Use of a Native and an Exotic Malvaceae by the Little Known Skipper Pyrgus Bocchoris Trisignatus (Mabille) (Hesperiidae) in Northern Chile
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VOLUME 67, N UMBER 3 GENERAL NOTES 225 Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society 67(3), 2013, 225-226 USE OF A NATIVE AND AN EXOTIC MALVACEAE BY THE LITTLE KNOWN SKIPPER PYRGUS BOCCHORIS TRISIGNATUS (MABILLE) (HESPERIIDAE) IN NORTHERN CHILE Additional key words: Folivorous, Naturalized, Malva nicaeensis, Tarasa operculata Many butterflies are highly specialized in their use of characterized by a typical fauna and flora (Luebert & host plants. Some are monophagous (Brückmann et al. Pliscoff 2006). This skipper is one of the more frequently 2011); at least at a local scale (Jordano et al. 1990, Vargas observed butterflies in many of these situations, 2012). Despite this tendency towards specialization, including relatively pristine areas and also highly however, oviposition by native butterflies on exotic modified agricultural lands. Shapiro (1991) indicated that plants, and the subsequent successful larval a Chilean representative of P. bocchoris (i.e.: trisignatus ) development, has been documented many times within is associated with weedy mallows (Malvaceae), but the New World fauna and is probably a global nothing more was published thereafter dealing with the phenomenon (Shapiro 2006). These host range shifts field biology of this skipper. Thus, the objective of this have been remarkably well studied in California, USA, paper is to document two Malvaceae host plants for P. b. where alien hosts are very important for the maintenance trisignatus based on field collections performed in of the native butterfly fauna in both urban and suburban northern Chile. environments (Shapiro 2002, Graves & Shapiro 2003). In October 2008, some Hesperiidae larvae were Recently, Jahner et al. (2011) have shown that the use of collected on leaves of the exotic mallow Malva nicaeensis exotic hosts is predicted by geographic range and native All. (Malvaceae) in the Azapa valley, located in the coastal diet breadth, although the former is a stronger predictor. desert of the Arica Province, near sea level. These larvae Examples of associations among native butterflies and were brought to the lab in plastic vials with absorbent exotic plants have also been mentioned for the South paper on the bottom. Leaves were changed daily until American fauna (Shapiro 2006), including Chile (Shapiro feeding was completed. Pupation occurred among 1997). For the Chilean butterfly fauna, the use of some fragments of leaves or absorbent paper. Nine adults were exotic Malvaceae by the native Vanessa carye (Hübner, obtained in November 2008. Seven additional adults 1812) (Nymphalidae) is well known (Herrera 1987). This were reared from M. nicaeensis at the same locality from butterfly-host plant system is regularly used for teaching October 2011. purposes at different levels of local educational Between September 2011 and April 2012 additional programs. Moreover, the ability of V. carye to develop on skipper larvae were collected on leaves of the native exotic mallows is probably one of the reasons for its Tarasa operculata (Cav.) Krapov. (Malvaceae) in the widespread occurrence in disturbed habitats in Chile, Cardones valley, located in the Precordillera of Arica especially in urban and agricultural environments. Province, at about 2,000 m. Sixteen adults of P. b. Pyrgus bocchoris (Hewitson, 1874) is a Neotropical trisignatus were obtained in the lab following the same skipper with three subspecies currently recognized along procedures mentioned above. its geographic range (Mielke 2005), although some Use of Malvaceae by P. b. trisignatus is consistent with controversy exists concerning the synonymies (Shapiro the host plant relationships previously reported for this 1991). Pyrgus bocchoris trisignatus (Mabille, 1875) is a group of New World Pyrgus, Hübner, 1819 (Robinson et little known skipper described from Valparaíso, Chile. Its al. 2010), including the Neotropical representatives geographic range along this country embraces a very (Shapiro 1991, 2009). Exotic Malva L. species, including long, narrow strip of about 2,000 km length, from the M. nicaeensis , are used as host plants by at least five northern coastal desert south to the type locality species of native butterflies in California, including (Herrera et al. 1957). However, Peña and Ugarte (1996) Vanessa annabella Field, the sister-species of the South indicated that this skipper reaches the Bío Bío Region, American V. carye, Pyrgus communis (Grote) and its increasing by about 500 km its range southward. sibling species P. albescens Ploetz (Graves & Shapiro Furthermore, its presence has been also reported in Peru 2003). (Herrera 1972, Warren et al. 2012). The Azapa valley is a highly disturbed habitat, where In the northernmost part of Chile, P. b. trisignatus has much of the native vegetation