Life History of Aricoris propitia (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae)—A Myrmecophilous Butterfly Obligately Associated with Fire Ants

The immature stages of Aricoris propitia (Stichel) are described and illustrated for the first time, using both light and scanning electron microscopy. Females oviposit in at least seven host-plant families, always in the presence of fire ants (Solenopsis saevissima (Smith) complex), without being attacked by them. Larvae are tended by ants during all larval and pupal stages. From the fourth instar on, larvae feed at night and rest during the day inside underground shelters constructed by ants on the host plant roots, and where pupation occurs. Several observed features, including ant-mediated oviposition, persistent ant attendance throughout all instars, and high spatiotemporal fidelity indicate that A. propitia is a myrmecophile obligately associated with fire ants. We propose A. propitia as an extraordinary model for studies on ant-butterfly evolutionary history in the Neotropics.

• Publication year

  2012

• Venue

  Psyche: A Journal of Entomology

• Publication date

  2012-01-11

• Fields of study

  Biology, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1155/2012/126876
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Immature stages of Parrhasius polibetes (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae): host plants, tending ants, natural enemies and morphology

  2012cited by this paper
• Phorid fly, Pseudacteon tricuspis, response to alkylpyrazine analogs of a fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, alarm pheromone.

  2011cited by this paper
• A re-evaluation of the Aricoris constantius group with the recognition of three species (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae)

  2010cited by this paper
• Description of the immature stages and life history of Euselasia (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae) on Miconia (Melastomataceae) in Costa Rica

  2010cited by this paper
• Caterpillars and Host Plant Records for 59 Species of Geometridae (Lepidoptera) from a Montane Rainforest in Southern Ecuador

  2010cited by this paper
• Species delimitation: a case study in a problematic ant taxon.

  2010cited by this paper
• Successful Conservation of a Threatened Maculinea Butterfly

  2009cited by this paper
• Immature Stages of Caria plutargus (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), with Discussion on the Behavioral and Morphological Defensive Traits in Nonmyrmecophilous Riodinid Butterflies

  2008cited by this paper
• Polyphagy and Obligate Myrmecophily in the Butterfly Hallonympha paucipuncta (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae) in the Neotropical Cerrado Savanna

  2008cited by this paper
• Phylogeny and classification of the Phengaris–Maculinea clade (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae): total evidence and phylogenetic species concepts

  2007cited by this paper
• As borboletas (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea) do Distrito Federal, Brasil

  2006cited by this paper
• DO ANTS ENHANCE DIVERSIFICATION IN LYCAENID BUTTERFLIES? PHYLOGEOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE FROM A MODEL MYRMECOPHILE, JALMENUS EVAGORAS

  2006cited by this paper
• Mariposas de Misiones

  2003cited by this paper
• The impact of deforestation on cloud cover over the Amazon arc of deforestation

  2003cited by this paper
• The Causes and Consequences of Ant Invasions

  2002cited by this paper
• Basal subtribes of the Nymphidiini (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae): phylogeny and myrmecophily

  2002influential reference
• Ants that associate with Lycaeninae butterfly larvae: diversity, ecology and biogeography

  2001cited by this paper
• A phylogenetic analysis of the Neotropical riodinid butterfly genera Juditha, Lemonias, Thisbe and Uraneis, with a revision of Juditha (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae: Nymphidiini)

  2001cited by this paper
• REVIEW: Lycaenid-ant interactions of the Maculinea type: tracing their historical roots in a comparative framework

  1998cited by this paper
• The Butterflies of Costa Rica and Their Natural History

  1998influential reference
• Predatory and parasitic Lepidoptera: carnivores living on plants.

  1995cited by this paper
• Lycaenid butterflies and plants: is myrmecophily associated with amplified hostplant diversity?

  1994cited by this paper
• Toward a better understanding of host use and biodiversity in riodinid butterflies (Lepidoptera)

  1994cited by this paper
• New flower power

  1994cited by this paper
• A revision of the fire ants, Solenopsis geminata group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Myrmicinae).

  1991cited by this paper
• Systematic, evolutionary, and ecological implications of myrmecophily within the Lycaenidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea)

  1991cited by this paper
• The larval ant-organs of Thisbe irenea (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae) and their effects upon attending ants

  1988influential reference
• The influence of ants on host plant selection by Jalmenus evagoras, a myrmecophilous lycaenid butterfly

  1985cited by this paper
• Foodplant and oviposition records for Panamanian Lycaenidae and Riodinidae

  1982cited by this paper
• EGGS OF RIODINIDAE

  1980cited by this paper
• Observational study of behavior: sampling methods.

