Butterflies

With the publication of an extended editorial titled 'Animal Studies and Art: Elephants in the Room' by Giovanni Aloi, Editor in Chief of 'Antennae', the journal embarks on a new and challenging year-long project constituting somewhat of a departure from the theoretical approaches of animal studies for the purpose of conceiving new productivities specific to art. This project is provocatively titled 'Beyond Animal Studies'.
At the end of March 2015 the publication of two installments dedicated to multispecies-Intra-action: new ways of thinking multispecies aesthetics through Karen Barad’s agential realism (co-edited with artist/curator Madeleine Boyd) will mark the beginning of this journey. This first offering will be followed by an issue edited by artists and theorists Suzanne Anker and Sabine Flach focusing on the proceedings of an exciting conference dedicated to bioart titled 'Naturally Hypernatural' that took place in New York (November 2014). The last segment of this publishing project will comprise two issues on art and environment that will be made available in December 2015 and March 2016.
'Animal Studies and Art: Elephants in the Room’ is the developed and expanded version of the keynote address Giovanni Aloi gave at the University of Wurzburg in autumn 2014. Its content stems from a genuine sense of concern with regards to current affairs in animal studies, its involvement with contemporary art, and the challenges scholars and artists face in engaging with multidisciplinarity within this context.

Ananas comosus var comosus (L.) Merr. is the third most important tropical fruit in the world production and the leading foreign exchange earner among fresh fruits exported from Ghana. A survey was conducted in pineapple farms in the Central region of Ghana to identify floral visitors and their activities on the flowers. Nectar concentration and energetics and effect of floral visitors on fruit production were determined. Fourteen species of butterflies and one ant species were the main insect floral visitors as well as four species of sunbirds. The mean nectar concentration was 23.3% (± 0.39, SE) and pollination limitation did not significantly affect fruit yield (weight: p = 0.285; length: p = 0.056; width: p= 0.268). The study showed that butterflies, ants and sunbirds are the main floral visitors on A. comosus. However their visits did not results in pollination and fruit production was not affected in any way by floral visitation. Still, it was found that A. comosus provides an important nectar resource for its foragers. Even if pollination is not crucial in pineapple cultivation, it is still essential in pineapple breeding programs to promote genetic diversity and conservation.

Climate change is one of the most influential drivers of biodiversity. Speciesspecific differences in the reaction to climate change can become particularly important when interacting species are considered. Current studies have evidenced temporal mismatching of interacting species at single points in space, and recently two investigations showed that species interactions are relevant for their future ranges. However, so far we are not aware that the ranges of interacting species may become substantially spatially mismatched. We developed separate ecological-niche models for a monophagous butterfly (Boloria titania) and its larval host plant (Polygonum bistorta) based on monthly interpolated climate data, land-cover classes, and soil data at a 10 0 -grid resolution. We show that all of three chosen global-change scenarios, which cover a broad range of potential developments in demography, socio-economics, and technology during the 21st century from moderate to intermediate to maximum change, will result in a pronounced spatial mismatch between future niche spaces of these species. The butterfly may expand considerably its future range (by 124-258%) if the host plant has unlimited dispersal, but it could lose 52-75% of its current range if the host plant is not able to fill its projected ecological niche space, and 79-88% if the butterfly also is assumed to be highly dispersal limited. These findings strongly suggest that climate change has the potential to disrupt trophic interactions because co-occurring species do not necessarily react in a similar manner to global change, having important consequences at ecological and evolutionary time scales.

