Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Survival and growth of parasitic Maculinea alcon caterpillars (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) in laboratory nests of three Myrmica ant species

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Insectes Sociaux Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Alcon blue butterfly (Maculinea alcon) parasitizes the nests of several Myrmica ant species. In Denmark, it uses M. rubra and M. ruginodis, but never M. scabrinodis. To further examine the basis of this specificity and local co-adaptation between host and parasite, the pattern of growth and survival of newly-adopted caterpillars of M. alcon in Myrmica subcolonies was examined in the laboratory. M. alcon caterpillars were collected from three populations differing in their host use, and reared in laboratory nests of all three ant species collected from each M. alcon population. While there were differences in the pattern of growth of caterpillars from different populations during the first few months after adoption, which depended on host ant species and the site from which the ants were collected, there was no evidence of major differences in final size achieved. Survival was, however, much higher in nests of M. rubra than in nests of M. ruginodis and M. scabrinodis, even for caterpillars from a population that is never known to use M. rubra as a host in the field. The caterpillars of M. alcon thus do not show local adaptation in their pattern of growth and survival, but instead show a pattern that may reflect different nestmate recognition abilities of the host ants, related to their sociogenetic organisation. The pattern of observed host ant use in the field seems to result from a combination of differences in local host availability and locally adapted infectivity, modulated by smaller differences in survivorship in the nests of the different host ants.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akino T., Knapp J.J., Thomas J.A. and Elmes G.W. 1999. Chemical mimicry and host specificity in the butterfly Maculinea rebeli, a social parasite of Myrmica ant colonies. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 266: 1419-1426

  • Als T.D., Nash D.R. and Boomsma J.J. 2001. Adoption of parasitic Maculinea alcon caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) by three Myrmica ant species. Anim. Behav. 62: 99-106

    Google Scholar 

  • Als T.D., Nash D.R. and Boomsma J.J. 2002. Geographical variation in host-ant specificity of the parasitic butterfly Maculinea alcon in Denmark. Ecol. Entomol. 27: 403-411

  • Als T.D., Vila R., Kandul N.P., Nash D.R., Yen S.H., Hsu Y.F., Mignault A.A., Boomsma J.J. and Pierce N.E. 2004. The evolution of alternative parasitic life histories in large blue butterflies. Nature 432: 386-390

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagnères A.G. and Morgan E.D. 1991. The postpharyngeal glands and the cuticle of Formicidae contain the same characteristic hydrocarbons. Experientia 47: 106-111

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhatkar A. and Whitcomb W.H. 1971. Artificial diet for rearing various species of ant. Fla. Entomol. 53: 229-232

    Google Scholar 

  • Combes C. 2001. Parasitism: The Ecology and Evolution of Intimate Interactions. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 552 pp

  • Elfferich N. 1963. Kweekervaringen met Maculinea alcon Schiff. Entomol. Ber. 23: 46-52

    Google Scholar 

  • Elgar M.A. and Pierce N.E. 1988. Mating success and fecundity in an ant-tended lycaenid butterfly. In: Reproductive Success: Studies of Individual Variation in Contrasting Breeding Systems (Clutton-Brock T.H., Ed). Chicago University Press, Chicago, pp 59-75

  • Elmes G.W. and Keller L. 1993. Distribution and ecology of queen number in ants of the genus Myrmica. In: Queen Number and Sociality in Insects (Keller L., Ed). Oxford University Press, Oxford. pp 294-307

  • Elmes G.W., Thomas J.A., Hammarstedt O., Munguira M.L., Martin J. and van der Made J.G. 1994. Differences in host-ant specificity between Spanish, Dutch and Swedish populations of the endangered butterfly, Maculinea alcon (Denis et Schiff.) (Lepidoptera). Mem. Zool. 48: 55-68

