Search results for "Butterfly"
showing 10 items of 53 documents
DNA barcode reference library for Iberian butterflies enables a continental-scale preview of potential cryptic diversity
2015
How common are cryptic species - those overlooked because of their morphological similarity? Despite its wide-ranging implications for biology and conservation, the answer remains open to debate. Butterflies constitute the best-studied invertebrates, playing a similar role as birds do in providing models for vertebrate biology. An accurate assessment of cryptic diversity in this emblematic group requires meticulous case-by-case assessments, but a preview to highlight cases of particular interest will help to direct future studies. We present a survey of mitochondrial genetic diversity for the butterfly fauna of the Iberian Peninsula with unprecedented resolution (3502 DNA barcodes for all 2…
Macrolepidoptera (Insecta: Lepidoptera) Indicator of Climate Changes
2011
Lately, it has become increasingly clear that global warming has a significant impact on a broad range of organisms, regardless of their ecological and geographical spread. Temperature is one of the most important abiotic factors that determine the spatiotemporal dynamics of structural and functional parameters of populations of Lepidoptera and influencing production and survival of these species of insects in nature. Climate warming has the potential to affect some processes related to the ecology and life cycle of the butterfly, especially directly controlled temperature, such as: gathering the required temperature for a species to reach reproductive maturity, growth initiation and cessat…
A catalogue of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) in the California Academy of Sciences, with general and historical comments
2019
A catalogue of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) in the California Academy of Sciences, with general and historical comments. The material representing 168 specimens with 46 species and subspecies belonging to the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) deposited in the California Academy of Sciences was studied. A brief comment on the history of Academy is provided, as well as general comments on natural history, distribution and other details for each mentioned species and subspecies.
Castniidae (Lepidoptera) In The Collection Of The Museum And Institute Of Zoology Polish Academy Of Sciences In Warsaw
2017
The material representing 14 species and subspecies belonging to the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) deposited in the Museum and Institute of Zoology Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw was studied. A brief comment on the history of the Museum is provided. General comments on natural history, distribution, and other details are presented for each mentioned species and subspecies.
Time-series analyses of species richness and relative abundances at the local scale: some methodological advices to secure the relevance of interpret…
2020
L’opera in breve: Madama Butterfly
2009
How Did the Cuckoo Get Its Polymorphic Plumage?
2012
One hundred and fifty years ago, the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates first developed the theory of mimicry ( 1 ). Based on his field observations in the Amazon, he argued that the uncanny likeness of unrelated butterflies is an evolutionary adaptation whereby edible butterflies avoid predation by imitating the coloration of venomous butterfly species without paying the cost of arming themselves. Such “Batesian mimicry” is a dynamic parasitic game between three players, in which a harmless species (the mimic) escapes predation by imitating the warning signals of harmful species (the model) that a shared predator (the dupe) has learned to avoid. On page 578 of this issue, Thorogood and …
The Castniidae (Lepidoptera) in the collection of the Natural History Museum of the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish A…
2017
Praca zawiera informacje na temat przedstawicieli rodziny Castniidae znajdujących się w zbiorach Muzeum Przyrodniczego Instytutu Systematyki i Ewolucji Zwierząt Polskiej Akademii Nauk w Krakowie. Łącznie w kolekcji odnaleziono 17 okazów należących do 14 gatunków i podgatunków tej rodziny. Dla każdego z tych taksonów przedstawiono uwagi na temat rozmieszczenia oraz biologii.
Do avian predators select for seasonal polyphenism in the European map butterfly Araschnia levana (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)?
2012
Seasonal polyphenism in animal colour patterns indicates that temporal variation in selection pressures maintains phenotypic plasticity. Spring generation of the polyphenic European map butterfly Araschnia levana has an orange–black fritillary-like pattern whilst individuals of the summer generation are black with white bands across the wings. What selects for the colour difference is unknown. Because predation is a major selection pressure for insect coloration, we first tested whether map butterfly coloration could have a warning function (i.e. whether the butterflies are unpalatable to birds). In a following field experiment with butterfly dummies we tested whether the spring form is bet…
Patch size and connectivity influence the population turnover of the threatened chequered blue butterfly, Scolitantides orion (Lepidoptera: Lycaenida…
2008
Chequered blue butterfly, Scolitantides orion (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) has severely declined in many parts of Europe and is currently red-listed in many countries. We studied the population structure and turnover of the species in a lake-island system in a National Park in eastern Finland over a three-year period. The incidence of the chequered blue on the suitable islands (n = 41) and habitat patches (n = 123) was high: an average of 82% of the islands and patches were occupied over the three year period. At the island scale, the annual population turnover rate was 17%, with an extinction and colonization rate of 7% and 10%, respectively. At the patch scale, the annual population turnover…