Associations between lycaenid butterflies and ants in Australia

Abstract

A comprehensive and critical review of all available literature on associations between Australian lycaenid butterflies and ants was undertaken to establish an accurate database of the partners involved. Collections and observations of lycaenids and ants were used to augment this review, resulting in a significant number of newly documented association (and non-association) records. Twenty published records considered to be erroneous or doubtful are noted, with justifications given for their deletion from the association database. In total, 265 different associations between lycaenids and ants, plus 65 non-attendance records are documented for Australia. Nearly 80% of the lycaenid species in Australia, for which the early stages are known, are recorded associating with ants and half of these are obligately ant-associated. Patterns of association are examined from the perspective of both lycaenids and ants, with a focus on ant systematics and ecology. Lycaenids are recorded with five ant subfamilies, including the first record of an association with the Pseudomyrmecinae. The Dolichoderinae, and to some extent the Formicinae, have a disproportionately high percentage of genera that associate with lycaenid butterflies. All ant species that tend lycaenids spend at least some portion of their time foraging on vegetation to collect plant and insect nectar. There is a robust relationship between the competitive status of ants within a community, and their frequency and degree of association with lycaenids. Obligate ant-association is accompanied by a high degree of specificity for ant partner, but two notable exceptions, Ogyris aenone and O. amaryllis are discussed. Facultative myrmecophiles tend to associate with a broad range of ants, although interactions with ecologically dominant ants are less frequent than might be expected based on the abundance of dominant ant species in Australian communities.

Nature vs. Nurture: the Making of the Montado Ecosystem

“…Moreover, the pattern of species turnover observed for each biological group was explained by a similar set of ecological factors (partial RDA gave similar models and the ten best explanatory variables were significant for both groups). A similarity in patterns of distribution has been found previously and explained on the grounds of specific relationships between groups (mutualism: see Eastwood and Fraser (1999); predator-prey: see Cotton 1998). A few authors, however, suggest that common patterns may simply result from the fact that different groups of organisms may react in the same way to the environment (Catterall et al 2001).…”

Do Ants Enhance Diversification in Lycaenid Butterflies? Phylogeographic Evidence From a Model Myrmecophile, Jalmenus Evagoras

“…Shifts in attendant ants would be important events for obligately antassociated lycaenids since most have highly specialized ant associations (Fiedler 1991;Eastwood and Fraser 1999). The conservative nature of these associations is highlighted in phylogenetic studies by a correlation of discrete ant taxa associating with highly myrmecophilous lycaenids at the species and higher clade levels (Maculinea, Thomas et al 1989;Elmes et al 1994; Jalmenus, Pierce and Nash 1999;Chrysoritis, Rand et al 2000; Acrodipsas, Eastwood and Hughes 2003a; Arhopala, Megens et al 2005).…”

The Host Genera of Ant-Parasitic Lycaenidae Butterflies: A Review

“…Life histories of other Niphanda species, that all occur in East and South-East Asia, are unknown. Within the genus Ogyris (13 species in New Guinea and Australia) most species maintain obligate mutualistic associations with ants, but two are reported to occur inside nests of Camponotus species, namely, O. idmo and O. subterrestris [15,34,35]. Finally, for at least two representatives of the aphytophagous African genus Lachnocnema (L. bibulus, L. magna) there is evidence that caterpillars supplement their diet by eliciting trophallaxis from Camponotus ants (in L. bibulus reportedly also from Crematogaster ants).…”

“…Larvae of one of these, comprising the species A. brisbanensis and A. myrmecophila, are obligate parasites of Papyrius nitidus [35] from their first instar onwards, that is, without a phytophagous phase as in Lepidochrysops or the Maculinea/ Phengaris clade. Papyrius species are highly dominant components of Australian ant assemblages and serve as mutualistic partners for some additional Australian lycaenids [34]. Crematogaster.…”