mokky
Full Member
The Butterfly Society of Japan
Posts: 155
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Post by mokky on Nov 22, 2012 22:22:37 GMT -8
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Post by wollastoni on Nov 23, 2012 1:27:06 GMT -8
Very interesting. Did not know butterflies "chemically taste" the foodplant before oviposing.
Thanks a lot mokky.
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mokky
Full Member
The Butterfly Society of Japan
Posts: 155
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Post by mokky on Nov 23, 2012 6:34:15 GMT -8
Thank you wollastoni for watching the video.
Yes, it is interesting that the butterflies "taste" their foodplant.
mokky
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Post by africaone on Nov 23, 2012 6:43:53 GMT -8
when you keep a female of Nymphalidae (I do it with Acrea, Charaxes, Euptera, ...) in a box for laying, you can hear sound of the forelegs projected quickly on the foodlplant during the exploring behaviour (behaviour to test or taste the foodplant) ! like a quick "clic", often some "clics" that follow !
Ididn't see it in other families and I supposed it is relied to the forelegs reduced in Nymphalidae.
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mokky
Full Member
The Butterfly Society of Japan
Posts: 155
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Post by mokky on Nov 24, 2012 17:32:30 GMT -8
Dear africaone
Thank you for your interesting post.
You have tried Charaxes to lay eggs? Great! In my poor knowledge, it seems difficult although Acraea seems very easy...
If you can make the female of Charaxes to lay eggs easily, we can obtain many females of rare species such as C. fournierae!!
mokky
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bolol
New Member
Posts: 1
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Post by bolol on Dec 20, 2012 10:32:56 GMT -8
Thanks mokky, for this interesting share!  |
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Post by boogtwo on Dec 20, 2012 12:31:14 GMT -8
Always enjoy your videos mokky.
It's not uncommon behavior for females to "taste" plants by one means ot another for many species and from other familes as well, to determine if an acceptable larval foodplant or the area of one in a preferred stage of development. But many also rely on other senses to select "right" larval foodplants, some even without landing on the plant themselves to lay their eggs. For example some Heliconiinae (like Speyeria) that lay on the soil, grasses or other plants before their larval foodplant even breaks the surface of the soil for the season. Or some of the most primitive, like some Parnassinae that don't land at all and drop eggs in flight to land where ever they may on soil, rock or plant. The 1st instar larvae will be on their own to find their food plant.
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Post by irisscientist on Dec 20, 2012 17:00:39 GMT -8
Mokky,
Please excuse my ignorance for not looking into such matters before posting this reply, but with regards to the Charaxes, do you know if the oviposition methods reported by Takakura have also failed for these species? Does anybody perhaps have any further first-hand information (positive, or negative) relating to this matter? I also remember reading somewhere of a technique for difficult oviposition (or maybe it was copulation?) which involves placing light bulbs beneath ceramic plant pots, but I unfortunately cannot for the life of me remember where I have read this? Therefore any potential feedback that anybody might please also be able to report back regarding the source of this particular (plant pot) oviposition/copulation reference would also be very much appreciated.
Mark
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Post by bobw on Dec 21, 2012 4:27:40 GMT -8
The only Charaxes with which I have any experience is European C. jasius. I've tried to get eggs out of wild-caught females on many occasions and it is very difficult to get them to lay - I've never had more than 2 or 3 eggs out of a female. Fortunately, it's very easy to find eggs and larvae of this species to rear them through. They have to be hand-paired, which is not too difficult - similar to Apatura but with more brute force involved. The surprising thing then is that captive reared females lay readily and I've had 200 eggs out of a female.
Why captive reared females lay readily when wild-caught ones refuse to lay is a mystery to me.
Bob
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