    Google Scholar 

  • Elmes G.W., Thomas J.A. and Wardlaw J.C. 1991a. Larvae of Maculinea rebeli, a large-blue butterfly, and their Myrmica host ants: wild adoption and behaviour in ant-nests. J. Zool. 223: 447-460

  • Elmes G.W., Wardlaw J.C. and Thomas J.A. 1991b. Larvae of Maculinea rebeli, a large-blue butterfly and their Myrmica host ants: patterns of caterpillar growth and survival. J. Zool. 224: 79-92

  • Elmes G.W., Wardlaw J.C., Schönrogge K., Thomas J.A. and Clarke R.T. 2004. Food stress causes differential survival of socially parasitic caterpillars of Maculinea rebeli integrated in colonies of host and non-host Myrmica ant species. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 110: 53-63

    Google Scholar 

  • Fürst M.A. and Nash D.R. 2010. Host ant independent oviposition in the parasitic butterfly Maculinea alcon. Biol. Lett. 6: 174-176

    Google Scholar 

  • Gotthard K. 2008. Adaptive growth decisions in butterflies. BioScience 58: 222-230

    Google Scholar 

  • Kőrösi Á., Örvössy N., Batáry P., Kövér S. and Peregovits L. 2008. Restricted within-habitat movement and time-constrained egg laying of female Maculinea rebeli butterflies. Oecologia 156: 455-464

  • Nash D.R., Als T.D., Maile R., Jones G.R. and Boomsma J.J. 2008. A mosaic of chemical coevolution in a large blue butterfly. Science 319: 88-90

    Google Scholar 

  • Nash D.R. and Boomsma J.J. 2008. Communication between hosts and social parasites. In: Sociobiology of Communication: An Interdisciplinary Perspective (d’Ettorre P. and Hughes D.P., Eds). Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 55-79

  • Nowicki P., Witek M., Skórka P. and Woyciechowski M. 2005. Oviposition patterns in the myrmecophilous butterfly Maculinea alcon Denis & Schiffermueller (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in relation to characteristics of foodplants and presence of ant hosts. Pol. J. Ecol. 53: 409-417

    Google Scholar 

  • Schönrogge K., Wardlaw J.C., Peters A.J., Everett S., Thomas J.A. and Elmes G.W. 2004. Changes in chemical signature and host specificity from larval retrieval to full social integration in the myrmecophilous butterfly Maculinea rebeli. J. Chem. Ecol. 30: 91-107

    Google Scholar 

  • Schönrogge K., Wardlaw J.C., Thomas J.A. and Elmes G.W. 2000. Polymorphic growth rates in myrmecophilous insects. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 267: 771-777

    Google Scholar 

  • Seppä P. 1996. Genetic relatedness and colony structure in polygynous Myrmica ants. Ethol. Ecol. Evol. 8: 279-290

    Google Scholar 

  • Seppä P. and Walin L. 1996. Sociogenetic organization of the red ant Myrmica rubra. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 38: 207-217

    Google Scholar 

  • Sielezniew M. and Stankiewicz A.M. 2007. Differences in the development of the closely related myrmecophilous butterflies Maculinea alcon and M. rebeli (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Eur. J. Entomol. 104: 433-444

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal R.R. and Rohlf F.J. 1995. Biometry - 3rd Edition. W.H. Freeman, New York. 887 pp

  • Tartally A. 2005. Accelerated development of Maculinea rebeli larvae under artificial conditions (Lycaenidae). Nota Lepidopt. 27: 303-308

    Google Scholar 

  • Tartally A., Nash D.R., Lengyel S. and Varga Z. 2008. Patterns of host ant use by sympatric populations of Maculinea alcon and M. ‘rebeli’ in the Carpathian Basin. Insect. Soc. 55: 370-381

  • Thomas A., Clarke R.T., Elmes G.W. and Hochberg M.E. 1998a. Population dynamics in the genus Maculinea (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). In: Insect Populations in Theory and in Practice (Dempster J.P. and McLean I.F.G., Eds). Kluwer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 261-290

