Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 35/2. (2015)
Zoology
Petru-Vasile ISTRATE, Roxana COSMA These butterflies are edible, but it is believed that their vivid colours are a form of mimicry, called aposematism, when they imitate toxic species, the colours being a sign of warning. Although, the less intense coloured species are the best flyers, being captured extremely hard, even by the specialized birds. Morpho achilles amazonicus has the dorsal side of the wings coloured in black, with bright, blue, wide stripes (fig. 7). There are also some white stains on the exterior edges of the wings. The ventral side of the wings is brown-olive with numerous ocelli, composed of blue, yellow, red and red concentric rings. The kites attack the protruding ocelli from the ventral side of the wings, the body remaining intact. It is found in the majority of tropical forests form South America [9]. Morpho anaxihia is remarkable for the fact that the males have the superior side of the wings coloured in an intense blue. (fig. 8). The female has a wide, black stripe on the exterior of the blue zone. The inferior side of the wings is brown, with some lighter areas and there is a series of light brown ocelli with a white spot on the interior. Each of the four wings has 5 small ocelli. This butterfly is found in the tropical forests of Brazil [10]. Morpho aega is a butterfly that shows sexual dimorphism, only the superior wings of the male are of an iridescent blue (fig. 9). The anterior wings are brown on the ventral side, with one small ocellus, while the posterior ones are also brown, but with three smaller ocelli. It lives in the whole South America, Central America and Mexico. Papilio ulysses is very similar to this species (fig. 10). Papilio memnon — “the great Mormon”- is found in a variety of forms and subspecies. The analyzed collection presents the memnon, aegenor and javanensis forms. The ventral side of the wings, especially at the posterior wings, has numerous red stains (fig. 11), which are obvious when the butterfly rests on a flower, or when it is seen from behind. This is a form of mimicry, the butterfly imitates dangerous species, but it is also a signal for the individual of the opposite sex. The females present different forms of polymorphism and mimicry. It is found in the rainforest from South-eastern Asia [11]. Papilio thoas, Papilio isivaroides are polychromatic butterflies, the first one with a mimicry behaviour and the second one with a monochromic behaviour. 3. The intense colours of the wings and the body caution the enemies that the butterfly is poisonous. The butterflies with “birdwings” belong to the Trogonoptera, Troides and Ornithopera group, each of them from the Papilionidae family. They are called so due to their large wings, with sharp angles, and their flight which resembles the one of the birds. The sexual dimorphism exists only at the Ornithopera species (fig. 12), where the wings of the male have big black areas, with bright, iridescent green, blue, orange or yellow stains. The females are large and have less intense colours. Their wings are black or dark brown, with white, pale brown or yellow areas. Ornithoptera priamus, “the birdwing butterfly” is green. The male has the dorsal side of the anterior and posterior wings coloured in black, with green, wide stripes. The ventral side of the anterior wings is black and that of the posterior wings is dark green. Moreover, the females are much larger, having dark brown wings with distilled white stains. The ventral side of the wings is quite alike. There are male individuals in the New Guiney with blue stripes. This butterfly’s behavior resembles the one of the above mentioned specie, the vivid colours helping the individuals find each other in the tropical forest. It inhabits the Indonesian Archipelago, a larger area than the above mentioned specie [1, 13]. 122
