Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas SP, Brazil.
J Insect Sci. 2012;12:52. doi: 10.1673/031.012.5201.
The Neotropical genus Urbanus (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) contains around 34 described species, and is widely distributed from the extreme southern United States to Argentina. Here, we describe the larval morphology and behavior of Urbanus esmeraldus (Hübner)(Hesperiidae) in Urera baccifera (Urticaceae), a plant producing food rewards and fleshy fruits that attract ants (including predacious species) in a Brazilian forest. Larvae pass through five instars and construct two kinds of leaf shelters. Experiments with ejected fecal pellets showed that these can serve as cues to ground-dwelling ants that climb onto host plants and potentially attack the larvae. Manipulation with pellets placed at different distances suggests that ejection behavior decreases larval vulnerability to ant predation. Larval preference for mature leaves may be related with increased predation risk at ant-visited young leaves. The study shows that a combination of natural history and experimental data can help understand the life history of a butterfly using a plant with high predation risk.
新热带属 Urbanus（Hübner）（鳞翅目：弄蝶科）包含约 34 种已描述的物种，广泛分布于美国最南部到阿根廷。在这里，我们描述了 Urbanus esmeraldus（Hübner）（弄蝶科）在巴西森林中产生食物奖励和肉质果实的 Urera baccifera（荨麻科）植物上的幼虫形态和行为。幼虫经过五个龄期，并构建两种类型的叶蔽所。用喷出的粪便球进行的实验表明，这些粪便球可以作为线索，引导在地面上生活的蚂蚁爬上寄主植物，并可能攻击幼虫。将粪便球放置在不同距离的操作表明，喷出行为降低了幼虫对蚂蚁捕食的脆弱性。幼虫对成熟叶片的偏好可能与受蚂蚁光顾的幼叶的更高捕食风险有关。该研究表明，自然历史和实验数据的结合可以帮助理解一种具有高捕食风险的植物的蝴蝶的生活史。
