Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 35/2. (2015)

Zoology

Pecru-Vasile ISTRATE, Roxana COSMA

Saturnia tyrrhena (Cameroun)

Saturnia vacuna (Cameroun)

Imbrasia truncata (Cameroun)

The colour of the wings fulfils different roles. Only the obvious ones were taken into consideration.

1. Homochromy. The divers coloration is in direct correlation with the environment they live in, meaning in enables them to mix up with the substrate and avoid enemies, (some of the hold their wings up and glued together, looking like a dead leaf, and others like bark).

2. Attracting females and mating (males have brighter colours).

3. Warning enemies that they are poisonous and the must be avoided. Ornithoptera goliath, which is the butterfly with the largest scope from the collection , is a poisonous butterfly.

4. Springing a “surprise” and getting rid of the predators. The big ocelli, in bright colours, are characteristic to the posterior wings of nocturant butterflies.

The analysis of the wings of the butterflies was realised in the biology lab of the school, using a didactic stereomicroscope, model Bresser NV Biolux 200x—1280, equipped wit a footvideo camera.

The wing of the butterfly usually has the structure of a leaf, being a complex “veins” structure, which are actually the tracheas of the butterfly, through which air is conducted. The wings are covered in scales, which are seated one next to each other and one after another (fig. 2), intertwined with the scales there are little hairs, which are very abundant at nocturne butterflies, and they cover the butterfly, forming an cover. The hairs can have split ends (fig. 3), especially at nocturnal butterflies.The adaptations serve to flight. Some species have some scales, transparent areas (fig. 4).

The species which have long wings, as most of the ones in the collection, flap their wings and realise long glides - Ornithoptera goliath. None of the Ornithopteras is attacked by birds! These butterflies are poisonous, and others imitate them, having the same bright colours. The phenomenon is called mimicry.

The species with wide wings move by short outbursts, when they slap the air with force. They flap their wings more rapidly and fly faster.

We wanted to arrange the butterflies after the most viable characteristic their wings present- the drawing, and we found out that the drawing on their wings serve many purposes.

1. Referring to the role that the drawing and the colors on the butterflies’ wings have in identifying with the environment and escaping the predators, especially the insectivorous birds, I have arrived at a series of issues that should be taken into consideration.

Papilio gigon has yellow stripes composed of stains on a brown background situated on the ventral side of the wings, which serve as camouflage against the tree bark. So does Papilio polytes, a smaller specie, with a single row of white stains.

Papilio dardanus belongs to the open zones of sub-Saharan Africa. The females lack tails at the posterior wings, which are a male’s characteristic, thus females also display a polymorphism of the wings, (fig. 5). This specie inhabits areas with few trees and sits on open flowers, thin twigs, or different weeds’ stalks, being difficult to identify them due to their cream-coloured wings. Females have the ability to simulate other inedible species’ appearance, a phenomenon called “mimicry” [5].

Papilio ulysses has the superior side of the wings coloured in iridescent blue, with irregular edges, with a bit of black; the ventral side is brown with some lighter ocelli near the edges and some small blue areas (fig. 6). The colours are generated by the microscopic structure of the

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