Learning About Butterflies.Pdf
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2 Learning about Butterflies 3 What Is a Butterfly? 3 Looking at a Butterfly 4 Male or Female Butterfly? Butterfly Conservation 5 Kinds of Butterflies A New Consciousness about Butterflies Gardening ToAttract Butterflies Contents 8 Butterfly Life Cycle 8 Complete Metamorphosis Suggested Projects for Personal Discovery 8 Egg Regional Explorations 10 Caterpillar Species Focus 11 Chrysalis 12 Adult Natural History and Behavioral Themes 12 Parasitoids, Predators, and Diseases Analytical Life History Table 13 Passing the Winter References and Resources 14 Growing Butterflies Butterfly Identification 15 Butterfly Habitats, Ecology, and Behavior Butterfly Manuals 15 Habitat Associations Miscellaneous References on Butterflies 16 Larval-Food Plant Interactions Butterfly Gardening Seasonal Appearance Photography Behavior Plant Identification Sources A ctive Periods Societies and Clubs Basking Collecting Equipment and Supplies Adult Feeding Territoriality Appendices Court.ship, Mating, and Oviposition Dispersal and Migration A. Updated List of New York State Butterflies Sheltering and Roosting B. Larval Food Plants of Some Common New York Butterflies C. Flowers Attractive to Butterflies described and at least skeletal life histories known, there is a need for focused studies of life histories, Learning abozct Bzctterfes distributions, behavior, and ecology. A well-known naturalist from the Butterflies, because of their beauty Saugerties, New York, area, Spider and mystique, are our most visible Barbour, has written a "Nature insects. Their images appear in Walk" column for the Woodstock clothing, jewelry, advertisements, Times for many years. In his 17 May magazines, movies, books, literature, 1979 column he reported fascinating and on television. In warm seasons, details about the falcate orange tip, living butterflies attract our atten- one of the loveliest and most tion as they sip nectar from flowers, mysterious butterflies of the North- lazily fly by, or spiral together east: "The falcate orange tip is an upward in the air. Entire museums elusive butterfly. I've been chasing and conservatories are devoted to it for four years now. Call it research helping us learn about their life or just craziness. It's all the butter- pattern. Great museum collections fly's doing. The butterfly raises the house millions of butterfly speci- questions, the butterfly gives the mens from all over the world, answers; I just watch and say 'ahah!' striving to record their diversity in and 'hmmm."' an ever-shrinking natural landscape. In this booklet we will pose a Butterflies are familiar, fascinating, number of questions about butter- and admired, but few people really flies, and suggest specific activities know them well. or strategies for finding the answers. Learning about butterflies is not Our purpose is to teach you to ask difficult. Today's lepidopterists the questions (or to look to the have available a large variety of butterfly to pose them, as Spider has books that provide basic information done so successfully), and develop on butterflies (see References your own methods of investigation. section). Most books emphasize We hope this will help you discover identification, describe the butterfly new facts about butterflies, and fauna of a limited area, or tell how to encourage a lifelong interest in and garden to encourage their presence. respect and love for these beautiful Very few books, however, detail the small animals that share our world. natural history and ecology of butterflies. With northeastern North American butterflies now thoroughly The head bears a pair of clubbed or hook-tipped antennae between the two large compoundeyes. Examine The abdomen has 10 segments, with your lens. Can you see a hint of some difficult to see without the hundreds of facet, appearing on dissection. The abdomen contains the surface of the eyes? Theprobos- the digestive tract and reproductive cis is a slender, straw-like mouth that organs; the latter include an oviposi- is coiled against the head when not tor in females and paired claspen in being used to suck up liquids. The males (Fig. I), located at the end of pa/ps, a pair of accessory mouthparts, the abdomen. Neither is easy to see are attached on either side of the in butterflies. proboscis. Use your lens to see these Looking at a Butteffly structures on your butterfly. For this section you will need a The thorax has three segments Figure 1. AduH structure. Male swallowtail butterfly to examine. A living (which may be hidden under hairs). with parts labelled. Note prominent specimen is ideal. (The ubiquitous Each segment bears a pair of jointed claspers at end of abdomen. cabbage white works very well.) legs. Notice the tarsi or "feet" and Confine a living butterfly in a large their tiny claws, with which the transparent jar and chill in the butterfly clings to surfaces. The tarsi refrigerator or on ice for half an hour also bear