The species in the photographs is probably Chlosyne lacinia. Chlosyne lacinia (family Nymphalidae), popularly known as the "bordered patch butterfly" or "sunflower butterfly" is the most widely distributed species of its genus, ranging from Argentina northward to Texas in the United States, even occasionally penetrating as far north as Kansas and Nebraska.
La especie en las fotografías es probablemente Chlosyne lacinia. Chlosyne lacinia (familia Nymphalidae), conocida popularmente como "mariposa de parche bordeado" o "mariposa del girasol" es la especie más ampliamente distribuida de su género, extendiéndose desde Argentina hacia el norte hasta Texas en Estados Unidos, incluso, ocasionalmente puede penetrar hasta el norte de Kansas y Nebraska.
This butterfly, with mainly black wings with yellow-orange spots of varying sizes, is an oligophagous insect, that is, it feeds on a restricted group of plants.
Esta mariposa, con alas principalmente negras con manchas amarillo-anaranjadas de distintos tamaños, es un insecto oligófago, es decir, se alimenta de un grupo restringido de plantas.
This butterfly uses more than 16 different plant species for oviposition and for larval and adult feeding, including the Fabaceae, Acanthaceae, Verbenaceae and Rosaceae families, although most of the species it uses are from the Asteraceae family.
Esta mariposa utiliza más de 16 diferentes especies de plantas para la oviposición y para la alimentación de larvas y adultos que incluyen las familias Fabaceae, Acanthaceae, Verbenaceae y Rosaceae, aunque la mayoría de las especies que más utiliza son de la familia Asteraceae.
Among the main host plants of the butterfly, the most economically important is the sunflower (Helianthus annuus, Asteraceae), while the others are weeds in plantations or are found in the wild as secondary hosts of the butterfly.
Entre las que se consideran principales plantas hospederas de la mariposa, la de mayor importancia económica es el girasol (Helianthus annuus, Asteraceae), mientras que las demás son malezas en plantaciones o se encuentran de forma silvestre como hospederos secundarios de la mariposa.
The duration of the life cycle of the butterfly, although there are variations, can be 48 days, 8 days as an egg, 25 as a larva, 7 as a pupa and 8 days as an adult, highlighting that the longest stage of the life cycle of this butterfly is the larval stage, which has six instars, however, other researchers have reported five larval instars, and this difference could be related to the host species. Although in the studies carried out, the plant species belong to the Asteraceae family, not all species have secondary metabolites with antifeedant effects in their leaves, which could play a role in determining the number of larval instars.
La duración del ciclo de vida de la mariposa, aunque existen variaciones, puede ser de 48 días, 8 días como huevo, 25 como larva, 7 como pupa y 8 días como adulto, destacando que el estado más prolongado del ciclo de vida de esta mariposa es el larval, que presenta seis estadios, no obstante, otros investigadores han señalado cinco estadios larvales, y esta diferencia podría estar relacionada a la especie hospedadora. Aunque en los estudios realizados las especies de plantas pertenecen a la familia Asteraceae, no todas las especies poseen en sus hojas metabolitos secundarios con efectos antialimentarios, los cuales podrían jugar un papel en la determinación del número de estadios larvales.
Credits/créditos: Gomez et al. (2020) (Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina) CC BY 4.0.
Variations in the life cycle or development times are attributed to different factors, such as host plants, altitudes, latitudes and/or environmental temperatures. In the tropics, due to its environmental characteristics, the development cycles of many insects may be shorter compared to individuals of the same species present at higher latitudes.
Las variaciones en el ciclo de vida o los tiempos de desarrollo se atribuyen a diferentes factores, tales como las plantas hospedadoras, altitudes, latitudes y/o temperaturas ambientales. En el trópico por sus características ambientales los ciclos de desarrollo de muchos insectos pueden ser más cortos en comparación con individuos de la misma especie presentes en latitudes más altas.
Based on the above, I will comment on research related to the interaction between plants of the genus Tithonia (Asteraceae) and the larval stage of the butterfly Chlosyne lacinia. This research suggests several apparently contradictory theories.
Con base en lo escrito voy a comentar sobre investigaciones realizadas relacionadas con la interacción entre plantas del género Tithonia (Asteraceae) y la mariposa Chlosyne lacinia en su estado larval. Esas investigaciones sugieren varias teorías aparentemente contradictorias.
Plants of that genus contain chemical compounds in their leaves that act as a defense against butterflies and other insects. The toxic effects of many of these compounds, when consumed by larvae, have been associated with morphological deformities, delayed molting and impaired metamorphosis.
Las plantas de ese género contienen en sus hojas compuestos químicos que actúan como defensa contra las mariposas y otros insectos. Los efectos tóxicos de muchos de esos compuestos, al ser consumidos por las larvas, se han asociado con deformidades morfológicas, retraso en la muda y alteración de la metamorfosis.
Upon hatching, the larvae weave a thin layer of silk on the underside of the leaf and begin to feed on the epidermis, but do not feed on the upper side of the leaf. This behavior has been observed in the plant species Tithonia tubaeformis and Tithonia diversifolia. This behavior has been discussed for these and other Lepidoptera species, suggesting that it confers a higher probability of survival because they are less likely to be detected by predators, facilitates thermoregulation and accelerates their development.
