Speyeria cybele: Defending nectar

Grkovich, Alex agrkovich at tmpeng.com
Tue Jul 17 14:21:24 EDT 2001


See comment below.
   Alex

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	bill and Dale [SMTP:droberts03 at snet.net]
> Sent:	Tuesday, July 17, 2001 2:04 PM
> To:	Grkovich, Alex
> Cc:	butterfly ct
> Subject:	Re: Speyeria cybele: Defending nectar
> 
> Alex and all,
>         I do remember Alex's post concerning "aggressive" male Northern
> Cloudywings (Thorybes pylades) and in fact it was that post that alerted
> me to
> the possibility of "aggressive" butterfly behavior that I noticed between
> a
> Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) and a lone Monarch (Danaus
> plexippus) in my backyard around my Butterfly Bush. What I find
> interesting
> besides discovering the behavioral aspects of butterflies is the tendancy
> of
> we humans to project an image of fragility and peacefulness upon
> butterflies
> when they, in fact, may be every inch the pit bulls of the insect world
> when
> defending a food source or claiming a mate.
	[AG]   Yes, but not only finding a "lover" or a nectar "meal", but
defending a perch as well! That's exactly what my male Northern Cloudywing
was doing, and he was absolutely bullying his neighbors (Eastern Commas and
Mourning Cloaks) into submission- repeatedly; and I emphasize: Neither his
lady nor any sort of flowers were anywhere near the "action".

	And as far as claiming a mate is concerned, she wants the most
healthy and attractive male herself. That has been well documented in the
past. (End AG)  
>                                                             Bill Yule.
> 
> "Grkovich, Alex" wrote:
> 
> > Bill,
> >
> > Remember my posting of about a month ago re "Aggressive Male Northern
> > Cloudywing"? As I said then, the recent publications on butterfly
> > "aggression" and "territorial behavior" suggested that it was neither of
> > these but "mate seeking". But the actoins of that NCW that day were
> > aggression or territorial behavior, that's for sure. And I see Question
> > Marks in my garden all summer, darting at and chasing birds away from
> its
> > perch. I do not suppose a GSF would mistake a Monarch for its mate, so
> > probably it is territorial behavior.
> >
> > Alex
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: bill and Dale [SMTP:droberts03 at snet.net]
> > > Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 12:54 PM
> > > To:   butterfly ct
> > > Subject:      Speyeria cybele: Defending nectar
> > >
> > > Everybody,
> > > I'm curious if anyone else has observed anything like what I'm going
> to
> > > describe?  My Buddleia davidi (Butterfly bush) is approaching
> tree-like
> > > dimensions this year and as a result attracts numbers of Speyeria
> cybele
> > > (Great Spangled Fritillary) and others from my nearby fields.
> Normally
> > > all is a "peaceable kingdom" on the blossoms as the various
> individuals
> > > and individuals of different species politely drink their fill, making
> > > room for others and occasionally exchanging places.  When a Monarch
> > > entered the Buddleia air space a couple of days ago peace ended.
> Almost
> > > immediately a Great Spangled Fritillary (GSF) engaged the Monarch in a
> > > spiral air battle. It was the kind of ascending circling and jockeying
> > > for position that you would normally associate with two members of the
> > > same species inspecting each other for sexual prospects.  However this
> > > seemed to be a case of the GSF trying to drive the Monarch away from
> the
> > > nectar source.  About 20 feet away from the Buddleia is a patch of
> > > Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) which the Monarch tried to
> approach
> > > a half dozen times but was driven off each time by a GSF. This
> > > interaction went on for a least an hour, maybe longer, as I drifted
> off
> > > to other things. I'm not sure it was the same individual GSF that
> > > engaged the Monarch each time. It very well could have been different
> > > individuals  harassing the Monarch because there are generally five or
> > > more GSF at my gardens at any one time this part of the season. Then
> > > again it could have been the same GSF that had it in for this Monarch.
> > >     So I guess my question for the group is this:  Does this behavior
> > > suggest a case of mistaken identity (GSF mistakes Monarch for another
> > > GSF and possible mate or rival) or does this suggest GSF's (or an
> > > individual) defending a nectar source? I'd be interested in any
> > > comments.
> > >
> Thanks
> > > all,
> > >
> > > Bill Yule


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