Myrmica sabuleti (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) not necessary for the survival of the population of Phengaris (Maculinea) arion (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in eastern Poland: Lower host-ant specificity or evidence for geographical variation of an endangered social parasite?

Title:

Myrmica sabuleti (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) not necessary for the survival of the population of Phengaris (Maculinea) arion (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in eastern Poland: Lower host-ant specificity or evidence for geographical variation of an endangered social parasite?

Creator:

Sielezniew, Marcin and Stankiewicz, Anna M.

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:509c89d7-125c-4f30-8c28-641c9c79c1c7
uuid:509c89d7-125c-4f30-8c28-641c9c79c1c7

Subject:

Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Phengaris arion, Maculinea, Myrmica rugulosa, Myrmica hellenica, Myrmica schencki, Myrmica sabuleti, myrmecophily, host specificity, and social parasitism

Type:

article, model:article, and TEXT

Description:

Larvae and pupae of the obligatorily myrmecophilous Phengaris (Maculinea) arion were found for the first time in nests of Myrmica rugulosa, M. hellenica and M. schencki at a site in eastern Poland. M. sabuleti, commonly considered as a major host of the butterfly and whose abundance is vital for the survival of P. arion populations, was shown to be very rare and not used. Estimated mean density of Myrmica nests was very low, which suggests that relatively vast areas are necessary to support a viable population of P. arion in similar sandy habitats. This may explain the decline and rarity of the butterfly in the whole region, even though its relationships with ants seem not to be very specific there.

Language:

English

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
policy:public

Source:

European Journal of Entomology | 2008 Volume:105 | Number:4

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false