A comparative chemical analysis of the larval nectar secretions and hemolymph from three unspecifically and facultatively ant-attended lycaenid species (Polyommatus coridon, P. icarus, and Zizeeria knysna) was performed by using high-performance liquid chromatography techniques. Sucrose was the main sugar component in all three species. In half of the samples of P. coridon, it was accompanied by glucose, whereas other sugars occurred only rarely. In P. icarus and Z. knysna, melezitose was the secondmost important component, followed by fructose and glucose. Total sugar contents were 43.6 T 14.8 g/l (mean T SD) for P. coridon, 74.2 g/l for P. icarus, and 68.3 T 22.6 g/l for Z. knysna. Up to 14 different identified amino acids were found in P. coridon nectar, with a total content of 9.7 T 3.4 g/l. Leucine was always the major component (contributing 50% of overall amino acid content). Other important amino acids were tyrosine, proline, arginine, and phenylalanine. P. icarus nectar contained up to six amino acids with a total content of 1.2 g/l, dominated by tyrosine and phenylalanine. Z. knysna nectar contained alanine and proline, with only 0.3 T 0.17 g/l total content. In the hemolymph of all species, up to 16 different amino acids occurred relatively regularly, with histidine dominating, followed by serine and proline. The amino acid pattern in hemolymph was considerably different from that of the nectar secretions. Larval diet weakly influenced P. coridon nectar sugars, and with a semisynthetic diet, a more homogeneous amino acid pattern was detected. Comparison with reports from other lycaenid species shows that secretions rich in amino acids are related to intimate, often obligate ant associations, whereas facultative, unspecific myrmecophiles rely on carbohydrates.

During the last 50 years, the distribution and abundance of many European butterXy species associated with semi-natural grasslands have declined. This may be the result of deteriorating habitat quality, but habitat loss, resulting in decreasing area and increasing isolation of remaining habitat, is also predicted to result in reduced species richness. To investigate the eVects of habitat loss on species richness, we surveyed butterXies in semi-natural grasslands of similar quality and structure, but situated in landscapes of diVerent habitat composition. Using spatially explicit habitat data, we selected one large (6-10 ha) and one small (0.5-2 ha) grassland site (pasture) in each of 24 non-overlapping 28.2 km 2 landscapes belonging to three categories diVering in the proportion of the area that consisted of semi-natural grasslands. After controlling for local habitat quality, species richness was higher in grassland sites situated in landscapes consisting of a high proportion of grasslands. Species richness was also higher in larger grassland sites, and this eVect was more pronounced for sedentary than for mobile species. However, the number of species for a given area did not diVer between large and small grasslands. There was also a signiWcant relationship between but-terXy species richness and habitat quality in the form of vegetation height and abundance of Xowers. In contrast, butterXy density was not related to landscape composition or grassland size. When species respond diVerently to habitat area or landscape composition this leads to eVects on community structure, and nestedness analysis showed that depauperate communities were subsets of richer ones. Both grassland area and landscape composition may have contributed to this pattern, implying that small habitat fragments and landscapes with low proportions of habitat are both likely to mainly contain common generalist species. Based on these results, conservation eVorts should aim at preserving landscapes with high proportions of the focal habitat.

Managed landscapes in which non-native ornamental plants are favored over native vegetation now dominate the United States, particularly east of the Mississippi River. We measured how landscaping with native plants affects the avian and lepidopteran communities on 6 pairs of suburban properties in southeastern Pennsylvania. One property in each pair was landscaped entirely with native plants and the other exhibited a more conventional suburban mixture of plants-a native canopy with non-native groundcover and shrubs. Vegetation sampling confirmed that total plant cover and plant diversity did not differ between treatments, but non-native plant cover was greater on the conventional sites and native plant cover was greater on the native sites. Several avian (abundance, species richness, biomass, and breeding-bird abundance) and larval lepidopteran (abundance and species richness) community parameters were measured from June 2006 to August 2006. Native properties supported significantly more caterpillars and caterpillar species and significantly greater bird abundance, diversity, species richness, biomass, and breeding pairs of native species. Of particular importance is that bird species of regional conservation concern were 8 times more abundant and significantly more diverse on native properties. In our study area, native landscaping positively influenced the avian and lepidopteran carrying capacity of suburbia and provided a mechanism for reducing biodiversity losses in human-dominated landscapes.

Seit den 1970er Jahren spielt das Stechen von Tattoos eine immer größere Rolle als künstlerisches Verfahren. Ein prominentes Beispiel in der zeitgenössischen Kunst ist Damien Hirsts Werk 'butterfly, divided' – ein auf einer Vulva platziertes Schmetterlingstattoo. Ausgehend von diesem zentralen Beispiel untersucht Ole Wittmann in seinem Buch, auf welche Weise Tätowierungen als eigenständige Kunstwerke fungieren können.

