[Movie File] Ovipositional behavior of Vanessa indica

[Movie File]　Ovipositional behavior of Vanessa indica　
   It is amazing that butterflies can select their foodplants correctly to lay eggs from numerous kinds of plants growing in the field. Once the mother butterfly successfully comes near to her foodplant then she starts to drum the surfice of nearby leaves at random to find the real one. This is because the butterfly has the chemotactile receptor on its foretarsus so it tries to "taste" the plant chemically by this behavior.

 

▲Usual style of the adult butterfly. Forelegs are folded on the thorax.

 

▲Forelegs magnified.

　In the case of Nymphalid butterfly, it uses the forelegs which are usually folded on its thorax. This video is the female of Indian Admiral (Vanessa indica) which is drumming its foodplant, Ramie (Boehmeria nivea) by its forelegs. In the field, it is not easy to observe such an interesting behavior.

(Okinawa, JAPAN September, 2009)

 

 

[Movie File] Scent marking behavior of Parantica sita

[Movie File] Scent marking behavior of Parantica sita　

Males of Chestnut Tiger (Parantica sita) are known to have this behavior which is closely related to the mating behavior. The male scrubs the scent scales on the hindwing by the tip of his abdomen. The hairpencil on the tip of abdomen is exposed. It is assumed that the male collects scent scales which give off some pheromone on his hairpencil. When the male try to mate the female, he uses the hairpencil with the pheromone. Thus this behavior can be explained as the preparation for the mating. Interestingly males sometimes flutter their wings as if they try to cause the pheromone to permeate.

(Ishigaki-jima, Okinawa, JAPAN June 2010 / Okinawajima, Okinawa, JAPAN Oct. 2009)

 

▲A male flutters its wings as if he tries to cause the pheromone to permeate

▲The yellow hairpencil on the tip of the abdomen is exposed

[Movie File] Defending behavior of A nymphalid pupa

[Movie File] Defending behavior of A nymphalid pupa

   Nymphalid pupae sometimes defend themselves against parasitic wasps by heavy rotary movements. This behavior has already been reported in papers but this time we introduce it in video file. Video is much more eloquent than text information. The author of this blog shows his deepest gratitude to Akino-taiin (Okinawa) for providing this interesting video.
(Okinawajima, Okinawa, JAPAN May 2012)