Open AccessMORPHOLOGY AND BIOLOGY OF ACRODZPSAS ZLLZDGEZ (WATERHOUSE AND LYELL), A MYRMECOPHAGOUS LYCAENID (LEPIDOPTERA: LYCAENIDAE: THECLINAE)
Author(s) -
SAMSON P. R.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
australian journal of entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1440-6055
pISSN - 1326-6756
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-6055.1989.tb00874.x
Subject(s) - biology , lycaenidae , instar , myrmecophily , larva , brood , lepidoptera genitalia , zoology , pupa , botany
Acrodipsas illidgei (Waterhouse and Lyell) has mynnecophagous larvae associated with the ant Crematogaster sp. ( laeviceps group). Eggs were found on the trunk and branches of the mangrove Avicennia marina colonised by the host ant. Two types of epidermal organs, possibly glandular, were identified in first instar larvae, and a Newcomer's organ was present from the second instar onwards. Biology was observed in artificial ant colonies. First instar larvae were carried by the ants and placed near the ant brood where they fed, apparently imbibing the fluid contents of the ant larvae through a hole chewed in the cuticle. Older larvae consumed the whole ant larva or pupa. The function of the larval organs in myrmecophily is discussed.