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Post by hypanartia on Jul 14, 2017 1:31:42 GMT
I was always curious about the reason why butterflies, when puddling, group themselves by species, sometimes by family, but always seems to be some affinity within a cluster. There is always the eventual loner, but it is more the exception than the rule. It is unlikely that it is because the composition of a particular spot, as sometimes the clusters are cm apart. An obvious reason can be that the species more recently emerged and in greater need of puddling, concentrate in the best spots, but why to look for a spot in which other individuals of your species are puddling? especially considering that most of the individuals are males. Just curious. Any ideas?
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Post by mcheki on Jul 14, 2017 18:47:45 GMT
Sounds just like an evening down at the local pub!!!!!!!
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Post by nomad on Jul 25, 2017 21:15:08 GMT
It would be good to know, why the females rarely mud puddle, as in Delias.
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Post by Paul K on Jul 25, 2017 21:28:20 GMT
It would be good to know, why the females rarely mud puddle, as in Delias. Males are mud puddle to get necessary minerals/salts to successful reproduction. They pass the supplement of minerals with the sperm when mating. Strangely some females especially Pieridae mud puddle too, never see Delias though. It would be indeed interesting to know why females mud puddle at all. |
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jul 25, 2017 21:46:25 GMT
As Paul said, females of some species of Pieridae do mud-puddle, including Appias albina and Catopsilia pomona here in SE Asia, but females of other species in the same genus do not, eg Appias nero and Catopsilia pyranthe. Mostly the females mud-puddle at very hot periods, so they probably want a drink rather than particularly need salts.
I did once see a female Papilio nephelus chaon puddling along with males, but she was very old, and again probably wanted a drink. I also found a really fresh female Atrophaneua varuna drinking on wet sand early in the morning once. It was significant that she was on sand well away from my previous day's urine bait, so she definitely wasn't interested in that.
Adam.
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