Maculinea alcon
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| Alcon Blue | ||||||||||||||||
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| Maculinea alcon (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) |
Maculinea alcon, more commonly known as Alcon Blue or Alcon Large Blue, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family and is found in Europe and Northern Asia. It can be seen flying in mid to late summer. Like some other species of Lycaenidae, its larva (caterpillar) stage depends on support by certain ants; it is therefore known as a myrmecophile.
The butterfly lays its eggs onto the Marsh Gentian (Gentiana pneumonanthe); in the region of the Alps they are sometimes also found on the related Willow Gentian (Gentiana asclepiadea).[1] The caterpillars eat no other plants.
Alcon larvae leave the food plant when they have grown sufficiently (4th instar) and wait on the ground below to be discovered by ants. The larvae emit surface chemicals (allomones) that closely match those of ant larvae, causing the ants to carry the Alcon larvae into their nests and place them in their brood chambers, where they are fed by worker ants and where they devour ant larvae.[2] Over time, some ant colonies that are parasitized in this manner will slightly change their larva chemicals as a defense, leading to an evolutionary "arms race" between the two species.[3]
Generally, Lycaenidae species which have a myrmecophilous relationship with the ant genus Myrmica are locked to primary host specificity. The Alcon Blue is unusual in this regard in that it uses different host species in different locations throughout Europe. It is known to use Myrmica scabrinodis, Myrmica ruginodis, and Myrmica rubra as the primary host within differing European zones.
[edit] See also
- Maculinea alcon arenaria (Extinct Dutch subspecies)
[edit] References
- ^ Bellmann, Heiko (2003): Der neue Kosmos-Schmetterlingsführer. ISBN 3-440-09330-1. (German)
- ^ Caterpillars con ants with smell, BBC News, 4 January 2008
- ^ The battle of the butterflies and the ants, Nature News, 3 January 2008
- Gimenez Dixon (1996). Maculinea alcon. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 08 May 2006.
[edit] External links