Al eclosionar, las larvas tejen una capa de seda delgada en el envés (cara inferior de la hoja) y empiezan a alimentarse de la epidermis, pero no se alimentan del haz (cara superior de la hoja). Esta conducta se ha observado en las especies de plantas Tithonia tubaeformis y Tithonia diversifolia. Este comportamiento ha sido discutido para ésta y otras especies de Lepidoptera, sugiriendo que les confiere mayor probabilidad de supervivencia porque tienen menor probabilidad de ser detectadas por depredadores, facilita la termorregulación y acelera su desarrollo.
Credits/créditos: Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata (Wikimedia Commons) CC BY-SA 4.0; B.Navez (Wikimedia Commons) CC BY-SA 3.0.
As the larvae grow, they consume more and more leaves, and after the third instar they devour the entire leaf lamina, leaving only the veins. Subsequently, the larvae move in groups to other leaves on the branch.
Conforme las larvas van creciendo el consumo de las hojas es cada vez mayor, y después del tercer estadio devoran la lámina completa de la hoja, dejando solamente las nervaduras. Posteriormente las larvas se trasladan en grupo hacia otras hojas de la rama.
Apparently, the larvae also begin to feed on the underside of the leaves, because that side contains a smaller amount of secondary metabolites with antifeedant effects, however, it has also been documented that, upon hatching, the larvae feed on the underside or upper side of the leaves, and even, initially only on the upper side of the leaves of the species Tithonia diversifolia, because the leaves contained secondary metabolites on the underside and because of their antifeedant effect, the larvae fed only on the upper side of the leaves. It should be noted that this plant may have a higher concentration of these metabolites at certain times of the year, which causes the adults of the butterfly Chlosyne lacinia to oviposit when the concentrations are lower, thus ensuring the optimal development of their progeny.
Al parecer, también las larvas empiezan a alimentarse en la cara inferior de las hojas, porque en esa cara se encuentra una menor cantidad de metabolitos secundarios con efectos antialimentarios, no obstante, también ha sido documentado que, al eclosionar, las larvas se alimentan del envés o el haz de las hojas, e incluso, inicialmente solo del haz de las hojas de la especie Tithonia diversifolia, debido a que las hojas contenían metabolitos secundarios en el envés y por su efecto antialimentario, las larvas se alimentaron únicamente del haz. Es de hacer notar que esa planta puede tener una mayor concentración de esos metabolitos en ciertas épocas del año, lo que hace que los adultos de la mariposa Chlosyne lacinia ovipositen cuando las concentraciones son más bajas y así garantizan el desarrollo óptimo de su progenie.
Other results suggest that Chlosyne lacinia larvae most likely feed predominantly on the underside of the leaf on Tithonia diversifolia during their early instars because they have developed tolerance mechanisms to a number of toxic secondary metabolites produced by the plant through adaptation of the integument and alimentary canal, which provide an effective physical barrier to the absorption of toxic metabolites and reduce their bioavailability. In this case, the argument is based on the fact that the toxic metabolites were mainly detected in the feces of Chlosyne lacinia in their intact form, suggesting that they were not absorbed from the digestive canal of the butterfly. In that sense, if larvae feed predominantly on the underside during their early instars, this would not be related to a strategy of avoiding toxic metabolites.
Otros resultados sugieren, que lo más probable es que las larvas de Chlosyne lacinia se alimentan predominantemente de la cara inferior de la hoja (envés), en Tithonia diversifolia durante sus primeros estadios, porque han desarrollado mecanismos de tolerancia a una serie de metabolitos secundarios tóxicos producidos por la planta, a través de la adaptación del tegumento y del canal alimentario, que les proporcionan una barrera física eficaz para la absorción de los metabolitos tóxicos y reducen su biodisponibilidad. En este caso, el argumento está basado en que los metabolitos tóxicos se detectaron principalmente en las heces de Chlosyne lacinia en su forma intacta, lo que sugiere que no fueron absorbidos desde el canal digestivo de la mariposa. En tal sentido, si las larvas se alimentan predominantemente del envés durante sus primeros estadios, esto no estaría relacionado con la estrategia de evitar los metabolitos tóxicos.
Imágenes capturadas con cámara digital Fujifilm FinePix Z90.
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Thanks a lot for sharing these pieces of information. Moreover, your (personal) pictures are beautiful. Where have you been to get there? Have you visited any sort of butterfly farm?
Thanks @lemouth, no, that butterfly I photographed in a meadow type terrain. I always do tours in a hilly area near my home that has diverse environments, predominantly wooded areas, but also areas such as meadows.
A meadow-like area on the first mountain.
The second forested mountain photographed from the first mountain.
The next one shows the first mountain from the roof of my house. The red arrow indicates that I captured a photograph of my house from there,
which is next.
Although it is better appreciated in the photograph with a zoom.
Some butterflies are difficult to photograph, hehehe, sometimes they only allow one photo.
Thanks for this extra set of pictures and the clarifications :)
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