Ability of males of two theclini species (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) to discriminate between sexes and different types of females based on the colour of their wings

Abstract

Abstract. Many territorial species of butterfly are sexually dimorphic in their wing colours, and males of such species frequently fight each other, probably attracted by the rival's wing colour. On the other hand, male behaviour should be directed to acquiring mates to increase their fitness, and thus should be sensitive to (usually cryptic) female wing colour. The present experiments aimed to determine whether the conspicuous male colour or cryptic female colour is more attractive to the territorial males of two lycaenid species, Chryso zephyrus smaragdinus and Neozephyrus japonicus. A pair of female and male wing models was presented simultaneously in the field to a male. The results indicate that the males of both species were preferentially attracted by the female wing model. In N. japonicus, in which the wing colour of females is polymorphic, males preferred particular types of female wings, in that they were more strongly attracted to the type-B model with a blue patch on the forewing than the type-O model, which lacked a blue patch.

Agonistic display or courtship behavior? A review of contests over mating opportunity in butterflies

“…Unfortunately, most territorial butterflies do not respond to static models, which makes it difficult to study their cognitive abilities (e.g., Warzecha and Egelhaaf 1995). Recently, Imafuku and Kitamura (2015) developed rotating wing models using a motor, and succeeded in inducing responses of territorial males of two hairstreaks. Although their experimental results should be interpreted carefully (Takeuchi 2015), behavioral experiments using such devices will provide information on the cognitive abilities of butterflies required for testing the premise of the usual contest models.…”

The erroneous courtship hypothesis: do insects really engage in aerial wars of attrition?

“…Because territorial species rarely respond to static models, experiments using rotating models will provide useful information (Imafuku & Kitamura, 2015;Takeuchi, 2015). If aerial interactions of territorial butterflies are considered as wars of attrition, disadvantages for individuals that do not exhibit display should be identified.…”

“…A good approach for testing this experimentally might be to make (models of) intruding males that settle in a territory without participating in aerial interactions, and then observe the reaction of the owner of the territory to them. Because territorial species rarely respond to static models, experiments using rotating models will provide useful information (Imafuku & Kitamura, 2015;Takeuchi, 2015). These experiments will also serve to clarify the sexual discrimination abilities of butterflies.…”

Effect of bright wing color of males on other males in Favonius taxila (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) with sexual dimorphism in wing color

“…It shows conspicuous sexual dimorphism in wing coloration. The dorsal surface of the wing is glittering green based on structural coloration in males (Imafuku et al 2012), and uniformly dark brown in females (Imafuku & Kitamura 2015). For presentation experiments, two types of butterfly models were prepared.…”