insect - fungal interactions

[William Haber]

Last week (13 August 1998) we observed a number of butterflies feeding on a
basket stinkhorn mushroom (Dictyophora cf indusiata) near Carara Biological
Reserve in the Pacific lowlands of Costa Rica. The mushroom emitted as
strong, unpleasant odor that was similar to dung or rotting, yeasty organic
matter. Charaxines were the most abundant visitors. We also observed
several Charaxines (Memphis pithyusa, M. morvus, and Zaretis ellops)
feeding on dung at the same site. We saw only butterflies visiting the
stinkhorn and no flies or other insects during two hours at mid-day. A
second individual, which was almost spent, had only a couple of butterflies
visiting.

	Most stinkhorns are thought to have their spores dispersed by
flies, but in this instance, butterflies may be the main spore carriers.
You can see a photo of a mushroom apparently of the same species in
'Mushrooms Demystified' by David Arora (Ten Speed Press, 1986). Phil
DeVries mentions many instances of butterflies feeding on fungi in 'The
Butterflies of Costa Rica' (Princeton, 1987).

	Here are the species we identified:

Acheloides bursirius
Adelpha iphiclus
Caligo memnon
Catonephele numilia
Consul fabius
Hamadryas feronia
Memphis artacaena
Memphis morvus
Memphis oenomais
Memphis orthesia, cf.
Memphis pithyusa
Nica flavilla
Prepona omphale
Pyrrhogyra crameri
Urbanus pronta
Hesperiidae near Urbanus

Ciao, Bill