Euphilotes battoides allyni
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An "El Segundo Blue" ( Euphilotes battoides allyni ) on flowers of its partner plant species Eriogonum parvifolium |
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| Euphilotes battoides allyni | ||||||||||||
| ( Shields , 1975) |
Euphilotes battoides allyni (also El Segundo Blue , roughly 'El-Segundo-Bläuling') is a subspecies of the butterfly species Euphilotes battoides from the family of the blues (Lycaenidae).
description
The El Segundo Blue is a small blue with a fore wing length of about 10 millimeters. The wings are, as is typical of the species, relatively wide and clearly rounded on the outside. The upper sides of the wings of the male are bright blue with a purple sheen. The edges of both wings are set off by black stripes about 1 millimeter wide. On the upper side of the hind wings of most individuals on the trailing edge there is a series of small dark spots, overlaid with an orange spot (aurora). The edges of the wings are framed by a white-colored fringe that has small black spots at the level of the veins. The undersides of the wings are whitish to whitish-gray in both sexes with a clearly separated, black markings that are darker and more extensive than in most relatives. In the female, the base color of the upper side of the wing is dark brown. An orange spot (aurora) near the edge (submarginal) on the top of the hind wings is almost always present.
The hind wings also have a series of orange spots on the underside, which are wider than those of the relatives and usually run into a continuous band.
The subspecies is not clearly distinguishable from other subspecies, as well as a number of related bluish species, based on the wing drawing. A genital specimen is to be made to determine the exact species. Usually the combination of location, food plant and flight time allows an approximate determination.
Ecology and way of life
Over its entire life cycle, Euphilotes battoides allyni has a very close relationship with the plant species Eriogonum parvifolium ('coastal buckwheat'), a member of the knotweed family that is very common in western North America . The adults take in the nectar of the flowers of this plant as food. They also use the inflorescences as a resting place as well as a place for mating and oviposition and even as a place to die. The monophage caterpillar also develops there. The El Segundo Blue is unique in North America in its lifestyle, which is almost exclusively based on a single part - the inflorescence - of its partner plant.
The adult flight time ranges from (June) July to August. There is only one generation a year. Fully grown caterpillars crawl to the ground and pupate here in a small, self-dug cave in which they hibernate. In laboratory tests, the species also lays eggs on other species of the genus Eriogonum that do not occur in the natural habitat, but on which the caterpillar cannot develop. One of the last occurrences was threatened with extinction because of the well-intentioned planting of the wrong species in the habitat, severe individual losses were to be expected.
Occurrence
| Size development of the total population (minimum size, given in 1000 individuals) |
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| 2011 | 111.5 | |||
| 2013 | 43.4 | |||
| 2015 | 24.5 | |||
The only occurrence of the species are the coastal dunes of El Segundo , a western suburb of Los Angeles ( Southern California ), south of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The formerly extensive dune area of around 1200 hectares is now largely destroyed by development. Four small relics have survived, two of which are El Segundo Blue. In total, only three small populations are known. One of them living in a one-hectare relic dunes in a small, enclosed plot, the north to the Chevron - refinery complex adjacent El Segundo ( 33 ° 55 '0 " N , 118 ° 25' 18" W ). Another 10-hectare refuge for the butterfly exists barely more than 1 km northwest of this point in an 80-hectare reserve in the Palisades del Rey desert , which stretches along the coast between the airport and the beach. The number of individuals there was estimated at around 4,000 in 1990 after the protective measures began. The third population lives near Malaga Cove on the Palos Verdes peninsula on less than 0.5 hectares.
Species protection
The subspecies was the year after their first description June 8, 1976 on the list of endangered species of Service US Fish and Wildlife set.
Taxonomy
The subspecies was first described in 1975 by the Californian entomologist Oakley Shields under the name Shijimiaeoides battoides allyni . There has been scientific controversy for decades about the taxonomy of the genus, the correct naming and the status of several local forms, depending on the author, between three and eleven species are recognized. There is also no agreement on the species belonging to this subspecies. Many authors suggest the El Segundo Blue of the related species Euphilotes bernardino (Barnes & McDunnough, 1916). All Euphilotes species live exclusively on one or a few related Eriogonum species, if they occur together (sympatric) in one area, each of them uses a different species.
literature
- Rudolf HT Mattoni: The Endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly. In: The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera. Volume 29, No. 4 ("Winter 1990"), 1992, pp. 277–304 ( PDF 19.5 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Euphilotes battoides allyni (Shields, 1975) . Data sheet under Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN) 117240 in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), accessed August 8, 2017
- ^ A b Oakley Shields: Studies on North American Philotes (Lycaenidae). IV. Taxonomic and biological notes, and new subspecies. In: Bulletin of the Allyn Museum. No. 28, 1975 ( PDF 16.7 MB)
- ↑ a b c Rudolf HT Mattoni: The Euphilotes battoides complex: recognition of a species and description of a new subspecies. In: The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera. Volume 27, No. 3/4 (“Winter 1988”), 1989, pp. 173–185 ( PDF ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. 5.6 MB).
- ↑ John Shrader Garth, James Wilson Tilden: California Butterflies. University of California Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0-520-05249-9 .
- ↑ Gordon Pratt: Battoides Group. In: Paul A. Opler (Ed.): A Field Guide to Western Butterflies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston 1999. ISBN 978-0-395-79151-6 , pp. 236-238.
- ^ Mattoni: The Endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly. 1990 (see literature ), p. 277
- ↑ El Segundo Blue Butterfly Counts. LAX Natural Resources Management, accessed August 10, 2017
- ^ A b Rudolf HT Mattoni: The El Segundo Blue, Euphilotes bernardino allyni (Shields). In: TR New (Ed.): Conservation Biology of Lycaenidae (Butterflies). Occasional Paper of the IUCN Species Survival Commission No. 8. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Gland 1993, ISBN 2-8317-0159-7 , pp. 133-134 ( PDF 3.5 MB; complete volume).
- ↑ What We Do . Chevron. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
- ↑ Sandi Hemmerlein: A Century of El Segundo: Five Surprising Ways the City Has Made Its Mark on the Southland. kcet.org, December 27, 2016, accessed August 10, 2017
- ^ Traci Watson: Rare Butterflies Flying High at Los Angeles Airport. news.nationalgeographic.com, April 21, 2016, accessed August 8, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles World Airport (LAWA) Environmental and Land Use Planning Division: LAX Dunes Preserve. LAWA website, accessed on August 8, 2017
- ↑ Species Profile for El Segundo Blue butterfly (Euphilotes battoides allyni) , Environmental Conservation Online System (ECOS) of the FWS, accessed August 12, 2017
