The outbreak of Orange Hairstreak (Japonica lutea)

[Movie File] The outbreak of Orange Hairstreak (Japonica lutea) in Aomori, northern Japan
 　

   The outbreak of Orange Hairstreak (Japonica lutea) has been observed for these several years in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan. The location is an ordinary forest near the apple orchard that is often seen around this area. When the author of this blog saw the photos published in some magazines and journals, he was very surprised because the scene is quite unusual.
   This month, thanks to Mr. Kudo Tadashi and Mr. Kudo Seiya who have been continuously observing this phenomenon, the author of this blog had a chance to visit Aomori. The movie file is filmed during the visit.

   Before arriving at the spot, many adult butterflies of Orange Hairstreak were flying almost everywhere. As soon as they got off the spot where Mr. Kudo recommends as the good observing point, numerous butterflies of Orange Hairstreak surrounded them.

　Young shoots of Oak trees (Quercus), hostplant of Orange Hairstreak, were observed everywhere. It was quite unusual situation in June because all the young shoots had been devoured by larvae. Amazing situation occurred. As all the young shoots were eaten up, it was possible to see through the forest even in the season of fresh green!
　
   Around 5 p.m., the number of butterflies which flew around the canopy increased drastically. It was very fine day. So the butterflies looked just like the orange confetti against the blue sky. It was too many to count how many butterflies in the sight. The show continued past 6 p.m. and gradually ceased toward the sunset.

   Dr. Yago Masaya, the academic committee chairman of our society, who surveyed this site pointed that the pesticide used in nearby apple orchards might affect this outbreak. By the interviews to several farmers, he knew that they were trying to use less pesticide than before and the interval was longer. These trends may cause the parasite bees and flies which kill many eggs and young larvae of Orange Hairstreak to decline. Dr. Yago emphasizes that it needs further research.
　
   Last but not least, the author of this blog would like to show his deepest gratitude to Mr. Kudo Tadashi, Mr. Kudo Seiya and Mr. Kudo Shuji for their kind help.

▲Many butterflies gathering at the chestnut flower

▲On the underside of the Quercus leaves, many pupae (emerged) were found

▲An adult butterfly showing upperside of wings

(usually this scene is rare)

Which way does the mother butterfly hide her egg?

▲The adult butterfly of Walnut Blue Hairstreak (Chaetoprocta odata) with the magnified abdomens of both sexes (after Kato et Harada (1995))

▲Eggs which are covered by hairs (ibid.)

Which way does the mother butterfly hide her egg --- to use own hairs or to collect dusts? (Continued to the previous post)

   Previous post has been popular among readers of this blog because the movie file was quite unique. Many experts gave suggestive comments. While the author of this blog stopped to think over the ecology of Lycaenidae, he remembered one old article of our journal. The article introduces another Lycaenidae, a kind of Zephyrus Hairstreak, which has a habit of hiding its eggs by its own hairs on the abdomen. The above images are from Butterflies No. 10 (1995). This species, Walnut Blue Hairstreak (Chaetoprocta odata) is known from India and Nepal. As the name explains, its hostplant is the walnut trees (Juglans spp.). Females of this species have a ball-like cluster of hairs on the tip of their abdomen. When they lay eggs, they rub these hairs against their eggs to hide. Which way does the mother butterfly hide her egg --- to use own hairs or to collect dusts? The evolution of such behavior found in some Lycaenidae is quite interesting.

[Movie File] Ovipositional behavior of Orange Hairstreak (Japonica lutea)

[Movie File] Ovipositional behavior of Orange Hairstreak (Japonica lutea)　
   Orange Hairstreak (Japonica lutea) is one of the most common Zephyrus Hairstreaks in Japan. It ranges from sub-urban area to the mountain. The larva feeds on Oak tree (Quercus spp.) The adult butterfly is active from late afternoon till the sunset. Sometimes we can see numerous adult butterflies are flying the canopy of forest. It looks like the orange shower in the forest.
  
   On a sunny afternoon in this June, I found one female perched on the twig of Quercus tree. She was about to lay eggs, so I got interested in observing and filming her behavior. This species has a peculiar habit of hiding its eggs by small dusts. Soon after laying one egg, this female started to collect small dusts on the twig by using her abdomen. The egg seems to be sticky on its surface and small dusts are glued to the egg. This butterfly continued this work for about 5 minutes.

   Then unexpected thing has happened. A small weevil was approaching to the butterfly. It seemed that the small beetle wanted to go down the twig but the butterfly was on its route. Then the weevil kicked the butterfly by its foreleg! The butterfly dropped from the twig and flew away, abandoning her egg-laying behavior halfway.

   I was very satisfied with filming such an interesting nature drama!!

(Hachiouji-shi, Tokyo, JAPAN, June 2012)

▲The weevil which kicked the mother butterfly

▲The egg was mostly covered with tiny hair-like dusts on the twig

[Movie File] Privet Tailless Blue Hairstreak (Artopoetes pryeri)

[Movie File] Privet Tailless Blue Hairstreak (Artopoetes pryeri)　

    Artopoetes pryeri is known from China, Russia, Korea and Japan. The distribution is limited to the countries which surround Japan Sea. The appearance is quite unique as it looks like Blues rather than Zephyrus Hairstreaks. The larva feeds on Privet (Ligustrum obtusifolium) and its allies.

   In Japan this species is not so rare and can be seen at the small hills near urban areas. It appears once in a year from late May to mid-June at low elevation, from early July to mid-August at high elevation.

