Pupal Polymorphism of the Bog Copper Butterfly Lycaena (Epidemia) epixanthe (Bsd. & Le C. [1835]) (Lycaenidae: Lycaeninae) in New Jersey

Authors

David M. Wright, Lansdale, Pennsylvania

Date of this Version

3-22-2021

Document Type

Article

Citation

Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Society (March 22, 2021) 9(2): 1-3

Also available at https://lepsurvey.carolinanature.com/ttr/ttr-9-2.pdf

Also available at the Internet Archive, the Biodiversity Heritage Library, and Zobodat

Comments

Copyright 2021, International Lepidoptera Survey. Open access material

License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-SA-NC 4.0 International)

Abstract

The immature stages of the Bog Copper butterfly, Lycaena epixanthe, were described in detail by the author nearly forty years ago. Two different pupal colors were interpreted to represent distinct separate morphs with genetically-fixed incidences. Reassessment of the data discloses a pattern of progressive color change of each individual pupa throughout the pupal period. This transforming strategy is adaptive and may reduce predator recognition.