Butterfly with no mouth? Lifespan of 3 hours?? can anyone help?

[Soren Nylin]

At 12:38 16/11/98 -0500, you wrote:
>I wonder whether Michelle might be thinking of a moth ... aren't there
>silkmoths that only live a short time, and never feed (as adults)?
>As children, of course, they are voracious. 
>Big showy moths count as butterflies, you'll recall, in the folk memory.
>(and brown little boring butterflies count as moths. Except in the
>British Isles. Verbum sap.)
> 
>
>Semjase wrote:
>> 
>> >Hi- I was wondering if someone out there could help me out... I seem to
>> >recall learning about a butterfly that was born
>> >
>> >     with no mouth and only lived for a few hours... Can anyone tell me
what
>> >spiecies it is, and/or where to find this type of
>> >
>> >     information?
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >     Thanks in advance...
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >     Machelle
>> >
>> I know of no such species, it is a fabrication most likely.
>> 
>> S.
> 

You could be thinking of the pierid butterfly Eucheria socialis in Mexico.
Adults do not feed and have a very short lifespan, according to:

Underwood DLA (1994) Intraspecific Variability in Host Plant Quality and
Ovipositional Preferences in Eucheira socialis (Lepidoptera, Pieridae).
Ecological Entomology, 19: 245-256.

Best regards

Soren


Soren Nylin
Lecturer/Associate Professor of Animal Ecology
http://www.zoologi.su.se/research/Evolutionary_page.html

Coordinator of graduate courses in Ecology, Ethology and Evolution
http://www.zoologi.su.se/education/PhD-BIOLOGY/biohome.html

Department of Zoology
Stockholm University
S-106 91 Stockholm
SWEDEN

Soren.Nylin at zoologi.su.se
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