Ole Wittmann erläutert die Zusammenhänge zwischen Tattoos und der menschlichen Haut als Trägermaterial und arbeitet so die spezifische Materialität des tätowierten Bildes heraus. Dabei geht er auch den Besonderheiten des Schmetterlingsmotivs nach, das sich schon seit dem 19. Jahrhundert großer Beliebtheit erfreut und in engem Zusammenhang zu dem Ort seiner Anbringung stehen kann. Die materiellen Eigenheiten von Tattoos – ihre Bindung an den Körper – führen außerdem zu der Frage, wie sie als Kunstwerke präsentiert und vom Betrachter rezipiert werden können.

We examined the correlation between color and structure of wing scales in the nymphalid butterflies Bicyclus anynana and Heliconius melpomene . All scales in B. anynana are rather similar in comparison to the clear structural differences of differently pigmented scales in H. melpomene . Where scale structural differences in H. melpomene are qualitative, they seem to be quantitative in B. anynana . There is a "gradient" in the density of some structural elements, the cross ribs, in the scales of B. anynana : black, gold, and brown scales show progressively lower cross rib density within an individual. There is, however, high individual variation in the absolute cross rib densities (i.e., scales with a particular color and cross rib density in one individual may have a different color but similar density in another individual). By ectopically induc-ing color pattern during early pupal development, we examined whether a scale's color and its microstructure could be uncoupled. The effect of these manipulations appears to be different in B. anynana and H. melpomene . In Bicyclus , "black" scales induced by wing damage at an ectopic location normally containing brown scales acquire both an intermediate structure and color between that of brown and normal black scales. In Heliconius , however, intermediate colors or scale structure were never observed, and scales with an altered color (due to damage) always have the same structure as normal scales with that color. The results are discussed on the basis of gene expression patterns, variability in rates of scale development and pigment, and scale sclerotization pathways.

Animals display incredibly diverse color patterns yet little is known about the underlying genetic basis of these phenotypes. However, emerging results are reshaping our view of how the process of phenotypic evolution occurs. Here, we outline recent research from three particularly active areas of investigation: melanin pigmentation in Drosophila, wing patterning in butterflies, and pigment variation in lizards. For each system, we highlight (i) the function and evolution of color variation, (ii) various approaches that have been used to explore the genetic basis of pigment variation, and (iii) conclusions regarding the genetic basis of convergent evolution which have emerged from comparative analyses. Results from these studies indicate that natural variation in pigmentation is a particularly powerful tool to examine the molecular basis of evolution, especially with regard to convergent or parallel evolution. Comparison of these systems also reveals that the molecular basis of convergent evolution is heterogeneous, sometimes involving conserved mechanisms and sometimes not. In the near future, additional work in other emerging systems will substantially expand the scope of available comparisons.

The authors have surveyed different habitats in and around the Unakoti Archaeological Site and documented a total of 216 species classified under 6 families, 23 subfamilies and 126 genera of the order Lepidoptera. The study was conducted from 2016 to 2020, covering different seasons namely pre-monsoon (Jan-Apr), monsoon (May-Aug) and post-monsoon (Sep-Dec) respectively. The study reports 2 species under schedule I, 25 species under schedule II, and 5 species under schedule IV of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. This study also documented seasonal diversity and habitat-wise occurrence of butterflies in and around the Unakoti Archaeological Site. During the study, 59 butterfly species were recorded as new additions to the butterfly fauna of Tripura. High-quality photographs of all the butterfly species documented during the study have been included in this paper.

The outer surface of the facet lenses in the compound eyes of moths consists of an array of excessive cuticular protuberances, termed corneal nipples. We have investigated the moth-eye corneal nipple array of the facet lenses of 19 diurnal butterfly species by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscope, as well as by optical modelling. The nipples appeared to be arranged in domains with almost crystalline, hexagonal packing. The nipple distances were found to vary only slightly, ranging from about 180 to 240 nm, but the nipple heights varied between 0 (papilionids) and 230 nm (a nymphalid), in good agreement with previous work. The nipples create an interface with a gradient refractive index between that of air and the facet lens material, because their distance is distinctly smaller than the wavelength of light. The gradient in the refractive index was deduced from effective medium theory. By dividing the height of the nipple layer in...

Here's the entire book, for free. I found it posted several places on the internet, so even though it's still in copyright, I thought I'd post it here.

I am currently working on a book that's a kind of sequel, except the new book will be on a much larger scale. It's called, tentatively, "Our Visual World." My co-author is the historian Erna Fiorentini, and our publisher is Oxford. There's more about it on this site, and also on my website at

http://www.jameselkins.com/index.php/experimental-writing/257-our-visual-world

All comments are welcome! (Except comments on the chapter "How to Look at an Engineering Drawing": that chapter has an error, and if you're clever enough to find it, you're lucky.)

The diversity of Butterflies in Seshachalam Bio-reserve forest was studied with periodically filed exploration. Nearly 106 butterfly species were recorded from 5 families in the environs of Seshachalam bio reserve forest area (2015-16). The number of population recorded from the family Nymphalidae (31.13%) with highest followed by Lycaenidae (20.75%), Pieridae (15.35%), Hesperidae (15.09%) and least number of population was recorded from Papilionidae (13.20%).

Bonai Forest Division is part of the southern portion of Chotanagpur Plateau falling in the biogeographic zone of Deccan Peninsula distinguished for its high sal forests associations, metallic mineral resources and dominated tribal demographic profile in the region. The forest in the region is covered with variety of different habitats to which sal forest is predominant. The stand quality and regeneration capability of sal forests was ranked to be the best in the country. The literature available clearly depicts that no any detailed systematic biodiversity
research has been carried out in Bonai Forest Division, in north-western Odisha region, which extremely essential for farming a proper strategy to conserve the wildlife and habitats. Therefore, the present study was aimed to know the biodiversity in Bonai Forest Division and suggest conservation strategy for wild habitats on the area.
The faunal diversity of Bonai Forest Division consist of 31 species of dragonflies, 25 species of damselflies, 136 species of butterflies, 31 species of fishes, 18 species of amphibians, 21 species of snakes, 17 species of lizards, 1 species of turtle, 173 species of birds and 39 species of mammals. Similarly the floral diversity of this division consists of 102 species of trees, 37 species of climbers, 41 species of shrubs, 39 species of herbs and 13 species of grasses. The rich biodiversity that has been documented by this studies indicates that despite all negative pressure on forest habitat, a vast zone of contiguous forest is still biodiversity-rich. The Government in collaboration with national and international societies that are active in biodiversity conservation needs put in its best efforts to ensure that the Bonai Forest Division gets the recognition, protection and conservation efforts that it deserves.

Resumen. Con base en un análisis exhaustivo de la bibliografía de Lepidoptera relacionada con México y en la revisión de la megabase MARIPOSA (>500 000 registros y ejemplares), se presenta una síntesis sobre la riqueza mundial, sus estimados y sus proporciones con México, así como un examen detallado de la distribución de la riqueza y el endemismo de Papilionoidea s. lat., una de las superfamilias mejor conocidas para México. La distribución va precedida por un resumen de las contribuciones del equipo respecto a estudios estatales, siográ cos y vegetacionales realizados durante las últimas 3 décadas. En cifras resumidas, se estima que México contiene 23 750 especies de Lepidoptera, con cerca de 14 500 descritas y documentadas. La cifra real y la estimada se acercan al 10% de representación en México. Lo mismo ocurre con el porcentaje de Papilionoidea (s. lat.) de México respecto al mundial. Los porcentajes de endemismo en especies de las familias de Papilionoidea para el país fueron: Hesperiidae 15.83%, Papilionidae 6.3%, Pieridae 12.98%, Lycaenidae 5.27%, Riodinidae 16.29% y Nymphalidae 11.86%. Si se consideran las subespecies, el endemismo en general aumenta a 22.2%, casi la cuarta parte de los taxones de este nivel. Se tabula el número de especies y las endémicas representadas en cada estado y provincia biogeográ ca a partir de una lista con cerca de 450 subespecies endémicas. El estado de Oaxaca y la provincia biogeográ ca Sierra Madre del Sur contienen la mayor singularidad proporcional por su endemismo, mientras que Chiapas y la provincia Costa del Golfo de México contienen la mayor riqueza.

By sexually objectifying his prey and re-classifying them as inhuman creatures with preternatural powers, Humbert Humbert, the protagonist in Nabokov's ground-breaking novel LOLITA, is able to then cast himself as victim. This craft essay examines how Nabokov achieves this deception by inventing the “nymphet.”

Türkiye'nin en güneyinde bulunan Hatay ilinde yapılan araştırma ve gözlemler, bölgenin 162 kelebek türüne ev sahipliği yaptığı ortaya konmuştur. Bu türlere ait Hatay dağılım haritaları, beslenme bitkileri ve uçuş zamanları kelebek fotoğrafları ile birlikte verilmiştir.

Butterflies are well studied group of insects taxonomically, however, no research had been done on butterflies found in urban areas especially in Davao City. Thus, a survey was done in selected areas in the city to record and identify the butterfly species present. This study revealed 45 species belonging to Hesperiidae, Lycaenidae, Peiridae, Nymphalidae and Papillionidae families, 12 of them were Philippine endemic. Specimens were identified in situ and was confirmed by the third and fourth author. A new locality record of Genus Mycalesis was identified. The authors suggested further research on Mycalesis igoleta and Mycalesis mineus on its seasonal variation which can be used as indication of seasonal changes in the area.

The unpalatable and warning-patterned butterflies Heliconius erato and Heliconius melpomene provide the best studied example of mutualistic Mü llerian mimicry, thought-but rarely demonstrated-to promote coevolution. Some of the strongest available evidence for coevolution comes from phylogenetic codivergence, the parallel divergence of ecologically associated lineages. Early evolutionary reconstructions suggested codivergence between mimetic populations of H. erato and H. melpomene, and this was initially hailed as one of the most striking known cases of coevolution. However, subsequent molecular phylogenetic analyses found discrepancies in phylogenetic branching patterns and timing (topological and temporal incongruence) that argued against codivergence. We present the first explicit cophylogenetic test of codivergence between mimetic populations of H. erato and H. melpomene, and re-examine the timing of these radiations. We find statistically significant topological congruence between multilocus coalescent population phylogenies of H. erato and H. melpomene. Cophylogenetic historical reconstructions support repeated codivergence of mimetic populations, from the base of the sampled radiations. Pairwise distance correlation tests, based on our coalescent analyses plus recently published AFLP and wing colour pattern gene data, also suggest that the phylogenies of H. erato and H. melpomene show significant topological congruence. Divergence time estimates, based on a Bayesian coalescent model, suggest that the evolutionary radiations of H. erato and H. melpomene occurred over the same time period, and are compatible with a series of temporally congruent codivergence events. Our results suggest that differences in withinspecies genetic divergence are the result of a greater overall effective population size for H. erato relative to H. melpomene and do not imply incongruence in the timing of their phylogenetic radiations. Repeated codivergence between Mü llerian co-mimics, predicted to exert mutual selection pressures, strongly suggests coevolution. Our results therefore support a history of reciprocal coevolution between Mü llerian co-mimics characterised by phylogenetic codivergence and parallel phenotypic change.

Bogotá,pesedecontenerlamayorconcentraciónurbanadelpaís,consusgrandesextensionesdeasfaltoyconcreto,aunalbergaciertonúmerodeespeciesdeMariposasdiurnas(Lepidoptera-Papilionoidea).Especialmenteenlasmontañasorientales(CordilleraOriental)querespaldanlaciudad,másalgunospequeñosrelictosdebosque,comoalgunosdelosparquesmetropolitanos,peroenmenorforma,yaquesuscoberturasbotánicashansidoenriquecidasconárbolesforáneosquenoaportansignificativamentealfavorecimientodelabiodiversidadativa.Estasestructurasdebosquehanservidocomorefugioespecialmenteaalgunasespeciesmejormenteadaptadasalafuertecolonizaciónyalgranincremntodelacontaminacióncotidiana,porelazaroporcoincidencia.Aunasí,hoytodavíaesposibleencontraralgunasdeellas.Acontinuaciónpresentamosdiezespeciesqueesposibleencontrarenlaparteurbanaysusmunicipioscircundantes.

This is the first modern article in the Lepidopterology, dealing with the checklist of the butterflies of the East Mediterranean countries, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Iraq. Totally 448 species in 9 families are listed synonymically. Range of each species and subspecies is explained as codes of the countries. Distribution of each species and subspecies in Turkey is mentioned with the official provincial numbers. All the information are based upon the info-system of the Cesa; therefore the basic text of this article is extracted from the database system arranged and maintained regularly by the authors. Images used are from the archive of the Cesa and photographed by the first author under natural conditions, in various years and seasons. Identifications of all taxa including images belong to the authors. A selected bibliography of the butterflies of the seven countries is given alphabetically according to the names of the authors. It is also based upon the Library of the Cesa.

An updated checklist comprising 159 species of butterflies of Chhattisgarh, based on field data collected between September, 2013 and November, 2019 and compilation of previous works is presented. 19 species have been added of which 8 are range extensions and 11 species are confirmatory record from the state. 7 species reported by previous workers require confirmation and are thus placed on a tentative list.

We collected 423 species of diurnal butterflies (Rhopalocera) during 250 days of observations from March 1997 through January 2000 in the region of Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico. We present a list of 428 species recorded for Calakmul. This is the first reported list of butterflies for the state of Campeche, and it includes 290 new records for the state, 374 new records for Calakmul, and 1 new record for Mexico: Monca telata. Museum records were found for 5 additional species: Caria melino, Cissia labe, Tmolus echion, Emesis lupina lupina, and Calephelis azteca. The accumulation curve of species estimates that 457 species should be present in Calakmul, which suggests the list presented is 93% complete. We found that medium, tropical, semievergreen forest is the richest (371 species); more than a quarter of the butterflies of the Calakmul region were found exclusively in this forest. We also found the southern area slightly more abundant in species (82%) than the northern area (79%). Additionally, a comparison was made of the list generated for Campeche to lists from previous studies for Quintana Roo, Tikal-Guatemala National Park, and Belize. The comparison shows that 70%, 58%, and 54% of the butterfly species in Calakmul also are found in Tikal, Quintana Roo, and Belize, respectively. RESUMEN Recolectamos 423 especies de mariposas diurnas (Rhopalocera) de la regió n de Calakmul, en el estado de Campeche, México, desde marzo de 1997 a enero del 2000 completando 250 días de muestreo. Se presenta una lista de 428 especies registradas para Calakmul. Esta es la primera lista reportada de mariposas para el estado de Campeche y en ella se presentan 290 nuevos registros para este estado, 374 nuevos registros para la regió n de Calakmul y un nuevo registro para México: Monca telata. Cinco especies más fueron encontradas en ejemplares de museos: Caria melino, Cissia labe, Tmolus echion, Emesis lupina lupina y Calephelis azteca. Se presenta una curva de acumulació n de especies con un nú mero teó rico de especies esperadas de 457. De acuerdo con este cálculo, la lista presentada está completa en un 93%. Encontramos que la selva tropical, mediana subperennifolia es mayor en riqueza específica (371), incluso más de un cuarto de las especies reportadas aquí para Calakmul se encontró exclusivamente en este tipo de vegetació n. También encontramos que el sur es ligeramente más rico en especies (82%) que la región del norte de Calakmul (79%). Adicionalmente, se hizo una comparació n con listas de especies encontradas en el estado de Quintana Roo, en el Parque Nacional Tikal-Guatemala y en Belice, donde se muestra que el 70%, 58% y 54% de las especies de Calakmul se comparten con Tikal, Quintana Roo y Belice, respectivamente. vol. 48, no. 4 The Southwestern Naturalist