SEX BIAS ADULT FEEDING FOR GUMWEED (ASTERACEAE) FLOWER NECTAR AND EXTRAFLORAL RESIN BY A WETLAND POPULATION OF LYCAENA XANTHOIDES (BOISDUVAL) (LYCAENIDAE)

Severns P. M., KARAÇETİN BELL E.

JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS SOCIETY, cilt.63, sa.2, ss.83-88, 2009 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 63 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2009
  • Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS SOCIETY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.83-88
  • Erciyes Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

With the exception of some tropical genera, most butterflies rely on nectar as the primary adult resource and feed on non-floral resources, like tree sap, opportunistically. We found that an isolated wetland population of Lycaena xanthoides (Boisdonval) (Lycaenidae) in western Oregon, USA, frequently uses both flower nectar and extra-floral resin of Grindelia integrifolia DC. X G. nana Nutt, var nana (Asteraceae) as an adult food resource. There were sex biases in nectar-versus resin-feeding preferences, with males feeding on Grindelia flower nectar more, frequently than resin, and females feeding on resin more frequently than nectar. A combination of taste tests and sucrose estimates through a handled refractometer suggested that the Grindelia resin may be a source of sugars, while a Kjeldahl analysis detected organie nitrogen at 2.6 ppm in the resin. We propose that the wetland population of L. xanthoides has either evolved or is evolving to use Grindelia resin as an adult resource because it is predictable in abundance over the landscape, unlike alternate non-floral adult resources.