Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 35/2. (2015)
Zoology
The message beyond the forms and colours of the tropical butte flies Ornithoptera croesus, is a subspecie of the aforementioned specie(form many authors’ point of view). The males and the females of the most „birdwings butterfly” species from the Troides group are similar, having the anterior wings painted in brown or black, with cream-coloured nervures. The colour of the wings is determined by the pigments, except for Troides magellanicus, whose posterior wings have a blue-green irisation, generated bythe difraction of light produced after its reflection [14]. Trogonoptera brookiana is a spectacular species, the wings of the male are black, the dorsal side of the anterior ones having seven tooth shaped, electric-green stains, and the posterior ones displaying a large, distinctive, green stain. The female’s wings have distinctive, white zones on both the anterior and posterior wings, being even darker than the males. It lives in different zones of Malaysia. It is toxic because of aritolochiaceous acid present in the plants that its larva feeds from. It has a determined flight and lives on the peak of the trees, being a good pollinator for the flowers [15]. Historis odius is a butterfly from South America, living in the rainforests and broadleaf forests. The orange wings make it look like a toxic butterfly [16]. Idea stolii is a slow, elegant butterfly, which prefers the crowns of the tress from the rainforest in South-eastern Asia. Its wings are genuine mosaic of white and black stains, the butterfly being very poisonous. It is usually avoided by the birds, the model of the wings being visible due to its slow flight [17]. Hebomoia glaucippe, “the big, orange butterfly”. The anterior wings have, on the dorsal side, a large, triangle-shaped, orange stain. The rest of the wing and the posterior one are white with a few black spots. It does not present dimorphism, the females being very similar to the males. The ventral side of the wings is white, with black spots, forming a drawing used to camouflage. This butterfly is extremely toxic, containing glacontryphan-M, a toxic peptide belonging to the contryphan family, found also in a type of snails [17]. Atrophaneura semperi is a butterfly with diminished sexual dimorphism, the males resembling the females. The dorsal wings are black, with a white, inguinal stripe on the posterior wings and numerous red stains on the ventral side. The abdomen and the rest of the body are red. This butterfly is toxic because the plans that its larva feeds from. The majority of these butterflies is poisonous, having as a warning sigh the intense colours, so that they are avoided by birds. 4. The large ocelli form the posterior wings scare the possible enemies, fact called “the surprise effect”. The nocturnal butterflies are equipped with a very efficient weapon. When disturbed, they generate a “surprise effect” aimed at the attacker, usually the kites, by suddenly discovering their posterior wings, as the effect of the anterior wings moving forward. The posterior wings display a drawing that imitates an animal’s head, with two big eyes, intensely coloured (fig. 13). Usually, the attacker hits the fake eye, while the butterfly has the possibility to escape by flight. Hence, the butterflies are hardly observable in daylight, the anterior wings which cover the posterior ones imitate the substratum, phenomenon called “homochromy”. Lobobunaea goodi is a butterfly of Cameroon provenance, which presents two ocelli, each of one on the back side of the posterior wings and which are usually hidden. The first ring of the ocelli (the exterior one) is yellow, while the second one from the interior is dark, almost black. Lobobunaea jamesoni aethiops is also a butterfly from Cameroon which has two big ocelli on the back side of the posteriors wings, but they are missing on from the above wings. The exterior circle is yellow, the middle one is black and the interior one is orange. Their wings are 123
