Cupid (genus)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cupid
Short-tailed Bluebird (Cupido argiades)

Short-tailed Bluebird ( Cupido argiades )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Bluebirds (Lycaenidae)
Subfamily : Lycaeninae
Genre : Cupid
Scientific name
Cupid
Cabinet , 1801

Cupido is a genus of the family of Bläulinge . 17 species have been described, six of which are found in Europe.

features

Cupid includes a group of very small blues, including the smallest species in the family. Characteristics of the genus (including some related genera: the "Everes section", see below) are: In the fore wing, the subcostal artery and the R1 artery merge (anastomose) a short distance, but then separate again. The males have scent scales , but these are inconspicuous. Under the microscope they have a characteristic shape. They are long-stalked and widened at the front, like a tennis racket, curled upwards in the shape of a channel, they stand in rows.

Easier recognizable features are e.g. E.g .: eyes hairless (bare), palpate (palps) hairy or scaly. The genus includes species with darker, mostly gray or brown coloring of the wing tops of the females, which are mostly more or less extensively colored blue in the males. This is sometimes a metallic shimmering structure color. The underside is usually light gray to almost white in both sexes, sometimes with a delicate bluish tint, with dark spots, accompanied by orange spots only in some species. The species of the subgenus Everes have a more or less long appendix (tail) on the rear edge of the hind wing, this is missing in the species of the subgenus Cupid .

In fact, the genus can only be identified from the genital apparatus of the male. As a rule, therefore, during practical work and the presentation in field guides, the determination of the genus is completely dispensed with and the species is determined immediately.

Caterpillars

The caterpillars are not known in all species, characteristics for the genus cannot be given. In the species investigated, they have the characteristic isle-shaped shape of most blue caterpillars, with a small head that can be retracted into the trunk. They are hairy and often tinted in color. This color is used to camouflage the flower heads on which the caterpillars often sit. All species live on butterflies (legumes). The species examined so far live, like numerous other bluebells, in close association with ants. In Cupido minimus they are colored green and have a dark green back line. The caterpillar body tapers at both ends and is hairy white. The caterpillar's head is black and is pulled back into the body when it is at rest. Hibernating caterpillars are pink-brown in color and are reddish-brown in color. In the species, special formations have been demonstrated, of which an attracting effect on ants has been demonstrated in other species. These are transformed hairs (so-called pore domes) and nectar glands (so-called dorsal organs), both of which emit substances desired by ants, the composition of which is unknown in Cupid's case . The caterpillars are largely protected from being eaten by ants and in many cases are even actively defended by the ants.

Taxonomy

The generic name Cupid in the sense of closet originally referred to almost all "real" bluebells (the subfamily Lycaeninae). After numerous species were spun off into new genera, the genus is now relatively small. Cupid belongs in the subfamily Polyommatinae to a group of closely related genera, the Everes section . The genus can only be distinguished from the related genera through the genital morphology of the male reproductive organs. In contrast to some other groups, the Everes section has never been revised modern, its status is therefore considered to be "somewhat chaotic". Even among many modern authors, the status of Everes is controversial. While most of the reviewers regard this as a subgenus (or mere species group) of Cupid , others hold on to the genus rank. Although both Tutt and Eliot also want to identify genital morphological differences, the "genera" are usually differentiated on the basis of a single characteristic: In Everes , a small "tail" attaches to the rear edge of the hind wing (as an extension of the last median vein), which in Cupid s. st. is missing. A genetic analysis based on homologous DNA sequences was unable to solve the problem. Here Everes should be considered as a subgenus of Cupid , this corresponds to the current list of butterflies, but is available e.g. B. in contrast to the fauna of Baden-Württemberg.

The genus Cupid in this sense comprises 17 valid species, of which 6 or 7 are common in Europe. The status of some other species is controversial.

The genus inhabits a huge area that includes the entire Holarctic. One species is native to tropical East Asia and Australia. The center of diversity is in Central Asia.

Surname

The Latin name, Cupid , translates as desire and describes the Roman god of love Amor.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Cupid closet 1801 Fauna Europaea, Version 2.1, December 22, 2009, accessed on January 10, 2010 .
  2. ^ LG Courvoisier (1916): About male scales in Lycaenids. Negotiations of the Natural Research Society in Basel Volume 27: 11-45.
  3. ^ A b c John Nevill Eliot (1973): The higher classification of the Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera): a tentative arrangement. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology Vol. 28 No.6: 371-505.
  4. ^ Konrad Fiedler (1989): European and north west African Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera) and their association with ants. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 28 (4): 239-257.
  5. ↑ Naomi E. Pierce, Michael F. Braby, Alan Heath, David J. Lohman, John Mathew, Douglas B. Rand, Mark A. Travassos (2002): The ecology and evolution of ant association in the Lycaenidae. Annual Revue of Entomology 47: 733-771.
  6. ↑ David J. Carter, Brian Hargreaves: Caterpillars and Butterflies of Europe and their Forage Plants. Blackwell Wissenschaftsverlag 1987, ISBN 3-8263-8139-4
  7. ↑ M. Baylis & RL Kitching (1987): The myrmecophilous organs of larvae of the small blue, Cupido minimus (Lepidoptera; Lycaenidae). Journal of Natural History Volume 22, Issue 4 doi : 10.1080 / 00222938800770571
  8. ↑ James William Tutt (1898): A natural history of the British Lepidoptera: a text-book for students and collectors. London: S. Sunshine. Full text source
  9. ↑ Robert K. Robbins & Marcelo Duarte (2006): Systematic placement of Lycaena cogina Schaus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae), a biogeographically disjunct New World species. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 108 (1): 226-236
  10. ↑ Jeffry Catlin Oliver (2007): Population, phylogenetic and coalsecent analyzes of character evolution in gossamer-winged butterflies (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Diss., University of Arizona.
  11. ↑ Wolfgang A. Nass (1995): The butterflies of the Federal Republic of Germany. Proposal for a modern, phylogenetically oriented species directory (annotated checklist) (Lepidoptera, Rhopalcera). Entomological news and reports (Dresden) 39 (1/2): 1-28.
  12. ^ Günter Ebert (editor): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 2: Tagfalter II. Eugen Ulmer Verlag 1991. ISBN 3-8001-3459-4
  13. ↑ Brower, Andrew VZ (2008): Cupido Closet 1801. Version 19 May 2008 (under construction). in The Tree of Life Web Project
  14. ^ Website Lepidoptera and some othe life forms online
  15. ↑ Felipe Gil (2006): Cupido carswelli (STEMPFFER, 1927): morphology of its chrysalis and genitalia compared with those of Cupido minimus (FUESSLY, 1775) and Cupido lorquinii (HERRICH-SCHÄFFER, 1847). Atalanta 37 (1/2): 150-160.
  16. ↑ Celia G. Prieto, Miguel L. Munguira, Helena Romo (2009): Morphometric analysis of genitalia and wing pattern elements in the genus Cupido (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae): are Cupido minimus and C. carswelli different species? German Entomological Journal 56 (1): 137–147. doi : 10.1002 / mmnd.200900012
  17. ↑ Hans-Arnold Hürter: The scientific butterfly names. Derivation and interpretation . 1st edition. Peter Pomp, Bottrop and Essen 1998, ISBN 3-89355-176-X , p. 323 .

Web links

Commons : Cupido (Lycaenidae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files