Interesting Facts
Description
Family Lycaenidae
'The Lycaenidae are members
of the Superfamily
Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Worldwide in distribution, this family
has approximately 4,700 species that are unevenly distributed. Coppers are especially dominant in north temperate regions
, blues are richest
in the Old World tropics and north temperate
zones, and hairstreaks are particularly abundant in New World tropics. The adults
are typically small to tiny and often brilliantly colored--iridescent blues, bright reds, and oranges. Adults of both sexes have three pairs of walking legs
, though most males have fused segments in their front legs. Most adults visit flowers for nectar, but some harvesters feed
on wooly aphid honeydew and some hairstreaks feed on aphid honeydew or bird droppings. Females lay
single, sea
urchin shaped eggs
on host leaves or flower buds; the resulting caterpillars are typically slug-shaped. In many species, caterpillars depend on ants
for protection, so caterpillars produce
sugary secretions that are collected by the ants. Most species overwinter in either the egg or pupal stage.
'[1]
Subfamily Lycaeninae
Coppers are members of the Family Lycaenidae. They are found in sunny, open habitats throughout the temperate zone, with 50 species found in Eurasia and North America. One isolated species lives on volcanoes in Guatemala, and a few species live in New Guinea, New Zealand, and northern Africa. No species are known migrants, but several are local colonists . Coppers typically have upper wing surfaces that are iridescent purple or red-orange, but some North American species are blue, brown, or gray. Males perch and interact with other males while awaiting receptive females. Most species have a single brood and overwinter as eggs or as first instar caterpillars within the egg. The caterpillars feed on leaves of host plants , which in North America are docks, knotweeds, buckwheats, cinquefoils, gooseberries, currants, or redberry.[2]
Habitat
Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,840 meters (0 to 6,037 feet).[3]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Animalia
()
- C. Linnaeus, 1758
- animals
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
()
- (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
- Branch:
Protostomia
()
- Grobben, 1908
- Infrakingdom:
Ecdysozoa
()
- A.M.A. Aguinaldo et al., 1997 ex T. Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Superphylum:
Panarthropoda
()
- Cuvier
- Phylum:
Arthropoda
()
- Latreille, 1829
- Arthropods
- Subphylum:
Mandibulata
()
- Snodgrass, 1938
- Infraphylum:
Atelocerata
()
- Heymons, 1901
- Superclass:
Panhexapoda
()
- Epiclass:
Hexapoda
()
- Class:
Insecta
()
- C. Linnaeus, 1758
- Insects
- Subclass:
Dicondylia
()
- Infraclass:
Pterygota
()
- Cohort:
Myoglossata
()
- Superorder:
Panorpida
()
- Order:
Lepidoptera
()
- C. Linnaeus, 1758
- Butterflies and Moths
- Infraorder:
Heteroneura
()
- Family:
Lycaenidae
()
- Gossamer Winged Butterflies
- Subfamily:
Lycaeninae
()
- Coppers
- Genus:
Thersamonia
()
- Verity, 1919
- Specific name:
dispar
- Haworth, 1802
- Scientific name: - Thersamonia dispar Haworth, 1802
- Specific name:
dispar
- Haworth, 1802
- Genus:
Thersamonia
(
- Subfamily:
Lycaeninae
(
- Family:
Lycaenidae
(
- Infraorder:
Heteroneura
(
- Order:
Lepidoptera
(
- Superorder:
Panorpida
(
- Cohort:
Myoglossata
(
- Infraclass:
Pterygota
(
- Subclass:
Dicondylia
(
- Class:
Insecta
(
- Epiclass:
Hexapoda
(
- Superclass:
Panhexapoda
(
- Infraphylum:
Atelocerata
(
- Subphylum:
Mandibulata
(
- Phylum:
Arthropoda
(
- Superphylum:
Panarthropoda
(
- Infrakingdom:
Ecdysozoa
(
- Branch:
Protostomia
(
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
(
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
Similar Species
Members of the genus Thersamonia
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 0 species and subspecies in this genus:
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Bibliography (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) / Charles A. Bridges. Urbana, Ill.: C.A. Bridges, c1993. url p. 172, p. 33, p. 368.
- Catalogue of the family-group, genus-group and species-group names of the Riodinidae & Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera) of the world / Charles A. Bridges. Urbana, Ill.: C.A. Bridges, c1994. url p. 106, p. 11, p. 50.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 17, 2012.
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 08, 2007:
- Biologiezentrum der Oberoesterreichischen Landesmuseen, Biologiezentrum Linz
Identifiers
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 16630842
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 628893
Footnotes
- http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=16&sci=Lycaenidae&com=Gossamer-wing Butterflies [back]
- http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Arota&search=Search [back]
- Mean = 395.860 meters (1,298.753 feet), Standard Deviation = 284.430 based on 499 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
