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Vol. 45 No. 3, 2006
Immature Biology of Prosotas
Reveals an Ovipositing Strategy Unusual in Polyommatine Lycaenids
(Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae), with a Description of a New
Subspecies of P. dubiosa from
Taiwan
Yu-Feng
Hsu1 and Shen-Horn Yen2,*
1Department
of Life Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
116, R.O.C. E-mail: t43018@cc.ntnu.edu.tw
2Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun
Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 804
Yu-Feng
Hsu and Shen-Horn Yen (2006) The immature biology of a
widespread and often-abundant lycaenid in the genus Prosotas was heretofore poorly
documented. Investigations conducted on 2 widely distributed and
largely sympatric species, P. nora
and P. dubiosa, revealed that
both species exhibit peculiar oviposition behaviors. The females
oviposit in the host inflorescence only during a critical development
stage of the inflorescence. Their ova are laid within tightly arranged
flower buds and are concealed with a transparent gelatinous substance,
rendering the ova cryptic. Due to this peculiar behavior, host choice
by Prosotas obviously
requires a suitable inflorescence type in addition to appropriate
chemical stimuli of potential host plants. In association with this
ovipositional behavior, larvae of both species exit the ovum or ova
laterally rather than in the usual way from the top. The papillae
anales of the female genitalia are produced posteriad and show a
modification to facilitate oviposition. The ovipositional behavior and
lateral eclosion of the larvae are considered potential synapomorphies
of the genus Prosotas as they
are unique among polyommatine lycaenids. A discussion on earlier
misconceptions concerning the immature biology of Prosotas is provided. Finally,
samples of P. dubiosa from
Taiwan were compared with those from other regions, revealing that they
consistently differ from those of other regions, and thus they are
described as P. dubiosa asbolodes,
ssp. nov.
Key words: Female
genitalia, Ovipositor, Ovum concealment, Ovum eclosion.
*Correspondence: Tel: 886-7-5252000 ext 3612. Fax:
886-7-5253609. E-mail: shenhornyen@hotmail.com;
shenhornyen@mail.nsysu.edu.tw
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