a year), the males had evolved to develop immunity to the parasite, and the male population increased to nearly 40%. [7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Liza Gross, "Conflict within the Genome: Evolving Defenses to Suppress the Male Killers", PLoS Biology, 4(9):e308, 2006.
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Kunte, K. 2006. Additions to the known larval host plants of Indian butterflies. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 103(1):119-121
  4. ^ Bell, T. R. 1910. Common Butterflies of the Plains of India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 20(2):287-289
  5. ^ Rajagopalan, A. 2005 A new food plant of the Great Eggfly. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 102(3):355
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Charlat, Sylvain, Emily A. Hornett, James H. Fullard, Neil Davies, George K. Roderick, Nina Wedell, Gregory D. D. Hurst (2007)Extraordinary Flux in Sex Ratio.Science 317(5835):214 DOI: 10.1126/science.1143369 abstract

[edit] External links