Aggressiveness in leps

Niklas Wahlberg niklas.wahlberg at helsinki.fi
Tue May 4 03:20:23 EDT 1999


Hi,
  Hmmm... I have never bumped into the notion that Lepidoptera are not
aggressive in the scientific literature. Males are certainly very
aggressive when searching for mates in many species, especially those that
use the perching tactic (ie defend small territories in areas where females
are likely to emerge). Such species usually buzz anything that flies by in
the hope that it is a female of the same species. If it happens to be a
male, a "spiral fight" might ensue, where the males fly around each other
up to several meters and actually beat each other with their wings (this
has been recorded at least for Parage aegeria (Satyrinae)). The victor
(usually the defender) returns to the territory to wait for the next object
to fly by!
   That Lepidoptera are not aggressive is probably a misconception of the
general public, butterflies don't LOOK aggressive, do they?!

Cheers,
Niklas

_________________________________________________________________________

   Niklas Wahlberg                          
   Department of Ecology and Systematics    
   Division of Population Biology           
   PO Box 17 (Arkadiankatu 7)               
   00014 University of Helsinki
   Finland                                                         
   p. +358-9-191 7378, fax +358-9-191 7301  
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