Amorpha juglandis (lat.) - a species of butterflies from the family of hawks ( Sphingidae ) [1] .
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Content
Description
Fore wing length 23–41 mm [2] . Wingspan 45–75 mm [3] . The color varies greatly: there are individuals with a grayish, yellowish and light brown color of the wings. The body is large, conically pointed at the end. Antennae long, fusiform. The eyes are large, bare. Labial palps well developed, bent upward, densely covered with scales on the outside, devoid of scaly cover on the inside.
Amorpha juglandis ♂
Amorpha juglandis ♂ △
Amorpha juglandis ♀
Amorpha juglandis ♀ △
Biology
Butterflies are active after dark. In the north of the range, one generation develops over a year, the butterflies of which fly from May to August. Two generations develop in the south of the range, butterflies are found from March to October [2] .
Caterpillars feed plants: alder ( Alnus ), hickory ( Carya ), hazel ( Corylus ), beech ( Fagus ), walnut ( Juglans ) and hop- hornbeam ( Ostrya ) [2] [4] [3] .
Range
The species is widespread in eastern North America from Florida to southern Canada . In the west, the range reaches the Great Plains , where the species is found in the western part of Nebraska , Oklahoma and Texas ( Big Bend ). Also, the species range covers the south of Canada ( Nova Scotia , New Brunswick , Quebec , Ontario and Manitoba ) [2] .
Protecting Caterpillars from Predators
Caterpillars of this species to scare predators, in case of their attack, make a whistle by releasing air through a pair of spiracles on their abdomen. These signals vary from sounds distinguishable by humans, down to ultrasound and can consist of 1-8 sounds, varying in their spectrum: from a simple monotonic signal to a complex sound composition with peaks at frequencies of 9, 15 and 22 kHz [5] [6 ] ] [7] .
Shooting with a speed camera in combination with measuring the air flow near the caterpillar and selectively blocking its spiracles revealed that, when threatened, the caterpillar sharply reduces the front segments of its body, expelling air through a pair of enlarged spiracles in the eighth segment of the abdomen. Observations in nature showed that the sounds produced really scare away birds of the species Dendroica petechia , with which the researchers experimented [8] .
Notes
- ↑ CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae . Cate-sphingidae.org. Date of treatment November 1, 2011. Archived on April 19, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 James P. Tuttle: The Hawkmoths of North America, A Natural History Study of the Sphingidae of the United States and Canada. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, Washington, DC 2007, ISBN 978-0-9796633-0-7 .
- ↑ 1 2 Butterflies and Moths of North America | Walnut sphinx Amorpha juglandis (JE Smith, 1797)
- ↑ David L. Wagner - Caterpillars of Eastern North America: A Guide to Identification and Natural History. Princeton University Press. 2010.512 pp.
- ↑ Fullard James H., Napoleone Nadia. Diel flight periodicity and the evolution of auditory defences in the Macrolepidoptera (Eng.) // Animal Behavior : journal. - Elsevier , 2001 .-- Vol. 62 , no. 2 . - P. 349 . - DOI : 10.1006 / anbe.2001.1753 .
- ↑ Bura VL, Rohwer VG, Martin PR, Yack JE Whistling in caterpillars (Amorpha juglandis, Bombycoidea): Sound-producing mechanism and function (English) // The Journal of Experimental Biology : journal. - The Company of Biologists 2010. - Vol. 214 , no. Pt 1 . - P. 30-7 . - DOI : 10.1242 / jeb.046805 . - PMID 21147966 .
- ↑ Knight, K. Whistling Caterpillars Startle Birds (Eng.) // The Journal of Experimental Biology . - The Company of Biologists 2010. - Vol. 214 , no. Pt . 14 . - P. ii . - DOI : 10.1242 / jeb.054155 . - PMID 21834205 .
- ↑ V. Bura et al. Whistling in caterpillars (Amorpha juglandis, Bombycoidea): Sound-producing mechanism and function. Journal of Experimental Biology. Vol. 214, January 1, 2011, p. 30. doi: 10.1242 / jeb.046805
Literature
- James P. Tuttle: The Hawkmoths of North America, A Natural History Study of the Sphingidae of the United States and Canada. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, Washington, DC 2007, ISBN 978-0-9796633-0-7 .
- Bernard D'Abrera, Alan Henry Hayes Sphingidae Mundi. Classey, 1986