Bugs R all March 2011 FINAL daniel - Zoo Outreach Organisation

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Over the en,re period of their ac,ve life, buIerflies en-gage in a spectrum of plant feeding rela,onship which are oRen very complex involving co evolu,on and obligate mutualism. Such interac,ons can be a major factor in genera,ng paIerns of diversity in both partners (Enrlich and Raven 1965, Gilbert 1975a,b). BuIerflies are oRen dependent on specific host plants and have a complex life cycle. They are vulnerable to the ac,vi,es of man, which disturbed their habitat. Pollard (1996) added that buIer-flies offer good opportuni,es for studies on popula,on and community ecology. Many species are strictly sea-sonal preferring only a par,cular set of habitats (Krishnameah Kunte 2000). Being good indicators of cli-ma,c condi,ons as well as seasonal and ecological changes, they can serve in the formula,ng strategies for conserva,on. It is hence encouraging that buIerflies are now being included in biodiversity studies and biodiversity conserva,on priori,za,on programmes (Gadgil 1996). The ability of most adult Lepidoptera to obtain and u,lize the carbohydrate in nectar, which can be converted to and stored as fats, becomes a major asset with the rise and spread of flowering plants. This study is intended to summarize the present state of knowledge in buIerfly plant interac,on and feeding habits and also the food sources of adult buIerflies. Study AreaThe present study was carried out in two different areas of Kochi, located between 9 0 58'N -‐ 76 0 14'E about 10km away from Ernakulam town (Fig 1). The selec,on is based on the type of vegeta,on (quarry land with shrubs and herbs boarded by tall trees) and difference in the ecological con-di,ons.Foraging behaviour of bu/erflies Manju V Subramanian 1 and K.N. Vijayakumari 21 Department of Zoology, Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Ernakulam, Kerala 682011 India2 Selec,on grade Lecturer, Department of Zoology, Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, Kerala, IndiaEmail: 1 manjuvs@yahoo.comMaterials and MethodsUniden,fied buIerflies were collected and iden,fied by comparing with the collec,ons of Maharaja’s College and personal communica,ons with entomologists. Associated plant species were iden,fied with the help of Botanist. Basic books in Taxonomy of plants by Singh and Jain (1987) were referred for further details of plants. During the observa,on the flight of buIerfly in which flowers it took rest, number of visits, behaviours like res,ng posture, feeding, res,ng ,me, terrestrial behaviour were noted and tabulated. Observa,ons were made during day,me, morning (7–9 am) and aRernoon (12-‐3 pm) for a period of two months.Results and DiscussionStudies were carried out in two different locali,es of Kochi and about 21 species of buIerflies belonging to 8 different families were observed for their foraging behaviour and food habitat (Table 1). Almost all the buIerflies found on these sites were, visi,ng flowers for nectar except some. Basking in sun is of great significance among buIerflies. In order to fly, cold blooded animals like buIerflies must warm their flight muscles to sufficient temperature. For this buIerflies bask in the sun with open wings to keep the thoracic muscle warm for the next flight. They seldom select shaded areas and prefer larger nectar source bushes which serve as a res,ng and roos,ng area (Mi-chael 2004).BuIerflies acts as good pollina,ng agents. BuIerflies visit flowers for pollen and nectar. The study of buIerflies is important in rela,on to the biodiversity studies and as pollina,ng agents. Adult buIerflies feed mainly on fluids, especially flower nectar using a long thin, aIrac,ve pro-boscis. With this associa,on buIerflies obtain their food from plants. Availability of pollen, nectar, perfumes, pro-tec,ve as well as visual sites, and of sexual aIrac,on are among the principle aIractants responsible for establish-ing blossom pollinator rela,onship. The role of floral odours in pollina,on is well known and pollinators are known to be aIracted to specific chemical compounds produced by floral structure of flowers. Flower visita,on and consequent nectar use by the buIerflies are regu-lated by both behavioural and physical determinants. But-terfly proboscis is clearly adapted for reaching nectar at the base of long-‐tubed flowers and different species vary greatly in their proboscis length. Flower colour, especially in the ultra violet range, is a clue for many species. Flower posi,on on the plant is also important as many buIerflies will visit flowers facing upwards. Only a few will visit flow-ers that are directed towards the ground (Krishnamegh Kunte 2000). The present study revealed that buIerflies belonging to Nymphalidae, Pieridae, Papillionidae families prefer flowers of Compositae family mainly Tridax pro-cumbens, Mickenia cordata, Lantana camara and Agera-tum conyzoids. In nature the disc florets of compositate are protandros and hence when the s,gmas emerge through the staminal column they carry pollen grains along their lower surface. The nectar encircles the base of the style which possesses minute stomata with varying paIerns of distribu,on in different species, with the guard cells containing plenty of starch grains. The secre,on of Bugs R A! No. 17 March 2011 2