the organs of taste. The to slow its activity and permit easy wings attach to the two rear thoracic observation. Road-killed butterflies segments. Their often-beautiful or other dead specimens also work colors result from a covering of tiny well for this activity. A 10X or 20X shingle-like scales (Fig. 3). Do you see scales of different sizes or shapes hand lens or 2 112 X magnifying glass HEAD (front view) will help you see body parts more on your example? Are there scales, easily (Fig. 1). or only hairs, covering the body? If you have a dissecting microscope Like other insects, butterflies have available, as in a science lab or three main body divisions: the head, classroom, it will help you see the thorax, and abdomen. How many wing scales, although your hand lens pairs of legs do you see? Six legs are should permit rudimentary examina- standard for insects, but you may tion. These wing scales give butter- think you see only two pairs if your flies and moths their order name, example is a nymphalid or danaid, or Lepidoptera, which comes from two male lycaenid or libytheid (see Greek words, lepidos for scale and Kinds of Butterflies, pages 5-7). In ptemn for wing. Of course, couching these groups, the forelegs are the wings rubs off the scales and reduced and may not be obvious mars their beauty. without a closer look. There should be two pairs of wings as well. How do you know your lepidopteran Male or Female Butterfly? is a butterfly? Some moths closely How can you tell the sex of a resemble butterflies and are active butterfly? With some species this is during daylight hours. The best way very easy, in others the differences to tell is to look closely at the are more subtle, and with a few it is antennae (Fies.. ,, 1.. 2).. Is there a knob . .. -- . quite difficult. at the tip? All butterflies and skippers have a swelling at the end To discover sexual differences, Figure 3. Butterfly of their antennae, but almost no examine several specimens of the androconia. Male moths do. Generally we can say that same species. These may be a wild- monarchs have an butterflies are daytime fliers, they caught series, or you might grow a androconium, a are brightly colored, and that their dozen from larvae and closely conspicuous black bodies are not so hairy as those of examine the adults, about half of spot on one of the moths. But there are exceptions to which should be male and half hind wing veins all of these. female. (A section in the next (arrow), shown chapter has some notes on rearing.) enlarged at the If you have been looking at a live Can you separate the butterflies into bottom. The butterfly, allow it to warm up again two groups? Look especially for specialized scales and release it outdoors when you contrasts in forelegs, abdomen size, produce a have finished. pheromone (scent) ! that is released ' during courtship. Note the regular rows of scales between the wing veins. wing markings, wing shape, textural evident at the end of the abdomen differences in wing scales, and in swallowtails and some other overall size of the butterfly. butterflies (see Fig. 1). Claspers occur only in males, and are used to Figure 2. Male or female butterfly?In Generally, female butterflies are grasp the female during mating. general, female butterflies (left) average larger in wingspan and individual This character is not easily seen in slightly larger, have fatter abdomens, and wing size than males of the same many butterflies, however. have less angular, more rounded wing kind. Some female butterflies have than males (right). Sexual or seasonal more rounded wings than males of Many species are smual/y dimorphic dimorphism, unique for each species, may their species. Their abdomens, (males and females are marked or also aid in separating males from females. containing large numbers of eggs, colored differently). Some females (See Fig. 1 for an illustration of claspers and are fatter and heavier than the are less brightly colored, or not as Fig. 3 for androconia, other sexual slender ones of males (Fig. 2). boldly marked. The clouded sulphur differences in males.) Prominent pincher-like claspers are and alfalfa butterfly are thorphic (three color forms) due to a frequent Guide Butterflies and Moths by Family groups used in this publication follow recent checklists albino (white) form of the female Mitchell and Zim (see References) (see References): (Fig. 4c). Polyphenism (seasonal color has excellent illustrations of female forms) adds another dimension to and male differences for many Hesperiidae - skippers separating butterflies by sex. species. Papilionidae - swallowtails Differences in forelegs in female Pieridae - whites, sulphurs, and orange tips and male butterflies of certain Kinds of Butterflies families are mentioned under Kinds Lycaenidae - gossamer-winged butterflies, including of Butterflies. (Be sure the forelegs Butterflies are grouped by specific Miletinae = Gerydinae - harvesters have not somehow been broken off.) shared characteristics.