  • Thomas J.A. and Elmes G.W. 1998. Higher productivity at the cost of increased host-specificity when Maculinea butterfly larvae exploit ant colonies through trophallaxis rather than by predation. Ecol. Entomol. 23: 457-464

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas J.A., Elmes G.W. and Wardlaw J.C. 1993. Contest competition among Maculinea rebeli butterfly larvae in ants nests. Ecol. Entomol. 18: 73-76

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas J.A., Elmes G.W. and Wardlaw J.C. 1998b. Polymorphic growth in larvae of the butterfly Maculinea rebeli, a social parasite of Myrmica ant colonies. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 265: 1895-1903

  • Thompson J.N. 2005. The Geographic Mosaic of Coevolution. Interspecific Interactions. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 443 pp

  • Van Zweden J.S. and d’Ettorre P. 2009. Nestmate recognition in social insects and the role of hydrocarbons. In: Insect Hydrocarbons - Biology, Biochemistry, and Chemical Ecology (Blomquist G.C. and Bagnères A.-G., Eds). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 222-243

  • Walin L., Seppä P. and Sundström L. 2001. Reproductive allocation within a polygyne, polydomous colony of the ant Myrmica rubra. Ecol. Entomol. 26: 537-546

    Google Scholar 

  • Wardlaw J.C. and Elmes G.W. 1996. Exceptional colony size in Myrmica species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Entomologist 115: 191-196

    Google Scholar 

  • Wardlaw J.C., Elmes G.W. and Thomas J.A. 1998. Techniques for studying Maculinea butterflies: I. Rearing Maculinea caterpillars with Myrmica ants in the laboratory. J. Insect Conserv. 2: 79-84

    Google Scholar 

  • Witek M., Nowicki P., Śliwińska E.B., Skórka P., Settele J., Schönrogge K. and Woyciechowski M. 2010. Local host ant specificity of Phengaris (Maculinea) teleius butterfly, an obligatory social parasite of Myrmica ants. Ecol. Entomol. 35: 557-564

  • Witek M., Skórka P., Śliwińska E.B., Nowicki P., Moroń D., Settele J. and Woyciechowski M. 2011. Development of parasitic Maculinea teleius (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) larvae in four Myrmica ant host species. Insect. Soc. 58

  • Witek M., Sliwinska E.B., Skórka P., Nowicki P., Settele J. and Woyciechowski M. 2006. Polymorphic growth in larvae of Maculinea butterflies, as an example of biennialism in myrmecophilous insects. Oecologia 148: 729-733

    Google Scholar 

  • Zar J.H. 1996. Biostatistical analysis - 3rd Edition. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. 662 pp

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Rebekka Gadeberg for information on Maculinea alcon sites, Jes Søe Pedersen, Graham Elmes and Judith Wardlaw for valuable suggestions and comments, Steffen Jørgensen (Randbøl skovdistrikt), Dr. Jur. Beckmann and Nordjyllands statskovdistrikt for allowing fieldwork, Heine Kiesbüy for field assistance and Lone Hoy Jensen and Heine Kiesbüy for assistance in the lab. DRN was supported by an EU Marie Curie fellowship (ERBFMBICT 972161) and by an individual fellowship from the Carlsberg foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark

    D. R. Nash & J. J. Boomsma

  2. Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark

    D. R. Nash, T. D. Als & J. J. Boomsma

  3. National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Section for Freshwater Fisheries Ecology, Silkeborg, Denmark

    T. D. Als

Authors
  1. D. R. Nash
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T. D. Als
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. J. Boomsma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. R. Nash.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nash, D.R., Als, T.D. & Boomsma, J.J. Survival and growth of parasitic Maculinea alcon caterpillars (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) in laboratory nests of three Myrmica ant species. Insect. Soc. 58, 391–401 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-011-0157-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-011-0157-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation