Maculinea alcon

Taxobox
name = Alcon Blue


image_width = 240px
status = LR/nt | status_system = IUCN2.3
regnum = Animalia
divisio = Rhopalocera
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
familia = Lycaenidae
genus = "Maculinea"
species = "M. alcon"
binomial = "Maculinea alcon"
binomial_authority = (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)
synonyms =
*"Glaucopsyche alcon"

"Maculinea alcon", more commonly known as Alcon Blue or Alcon Large Blue, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family and is found in Europe and Northern Asia. It can be seen flying in mid to late summer. Like some other species of Lycaenidae, its larva (caterpillar) stage depends on support by certain ants; it is therefore known as a myrmecophile.

The butterfly lays its eggs onto the Marsh Gentian ("Gentiana pneumonanthe"); in the region of the Alps they are sometimes also found on the related Willow Gentian ("Gentiana asclepiadea"). [Bellmann, Heiko (2003): Der neue Kosmos-Schmetterlingsführer. ISBN 3-440-09330-1. de icon] The caterpillars eat no other plants.

Alcon larvae leave the food plant when they have grown sufficiently (4th instar) and wait on the ground below to be discovered by ants. The larvae emit surface chemicals (allomones) that closely match those of ant larvae, causing the ants to carry the Alcon larvae into their nests and place them in their brood chambers, where they are fed by worker ants and where they devour ant larvae. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7171196.stm Caterpillars con ants with smell] , BBC News, 4 January 2008] Over time, some ant colonies that are parasitized in this manner will slightly change their larva chemicals as a defense, leading to an evolutionary "arms race" between the two species. [ [http://intl.emboj.org/news/2008/080103/full/news.2007.405.html The battle of the butterflies and the ants] , "Nature News", 3 January 2008]

Generally, Lycaenidae species which have a myrmecophilous relationship with the ant genus "Myrmica" are locked to primary host specificity. The Alcon Blue is unusual in this regard in that it uses different host species in different locations throughout Europe. It is known to use "Myrmica scabrinodis", "Myrmica ruginodis", and "Myrmica rubra" as the primary host within differing European zones.

See also

* "Maculinea alcon arenaria" (Extinct Dutch subspecies)

References

*

External links

* [http://www.redlist.org/search/details.php?species=12658 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Maculinea alcon]
* [http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/drnash/Atta/Pages/LargeBl.html David Nash pages on Maculinea alcon]
* [http://www.kolumbus.fi/silvonen/lnel/lyc/Macalcon.htm Pictures of eggs and caterpillar]
* [http://www.leps.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/MaculAlcon.htm Pictures of adults]