nectar coincides with the pollen matura,on, maximal se-cre,on, occurring when the s,gmas are recep,ve, provid-ing an opportunity for fer,liza,on by the foraging insects with mature pollen on their body. According to Shuel (1961) these rela,onships seem to have a coordina,ng mechanism between the events culmina,ng in pollen matura,on and those leading to nectar secre,on. It is striking that the larger the floral the greater is the number of stomata on the nectary, resul,ng in the regula,on or aIrac,on of more insect visitors, diversified qualita,vely and quan,ta,vely to achieve the target func,on of polli-na,on. The rela,ve degree of constancy might depend on the rela,ve abundance of the nectar resource (Grant 1949). If the resource is boun,ful, the buIerflies tend to remain constant. This can be clearly found in the case of flowers like Sida rhombifolia and Tridax procumbans. The number of flowers visited at unit ,me and the ,me spent at the flowers is an indica,on of the mobility of the insects which in turn speaks of the effec,ve ,me to u,lize the floral resource. Each species of buIerfly differ from the other in the dura,on of ,me spent and the ,me spent by the same species on different plants also differ. Cruden (1976) related the length of foraging visits to the amount of accumulated nectar. When liIle nectar is available the visits are short but many flowers are visited. When rela-‐,vely large amount of nectar accumulate, the buIerfly requires more ,me to extract the nectar and fewer flow-ers are visited. It was observed that the ,me spent by buIerflies on the flower of Sida procumbans were less (only 1-‐2 sec). BuIerflies’ visit on Sida flowers of Malva-ceae are short but they used to visit many flowers. This indicates that nectar content is less. But in the case of buIerflies visit to compositae flowers ,me spent is more and number of flower visit is less, which indicates greater amount of nectar. It is similar to Cruden’s observa,on. BuIerflies actually prefer nectar with high aminoacid con-tent (Javanne, 2005). They frequently visit the flowers of Compositae family due to this reason which has to be studied in detail.An examina,on of foraging behaviour of buIerflies re-corded in this study indicates that selec,on of flowers by buIerflies as food sources is not as random as it appears as sited in the observa,ons. For example, the buIerflies do not feed indiscriminately from any flowers that they might find. In laboratory experiments Common mormon (Papilio polytes) preferred sugar solu,ons to glucose solu-‐,on. There are preferences for nectar with specific chemical composi,on which has to be studied in detail. Other factors which affects flower selec,on by buIerflies are nectar store in flower, flower colours, flower posi,on and flower type. ReferencesCruden, R.W. (1976). Intra specific varia,on in pollen ovule ra,os and nectar secre,on-‐preliminary evidence of ecotypic adapta-‐,on, Annual Missouri Botanical Garden 63: 277-‐289.Enrlich, P.R. and P.H. Raven (1965). BuIerflies and plants, a study of eco evolu,on. Evolu3on 18: 586-‐608.Gadgil, M. (1996). Documen,ng diversity, an experiment. Cur-rent Science 70: 36-‐44Gilbert, L.E. (1975a). Pollen feeding and reproduc,ve biology of Heliconius buIerflies. Proceedings of Na3onal Academy of Sci-ence (USA) 69: 1403-‐1407Gilbert, L.E. (1975b). Ecological consequences of an evolved mu-tualism between buRerflies and plants. Co evolu3on of animals and plants, Texas press. 210-‐240.Grant, V. (1949). Pollina,ng systems as isola,ng mechanisms in angiosperms. Evolu3on 3: 82-‐97.Javanne Mevi-‐Schutz and A. Erhardt (2005). Amino acid in nec-tar enhance buRerfly fecundity: A long awaited link. University of Chicago Press.Krishamegh Kunte (2000). BuRerflies of Peninsular India. Univer-sity Press. Hyderabad.18-‐30.Michael R Williams (2004). The glowworm. Mississippi State University Extension Service. Volume XII-‐ 2.Pollard, E. (1996). Monitoring buRerfly numbers, In: Monitoring for conserva,on and Ecology.Shuel, R.W. (1961). Influence of Reproduc,ve organs on Secre-‐,ons of sugar in flowers of streptosolen jamesonii. Plant Physiol-ogy 36: 265-‐271.Singh, V. and D.K. Jain (1987). Taxonomy of angiosperms, Delhi. 364-‐375.Bugs R A! No. 17 March 2011 3
Page 4 and 5: Table 1. A systematic list of butte
Page 6 and 7: Bu/erflies of Kizhputhupet sacre
Page 8 and 9: 56. Malini3s leda ismene (Crame
Page 10: Family HydrophilidaeAmphiops pede
Page 17 and 18: Lechria longicellula Alexander,
Page 19 and 20: A preliminary report on the pr
Page 21 and 22: Gongylus gongylodes (Linnaeus) (
Page 23 and 24: Occurrence of the earthworm Per
Page 25 and 26: ReferencesBeddard, F.E. (1883).
Page 27 and 28: Champion, H. G. and S.K. Seth
Page 29 and 30: New record of RoEfer Horaella
Page 31 and 32: On a documentaEon of Haddon’s
Page 33 and 34: AcknowledgementsThe authors are
Page 35 and 36: Further records of Argyrodes fl
Page 37: New distribuEonal record of Sco

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