Honeydew?

[Dale Roberts/Bill Yule]

Robert,
       Thanks for your articulate and thoughtful response.  Everything you
relate rings true to the behavior I witnessed.  The male H. phyleus circled
a bunch of flowers and located the nectaring female and landed on a blossom
immediately behind the tip of her abdomen.  He then proceeded to "bump" her,
as you say, repeatedly until she took flight.  I hadn't given that part of
the behavior much thought.  I guess I was concentrating on the "bumping"
behavior.  As I said in the first post I didn't see his proboscis extended
and my assumption that it may have been an exchange of fluids, minerals or
pheromones was pure speculation based only on the relative position of the
contact point between the two individuals.  To describe the contact as
'bumping" as you do is actually a much more accurate description than my
"nipped."  After the bumping caused her to take flight the male took off in
her direction and I lost sight of the both of them.
        Thanks again for your insights.  Next time I see something like this
I'll be sure to try and follow the subsequent behavior now that I have some
clues as to what may possibly be occurring.

                                            Regards,
                                                          Bill Yule
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Dana" <robert.dana at dnr.state.mn.us>
To: <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2002 11:44 AM
Subject: Re: Honeydew?


> In the course of my study of Hesperia dacotae and H. ottoe in western MN
> a number of years ago I observed a large number of male-female
> encounters, including a bunch in small flight cages set down over the
> prairie. I saw many instances of males "bumping" females similar to what
> you describe. My interpretation was that the males were attempting to
> get the female to fly, as it appeared to me that an in-flight
> interaction involving the male dispersing androconia over the female is
> crucial in triggering female receptivity (in virgin females). I never
> saw a case where a male successfully mated with a virgin female without
> this in-flight encounter, although sometimes this could be extremely
> brief. In flight cages I would see males "bump" females after an
> unsuccessful courtship flight and when the female flew the male would go
> after her and try the manoeuver again, often successfully. I also saw
> this behavior in free-flying ottoe. Males frequently "cruised" purple
> coneflower heads as though looking for nectaring females. Several times
> I saw a male land next to a nectaring female on the flower head and
> "nudge" or "bump" her several times until she took flight, and off he
> would go after her. These were always mated females and none of the
> attempts of this kind resulted in success. I also saw this behavior in
> Hesperia leonardus pawnee when I was trying to see if pawnee and
> leonardus leonardus individuals would naturally mate if brought together
> (no success--though I couldn't get pawnee-pawnee or leonardus-leonardus
> matings in my flight cages--apparently this species wants more space for
> its pre-mating flight encounter than dacotae. Same for ottoe.).
>
> *************************************************************
> Robert Dana, Ph.D.
> MN DNR
> Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program
> 500 Lafayette Rd, Box 25
> St. Paul, MN 55155
> 651 297-2367
> Email: robert.dana at dnr.state.mn.us
> *************************************************************
>
> >>> "Dale Roberts/Bill Yule" <droberts03 at SNET.Net> 9/14/02 4:42:01 PM
> >>>
> Hi all.
>     If you all can suppress the  urge to snicker I have a serious
> question about a behavior I witnessed on Thursday that was unfamiliar to
> me.  As silly as this sounds it happened, I saw it and now I'm asking:
> Do butterflies exchange honeydew? Can one butterfly nectar on the
> secretions of another?  Watching a butterfly garden in Connecticut I was
> observing the interactions of a male and female Fiery Skipper (Hylephila
> phyleus). While the female was nectaring on a flower blossom the male
> landed behind her and repeatedly nipped at the end of her abdomen. This
> action was deliberate and repetitive, occurring about ten times in rapid
> succession.  I could not see if the male was extending his proboscis but
> the impression was one of an insect nectaring on the honeydew secretion
> of another in the way ants nectar on the secretions of aphids.  Each
> individual contact was brief, followed by the male pulling the head back
> and then contacting the female abdomen tip again.  What's going on here?
>  I've never noticed this before.  Thanks in advance and if this is
> common behavior please excuse my naivety.
>
>                                 Bill Yule
>
>
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