   The author of this blog has a chance to visit nearby habitat a few days ago. This place is located in Kanagawa Prefecture next to Tokyo. This species is active in late afternoon. The population in this place is quite large and it sometimes looks like White Butterflies (Pieris spp.). In addition, it shows fairly blackish markings. This kind of geographical variation is one of the characteristics of this species. Many butterfly enthusiasts in Japan are interested in collecting this species from various localities.

(Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa, June 2012)

▲Blackish form from Kanagawa Prefecture

[Above:normal, Below:aberrant]

（after Butterflies No.3）

Our journal, Butterflies (Teinopalpus) No.60 has been published!

Our journal, Butterflies (Teinopalpus) No.60 has been published!

   Our journal Butterflies (Teinopalpus) has just been published this week. In this new volume No.60, a noteworthy paper is included.

Harada, M., Karma Wangdi, et al., 2012. Rediscovery of Ludlow’s Bhutan Glory, Bhutanitis ludlowi Gabriel (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae): morphology and biology.

   This is the first comprehensive report of the most mysterious swallowtail in the world. Many researchers have been seeking this species just like a “holy grail”. Ludlow’s Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis ludlowi) was finally re-discovered by Mr. Karma Wangdi, a Bhutanese researcher, one of the authors after 80-year absence in 2009. Our society had a joint research with Bhutanese team last summer and unveiled the biology of this species. The comparison of the morphological features with its allies, the detailed ecological observations such as the egg-laying behavior or the larva, almost all information is described for the first time.

   Many butterfly enthusiasts must be interested in this precious paper. Don’t miss it!!

   This issue is available for non-members. Those who would like to get the copy, please send e-mail to the following address.

One copy is 40 US$ (including the international postal fee)

[Contact] welcome_scripts@yahoo.co.jp

Index of No. 60 (Click to see the details)

Eisner's Visit to Japan

Eisner's Visit to Japan

--- A story of a world-famous entomologist and his friendship with Japanese colleagues

▲The specimen of  Parnassius citrinarius collected by C. Eisner

 (preserved in RIEB)

▲Data label of the above specimen (preserved in RIEB)

   On a sunny day of early summer in 1961, an entomologist whose name was well known all over the world visited Mie Prefecture, western Japan. The entomologist was Mr. Curt Eisner (1890-1981), a prosperous Jewish business man and earnest butterfly enthusiast focusing on Parnassius. He was considered the leading world authority on parnassian butterflies, which he collected and of which he named many. His “Parnassiana Nova” series are still important literature. His huge collection of Parnassius is now stored in the Rijksmuseum van Naturlijke Historie in Leiden, Netherlands.

   Throughout his life, he exchanged specimens with many overseas colleagues including Japanese. In this process, he learned that there is an interesting Parnassius species in Japan. The species, Japanese Clouded Apollo (Parnassius citirinarius) is quite unique in its wing markings because it does not have any red or blue spots as many other Parnassius species do. By studying the materials which he obtained from Japanese colleagues, he described  a new subspecies of Parnassius citirinarius, ssp. janine in 1959. (cf. p161-162 in the link) This subspecies was named after his niece. Now this subspecies is treated as a synonym of nominotypical subspecies.

   Through this work, he got interested in this species and planned to visit Japan and collect it by himself. His plan was carried out in May 1961. He was already over 70 but climbed up mountains to get the species. Thanks to the assistance from Japanese colleagues, he succeeded in collecting enough specimens.

▲Mr. Curt Eisner collecting at Mt. Fujiwara-dake, Mie Pref. JAPAN [May, 1961](preserved in RIEB)

   At RIEB (The Research Institute of Evolutionary Biology) where our secretariat is housed, there are some specimens from Eisner’s collection together with his photos and letters. Those references remind us of his friendship with Japanese colleagues.

▲Thank you letter sent from Mr. Eisner after his return home (preserved in RIEB)

Mr. NAKAMURA Makoto who was one of Eisner's Japanese friends wrote an short essay on his memory of Eisner in our journal. (sorry text is in Japanese only)

Nakamura, M., 2003. My memory of Mr. Eisner's visit to Japan. Butterflies 36: 53-56.

[Movie File] Indian Awlking (Choaspes benjaminii)

   Indian Awlking (Choaspes benjaminii) is an unmistakable butterfly because of its unique wing color. In Japan no skippers show such a vivid green except this species. Relatively tropical species and scarce in the northern part of its range. It appears twice in most places, although more then three times in southern islands. Males tend to patrol in the open area near the forest, claming their territory by flying circle without perching and attacking others coming into the territory. This species are often found on flowers or animal droppings especially at the dawn or in the evening.

(Ootsuki-shi, Yamanashi, JAPAN, May 2012)

   Genus Choaspes contains six species from India to Papua New Guinea. All the species look similar each other and difficult to identify. Among these six species, Choaspes illuensis is fairly peculiar in its wing patterns. This magnificent and very rare species is known from Ceram island and Papua New Guinea.

▲Choaspes illuensis male UN(Ceram Island, Indonesia)
[Courtesy of Mr. UEHARA Jiro]

If you want to learn Genus Choaspes further, the following paper in our journal is very useful.

TSUKIYAMA, H. 1992. Genus Choaspes Moore, a review (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) --- with illustrations of all taxa and new information up to 1991. Butterflies 2: 26-31.