Large Blue Butterfly

Large Blue Butterfly is both a common name and a description for Phengaris arion (sometimes also called Maculinea arion). It is a species of butterfly that lives in 37 countries throughout continental Europe, and was reintroduced to Southern England after going extinct there in 1979 due to habitat loss. They are found in warm, dry locations which are often also home to Thyme and Marjoram, plants that are important to the reproductive process. Large Blue Butterflies have wingspans of about 2in, and are blue with black spots.

(Image Source)

Large Blue Butterflies have an interesting life-cycle. Eggs are laid on the aforementioned Thyme or Marjoram plants and when they hatch, the caterpillars will consume the plant that they hatched upon, molting 3 times. After the third molt, the still-small caterpillars drop to the ground where they attract Myrmica sabuleti red ants with a sweet secretion from their body. The ant will feed on the secretion, and after it is finished the caterpillar will inflate the skin behind its head. The ant mistakes the caterpillar for one of its own larvae, and carries it back to the nest, where the caterpillar then proceeds to eat all of the ant larvae, hibernate, and eventually pupate.

Adult Large Blue Butterflies emerge in June and have sadly short lives. While a caterpillar may live 9 months or longer, adults typically only hand on for a few weeks at the very most. This is just long enough for them to find a mate and reproduce.

Large Blue Butterflies are listed as Near Threatened.

Comments

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!

Banggai Cardinalfish

Pterapogon kauderni The Banggai Cardinalfish is a small tropical fish that is becoming very rare in the wild, even though it has been successfully bred in captivity. You will only find these small, 3in long fish around the Banggai Islands of Indonesia. They are the only members of their genus, and you can tell them apart from other Cardinalfish by their three-striped bodies, tasseled first dorsal fin, long second dorsal, and their deep-forked tail fins. Banggai Cardinalfish are diurnal and live in small groups of about a dozen members. They are opportunistic feeders who dine on whatever smaller plants and animals they can find. Courtship and mating is pretty interesting for these guys-- females are the ones who initiate. They isolate a male and the pair will perform various courtship rituals before spawning. The Cardinalfish are mouthbrooders, which means that the males take the fertilized eggs (up to 90 of them) into their mouths and incubate them for up to 30 days. During t...

Animal A Day!

Search This Blog