has been eliminated by been collected from near sea level, in the valleys of the intensive agricultural practices. This is also the case for coastal desert, up to the highlands of the Andes, most of the coastal valleys of the northern Chilean exceeding 3,500 m. A number of environments are Atacama Desert. Under these conditions, the presence of present along this elevational gradient, each native Malvaceae is extremely low. Contrastingly, weedy 226 226 JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS ’ S OCIETY mallows, as M. nicaeensis , are abundant. Moreover, in preliminary version. Financial support was obtained from project highly disturbed areas of Arica Province, at least two DIEXA-UTA 9711-12, from Universidad de Tarapacá. Gracillariidae micro-moths have also colonized exotic LITERATURE CITED host plants: Acrocercops serrigera serrigera Meyrick, BRÜCKMANN , S. V., J. K RAUSS , C. VAN ACHTERBERG & I. S TEFFAN - 1915 is associated with M. nicaeensis and the native DEWENTER . 2011. The impact of habitat fragmentation on trophic Waltheria ovata Cav. (Malvaceae) (Vargas et al. 2013), interactions of the monophagous butterfly Polyommatus coridon . J. while Angelabella tecomae Vargas & Parra, 2005 has been Insect. Conserv. 15: 707–714. GRAVES , S. D. & A. M. S HAPIRO . 2003. Exotics as host plants of the Cal - reared from the introduced tree Tecoma stans (L.) in ifornia butterfly fauna. Biol. Conserv. 110: 413–433. addition to the native Tecoma fulva (Cav.) D. Don HERRERA , J. 1972. Mariposas comunes a Chile y Perú (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera). Rev. Peru Entomol. 15: 72–74. (Bignoniaceae) (Vargas 2010). ———. 1987. Biología de Cynthia carye Hübner, 1812, especie críptica The Cardones valley is a relatively pristine place, de C. annabella Field, 1971 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Acta where agricultural activities are not performed. One of Ent. Chilena 14: 65–116. ———, M. E TCHEVERRY & C. H OCHLEITNER . 1957. Los Pyrginae de the representatives of the native flora of this locality is T. Chile (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae). Rev. Chil. Ent. 5: 143–182. operculata , which occurs frequently in many habitats JAHNER , J. P., M. B. B ONILLA , K. J. B ADIK , A. M. S HAPIRO & L. M. throughout the Precordillera of the Parinacota Province, FORISTER . 2011. Use of exotic hosts by Lepidoptera: widespread where exotic mallows are more or less restricted to small species colonize more novel hosts. Evolution 65: 2719–2724. JORDANO , D. J. F ERNÁNDEZ HAEGUER , J. R ODRÍGUEZ GONZÁLEZ . 1990. villages in which little agriculture is conducted. The life-history of Tomares ballus (Fabricius, 1787) (Lepidoptera: The host plant relationships here recorded for P. b. Lycaenidae): phenology and host plant use in southern trisignatus suggest that the abundance levels of this Spain. J. Res. Lepid. 28: 112–122. LUEBERT , F. & P. P LISCOFF . 2006. Sinopsis bioclimática y vegetacional skipper in relatively pristine habitats of northern Chile de Chile. Editorial Universitaria, Santiago, Chile. 316 pp. are dependent on the populations of the native T. MIELKE , O. H. H. 2005. Cataloge of the American Hesperoidea: Hes - periidae (Lepidoptera). Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia, Curitiba, operculata , as was observed in Cardones valley, while in Brazil. xiii + 1536 pp. highly human modified environments the populations are PEÑA , L. E. & A. J. U GARTE . 1996. Las mariposas de Chile. Editorial dependent on the presence of the exotic M. nicaeensis , as Universitaria, Santiago, Chile. 359 pp. detected in the Azapa valley. Thus, it constitutes another ROBINSON , G. S, P. R. A CKERY , I. J. K ICHING , G. W. B ECCALONI & L. M. HERNÁDEZ . 2010. HOSTS – A database of the World’s lepidopteran example of the importance of an alien plant for the hostplants. Natural History Muesum, London. Available from: maintenance of populations of a native butterfly in http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosts (accessed: 26 September 2012). SHAPIRO , A. M. 1991. Convergent evolution in Western North Ameri - disturbed areas (Shapiro 2002). can and Patagonian skippers (Hesperiidae). J. Res. Lepid. 30: In the future it would be interesting to survey for 162–174. additional native or exotic Malvaceae as possible host ———. 1997. Impactos antropogénicos sobre la fauna de mariposas (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) de Patagonia Austral y Tierra del plants for P. b. trisignatus in other localities throughout its Fuego. Anales Inst. Patagonia Ser. Cs. Nat. (Chile) 25: 117–126. complete Chilean range. It is hoped that other native ———. 2002. The Californian urban butterfly fauna is dependent on Malvaceae will be associated in different pristine locals, alien plants. Divers. Distrib. 8: 31–40 ———. 2006. Use of an exotic weed as an oviposition substrate of the while exotic mallows would be the larval substrate in high-Andean pierid Phulia nymphula