  1974cited by this paper
• Life-History Studies on Mexican Butterflies. IV. the Ecology and Ethology of Anatole rossi, a Myrmecophilous Metalmark (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae)

  1966influential reference
• A Classification Of The Lepidoptera Based On Characters Of The Pupa

  year unknowncited by this paper

• The functional role of eversible tentacle organs in a myrmecophilous riodinid caterpillar and their impact on ant behavior

  2025cites this paper
• Primeiro registro de Aricoris campestris (Bates, 1868) (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), e ocorrência de insetos danosos na cultura da pitaia (Hylocereus polyrhizus) no Sertão Pernambucano, Brasil

  2024cites this paper
• Chemical conspicuousness, ant organs, and specificity in myrmecophilous caterpillars partitioning ant–plant systems

  2024cites this paper
• First record of Aricoris campestris (Bates, 1868) Lepidoptera: Riodinidae in pitaya in northeastern Brazil

  2024cites this paper
• Diversity of butterfly–ant symbioses in the neotropical genus Ectatomma (Formicidae: Ectatomminae)

  2024cites this paper
• Influence of Host Plants and Tending Ants on the Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profile of a Generalist Myrmecophilous Caterpillar

  2024cites this paper
• On the adaptive meaning of chemically insignificant cues in multitrophic caterpillar-ant-plant symbioses

  2022cites this paper
• A new ant-butterfly symbiosis in the forest canopy fills an evolutionary gap

  2021cites this paper
• Insect egg morphology: Evolution, development, and ecology.

  2021cites this paper
• Hidden in the wing dots: Disentangling mimetic sister species of butterflies (Riodinidae: Stalachtis) with an integrative approach

  2021cites this paper
• The first known riodinid ‘cuckoo’ butterfly reveals deep-time convergence and parallelism in ant social parasites

  2020cites this paper
• First Insight into Microbiome Profiles of Myrmecophilous Beetles and Their Host, Red Wood Ant Formica polyctena (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)—A Case Study

  2020cites this paper
• DescripciÓn ExocoriÓnica de Detritivora barnesi1 con Algunas Comparaciones

  2019cites this paper
• Una Comparación de Técnicas de Rehidratación Abdominal y Coriónica en Especies de Emesis Fabricius1 y Lasaia H. Bates1

  2019cites this paper
• Primeiro Registro de Aricoris campestris (H. Bates) (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae) em Palma Forrageira Nopalea cochenillifera (L.) Salm-Dyck (Cactaceae) no Brasil

  2018cites this paper
• Checklist of butterflies from the rupestrian grasslands of Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais, Brazil (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea)

  2018cites this paper
• Florivorous myrmecophilous caterpillars exploit an ant–plant mutualism and distract ants from extrafloral nectaries

  2018cites this paper
• Adaptive External Larval Ultrastructure of Lomechusa Gravenhorst, 1806 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), an Obligate Myrmecophilous Genus

  2017cites this paper
• Ant-related oviposition is not associated to low parasitism of the myrmecophilous butterfly Allosmaitia strophius in an extrafloral nectaried shrub

  2017cites this paper
• Microrretícula Coriónica en los Géneros Nathalis Boisduval y Kricogonia Reakirt1: Implicaciones Taxonómicas y Tendencias Evolutivas

  2016cites this paper
• Exploración Morfológica del Corion en Biblidinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): Aspectos Filogenéticos y Clasificatorios

  2015cites this paper
• A new species of Aricoris Westwood, [1851] belonging to "chilensis" group (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae).

  2014cites this paper
• First Record of Aricoris cinericia (Stichel, 1910) (Riodinidae) from Brazil and Update on Its Geographical Distribution

  2014cites this paper
• Two ways to be a myrmecophilous butterfly: natural history and comparative immature‐stage morphology of two species of Theope (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae)

  2013cites this paper
• Morphological Comparison of the Chorion of the Genera Pieriballia, Itaballia, and Perrhybris (Lepidoptera: Pieridae: Pierinae), and their Phylogenetic Implications

  2013cites this paper
• Comparación Morfológica del Corion de Especies de los Géneros Pieriballia, Itaballia, y Perrhybris (Lepidoptera: Pieridae: Pierinae), y sus Implicaciones Filogenéticas Morphological Comparison of the Chorion of the Genera Pieriballia, Itaballia, and Perrhybris (Lepidoptera: Pieridae: Pierinae), and

  2013cites this paper
• Ant diversity as a direct and indirect driver of Pselaphinae beetle functional diversity in tropical rainforests , Sabah , Borneo

  year unknowncites this paper
• First record of Aricoris campestris (Bates, 1868) (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and occurrence of harmful insects in dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus

  year unknowncites this paper