Natural history of an ant-plant-butterfly interaction in a Neotropical savanna

Autor(es)

Baechtold, Alexandra ^[1] ; Del-Claro, Kleber ^[2] ; Kaminski, Lucas A. ^[3] ; Freitas, Andre V. L. ^[3] ; Oliveira, Paulo S. ^[3]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, FFCLRP, Programa Posgrad Entomol, BR-14040901 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Uberlandia, Inst Biol, BR-38400902 Uberlandia, MG - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Campinas, Dept Biol Anim, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Journal of Natural History; v. 46, n. 15-16, p. 943-954, 2012.
• Citações Web of Science: 16

Resumo

Non-myrmecophilous lepidopteran larvae using plants bearing ant attractants such as extrafloral nectaries are good models for studying morphological and behavioural mechanisms against ant predation. Udranomia spitzi (Hesperiidae) is a butterfly whose larvae feed on leaves of Ouratea spectabilis (Ochnaceae), a plant with extrafloral nectaries. We described the early stages of U. spitzi, and used field observations and experiments to investigate the defensive strategies of caterpillars against predatory ants. Larvae pass through five instars and pupation occurs inside larval leaf shelters. Ant-exclusion experiments revealed that the presence of ants did not affect significantly caterpillar survival. Predation experiments showed that vulnerability to ant predation decreased with increase in larval size. The present study showed that predatory ants are not as relevant as demonstrated for other systems, and also illustrates how observational data and field experiments can contribute to a better understanding of the biology and ecology of a species of interest. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 98/05101-8 - Lepidoptera do Estado de São Paulo: diversidade, distribuição de recursos e uso para análise e monitoramento ambiental
• Beneficiário: Keith Spalding Brown Junior
• Linha de fomento: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Temático
• Processo FAPESP: 04/05269-9 - Borboletas da Mata Atlântica: biogeografia e sistemática como ferramentas de conservação de biodiversidade
• Beneficiário: André Victor Lucci Freitas
• Linha de fomento: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Apoio a Jovens Pesquisadores
• Processo FAPESP: 00/01484-1 - Borboletas como indicadores ambientais: monitoramento com Nymphalidae (Eurytelinae e Satyrinae)
• Beneficiário: André Victor Lucci Freitas
• Linha de fomento: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 11/50225-3 - História natural, filogenia e conservação de lepidópteros neotropicais
• Beneficiário: André Victor Lucci Freitas
• Linha de fomento: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Regular