Field notes including a summary of trophic and ant-associations for the butterfly genera Chrysoritis Butler, Aloeides Hubner and Thestor Hubner (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from South Africa

摘要

Eighteen life history observations on lycaenid taxa are reported and discussed for the first time, and updated tables of all known ant symbionts and food-plants for Chrysoritis and Aloeides are presented. Interactions between first instar larvae of Thestor rileyi Pennington and their host ants are described. The occurrence of larvae of Aloeides bamptoni Tite & Dickson and A. nollothi Tite & Dickson with their ant-associates and food-plants are reported, and the oviposition behaviour of A. barklyi (Trimen) and the ecology of A. pringlei Tite & Dickson is described. An ant-associate and a new food-plant are recorded for C. braueri (Pennington), and ant associates are inferred for Chrysoritis aridus (Pennington) and for C. natalensis (van Son) using new evidence. Further evidence for the ant-associate and food-plant of C. chrysantas (Trimen) is presented. Food-plants and ant-associates are determined for C. trimeni (Riley) and C. pan lysander (Pennington), and for the first time they are recorded occurring in the same locality. Anew locality for C. zonarius coetzeri Dickson & Wykeham is recorded. Each observation is reported and discussed in context, and in relation to previously published work.