Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 35/2. (2015)
Zoology
THE MESSAGE BEYOND THE FORMS AND COLOURS OF THE TROPICAL BUTTERFLIES. A STUDY OF TROPICAL BUTTERFLIES FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL COLLEGE “ALEXANDRU PAPIU ILARIAN” FROM TÍRGU MURES Petru-Vasile ISTRATE1, Roxana COSMA2 Colegiul National „Alexandria Papiu Ilarian”, str. Bernady György nr. 12, RO—540072 Tirgu Murey, 1 forest_dog_yellow@yahoo.com , 2cosmaroxi@gmail.com Abstract: The purpose of the current study is to further our knowledge about the influence of the shape and colour of the wings on the process of accommodation to specific environmental conditions. A taxonomic list of the tropical butterflies from the collection of the school was made at the begining of the researh. The list includes a total of 34 diurnal butterflies and 14 nocturnal butterflies, from 31 different species. All the species mentioned above were categorised in 4 groups, by one of the following characters: 1. Homochromy — hard to distinguish from the living environment. 2. Vivid colors — the attraction on female. 3. Warning colors — toxicity. 4. The Surprise-Effect - present at nocturnal butterflies, and consisting of the uncovering of the ocelli. In this study, morphological characters of the wings from various species of butterflies were presented, regarding the representative subjects from each group. Furthermore, the observations which were made accompanied by several information about the living environment and geographical distribution. In order to capture the details of the wings, several photographs of the butterflies from the collection were made. The observations about the morphology of the wings and the disposition of the colored areas (both macroscopic and microscopic areas) were stored in tables and cyclograms; and showed that each species presents different means to survive in the tropical forest. In order to obtain this results, there was used a microscope with PC connection and protective housing (model Bresser NV Biolux 200x—1280). After analyzing the collected data, it came out that the toxic butterflies (toxicity caused by the plants which were digested by the larvae) show warning colors. Not only the toxic butterflies show warning color; this characteristic is also present at the species of huge butterflies, the process of mimicry being wide spread. Usually, the male is more colorful than then female and some of the butterflies from the tropical forest show vivid and iridescent colors which make them visible from far away. Another theme studied in our research is the formation of colors, colors which result after the light passes the layers of the scales or due to the process of pigmentation of the scales. In conclusion, 52% of the species of diurnal butterflies which were studied present sexual dimorphism, the color of the males being more vivid (fact that allows them to find to find the females); 92% of the species of diurnal butterflies present vivid and warning colors, and just 44% of the total are toxic butterflies. All the toxic butterflies show warning colors. The process of mimicry is being present at almost half of them (48%), allowing them to imitate the toxic butterflies. Keywords: butterflies, homochromy, ocelli, collection, nocturnal, diurnal M A RI S I A, XXXV, p. 117-132
