Early comers occupy popular territories in a lycaenid butterfly, Chrysozephyrus smaragdinus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

Abstract

Territorial activities of a lycaenid butterfly, Chrysozephyrus smaragdinus, were observed throughout its adult season to investigate the territorial dynamics. The territories occupied earlier in the season were abandoned later than later‐occupied territories, indicating that the site preference of male C. smaragdinus was largely maintained during the adult season. Three indexes of territory quality based on animal preference, occupation duration (OD), initial occupation date (IOD) and the number of contests (NOC), were highly correlated. Therefore, these preference‐based indexes are consistent and reliable, although they are indirect estimates of benefits obtained from territories. Males arriving at territory sites early in the season were more likely to hold territories of better quality when NOC was used as the index of territory quality. The positive relationship between territory quality and male arrival date is congruent with the result of a previous study showing that early comers tend to hold a territory whereas late comers do not. However, male arrival date was not related to territory quality when OD or IOD was used as an index of territory quality. One possible reason for this apparent discrepancy is that the coefficient of variation of NOC is larger than those of OD and IOD, and therefore NOC could evaluate territory quality more quantitatively than the other two indexes. To date, studies of territoriality in butterflies have not considered the quality of territories. More studies considering the quality of territories will provide new insights into butterfly territoriality.

Observation of Paper Wasp Nests in Holy Ghost Church Campus, Bengaluru, Karnataka

“…Residency effects have been observed in butterfly territorial systems, exemplified by the extended chasing behaviour of longer-term territory holders (Takeuchi 2006a(Takeuchi , b, 2016Takeuchi and Honda 2009). These results were attributed to the males' minimizing risks through prolonged interaction (Takeuchi et al, 2016).…”

Agonistic display or courtship behavior? A review of contests over mating opportunity in butterflies

“…Although the bourgeois strategy has also been disproved in other species (Takeuchi 2006a; Peixoto and Benson 2012), a type of residency effect exists in butterfly territorial systems as well as in other animals (Sherratt and Mesterton-Gibbons 2015). In the hairstreak Chrysozephyrus smaragdinus , males that have occupied the contested territory longer tend to chase their opponent longer, and as a result, tend to win irrespective of their morphological or physiological characteristics (Takeuchi 2006a, b, 2016; Takeuchi and Honda 2009). Similar results were reported in Melanitis leda (Kemp 2003) and P. aegeria (Kemp and Wiklund 2004).…”

Territorial and Courtship Behaviour of Indian Common Crow Butterfly (Euploea core core)

“…They generally do non-contact aerial conflict with rivals which varies among the different species. Takeuchi (2016) reported two types of contest behaviour: contest over mating territory and contest over conspecific pupae. In a mating territory, the male butterfly of many species perches on leaves, twigs or the ground.…”