Notes on the biology of Dercas gobrias (Hewitson, 1864) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae, Coliadinae)

6 Pages·1997·1 MB·

TThhee LLeepipdiopdteorpoltoegircaollSoocgieitycal Society ooff JJaapapnan
utUwh 7leans lepiSdoc.Jopan 48(1): 25-30, March 1997

Notes on the biolog yof Dereas gobrias (Hewits o1n8,64) (Lepidop t:era
PieridaeC,oliadinae)

Christia nH. ScHuLzE and Konrad FiEDLER
Lehrstuhl Tier6kologie I,UniversittitBayreuth,

D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany

Abstract The mature larva and pupa of Dercas gobria s(Hewitso n1,864) from Borneo (Mt
Kinabalu National Park, Sabah) are describe dand figure d.Additional {nfbrmatio non habitat
preference sve,rtical stratifieation insid ethe fores ts,ex ratio and behaviour of the adults is
presente d.D. gobrias seems to be restricted to the canopy layer ofprimary rain fores htabitats,
The taxonomic status of the genus Dercas i sbrief lydiscusse din consideration of available
information host-plants
concerning and early stages.
Key words Pieridae, Coliadinae, Dercas gobn'as ,immature stages, adult behaviour ,habitat
preferences ,vertical stratification, Borneo.
Introduction
Littl eis known about the biology of the pieri dspecies in the genus Dercas Doubleday,
[1847 ]T.his genus contains 4 iarg especies (Bridg e1s9,88) which are distribut efdrom
Sikkim across Myanmar eastwards to China, and southwards to Java and Neomalaya (Malay
Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo) (Elio 1t9,92; Otsuka, 1988; Wynter-BIyth, 1982); Among
the deseribe dnominal species, D. lycor (iDaosubleda y1,842), n nina Mell, 1913, D, gobuas
(Hewits on18,64) and n verhueut (Van der Hoeven, 1839) ,the las ttwo remain doubtfu1
about their specific status (Yat a1,985) . As a consequence Otsuka (198 8i)nclude sWest-
Malaysia in the disnibutio nrange of D. gobrias ,whereas only D verkueM occurs in the
Malay Peninsula aecording to Eliot (1992),
Although Eliot (1992 s)tated that "the early stages [o fDereas] are unknown", it is errone-
ous. A rough descripti oonf egg, larva ,and pupa was given by Mell (194 3fo)r the genus
Dereas in genera land, additionally, the egg of D, verhueth was figure d.A photograph of
larva fromHong Kong befbundinJohnston& Johnston(1980).Some
a ofn verhuent can
inforrnati oonn larva lhost-plan thsas been reported (Mel l1,913 ,1943 ; Johnston & Johnston,
i980) , A detaile ddescriptio onf the larva ,or pupa, however, has not yet been published.
More precis edata on the phenology and habita tpreferenc eosf the two tropical taxa, D.
gobn'as and D. uethueM, are also sti11 lacking except of some infbrmatio non the biology of
D, vetthueM in Southern China (Mel l1,943) . In this paper we describ eand figur ethe mature
larva and pupa of n gobrias .Furthermore we report our observations on habita tprefer-
ences and behaviour of the adults in a rain fbres tin Sabah (Nort hBorneo, East-Malaysia),
with special reference te the vertical stratification insid ethe forest.
Methods
Observation swere conducted in August and September 1993 and in February ,March and
April 1994 in the vicinity of Poring Hot Spring s(Moun tKinabalu National Park) at an
eleyation betwee n5oo-750 m a.s,1 . Data about the vertical stratification of the fiyin gadults
insid tehe fbres twere recorded from a canopy walkway system, which allowed us to observe
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26 Christia nH. ScHuLzE and Konrad FiEDLER
al] the vegetation layer softhe fbres tfrom the ground to the upper canopy. When adults of
D, gobn'a sare on the wing, they are very conspicuous and can easily be identifi eandd counted
using binocular s.During the standardized observation time of 20minutes each around
noon, the maximum number of individual wshich could be seen was counted by sexes and
by vegetation layer s(O-10m ,10-20 m, 20-30 rn, 30-tt om, 40-50m, and >50 m). For these
standardized counts each stratum pair-O-1O ml10-20 m, 20--3 0m/30-40 m, and 40-50 m/>
50 m-was scanned fbr 20 min from fixe dobservation position sat IO, 30 and 45 m above
level.
ground
During the observation period in 1994 one fina linsta rlarva of n gobrias was fbund
accidentally in search oflarval stages efLepidoptera in the canopy region ofthe fores tT.his
caterpillar and the resulting pupa are presente din colour slides.
Habitat andadult behaviour
The butterfl ioefns goZvti aooseur frequentl iyn the canopy ofmixed dipterocarp fbres twh,ich
is fioristica dlelsyignate das "hill fbrest "by Kitayama (l992 ).The maximum tree heigh tis
around 50 m (Kitaya m1a992) . We observed no adults near the fore suntderstory except only
one record of a male individua lin a more open area around the station, although extensive
observations (mor ethan 150 hours) were done there . Hljuse r(pei c:omsm,) noted only two
furthe rmales and one femal enear ground leve lduring his stays at Poring Hot Spring sin
1994 ,1995 and 1996 . Furthermore ,we did not observe any D. gobrias butterfl iiens open
60
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x ×
o i l l l l l × ×
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50
, t- ' /'t/t li;Z2i
721zilv';Z;･.iliLIZ.iZ)2.li,izg".lliz;Z2Z'
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li 111
20 iti
o iII 111111
10
li
o
o 1 ! t t /
O,O O,2 O,4 O,6 O,8 1,O 1,2
Butterflies/Count

Fig. 1. Verttcal stratification of Dercas gobrias butterfl iienssid ethe fores tb,ased on standard-
ized counts ef flyin gadults in February-Apri i1994. N:=Number ofobservation units.
On the right of the bars the absolute numbers of counted individua iasre given. The
structure of the fore sits schematically shown on the right side ofthe figur e,The arrow
indicate tshe approximate location of the eollected caterpillar.
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Biology of Dercas gobrias 27
Figs2-5. Dercas gobrias .2. Upperside ofthe reared male. 3. Undersideofthe reared male.
4. Latera lview ofthe las tinsta rlarva. 5. Lateral view ofthe pupa.
cultiyated areas adjaoent to the close forest,
The vertical stratification ofthe adults insid ethe dipterocar pfores tis shown in Fig. 1. The
butterfl iweerse recorded only in the strata between 20 and 50 m above ground level a,nd they
were most abundant in the canopy between 30 and 50 m.
The absence of records of D. gobria sduring the observation period in 1993 may indicat ethat
this species shows some kind of seasonality. Observation sof female swere very rare (ac-
cumulated numbers: 1 femal ea,s against 40males) like some tropical pierid species, e. g
Aapias nero (Fabric i1u7s9,3) (Elio 1t9,92). Although various tree species were flowering
during the observation period in 1994 ,we could not soe any adults visiting flower snor
feeding ,while Htiuse r(pet :cosmm) recorded a female on flower sof Eupatorium odbratum
at Poring on 9th January 1995. Mell (1943 )and Wynter-Blyth (1982 )noted fbr a closely
related species, D vet:hueut, that males visited flower sand came to damp patches.
D. gobria sseems to be a typical "patrolling species", because males often used fligh ctonidors
between the crowns of emergent trees several times a day, probably in search for females.
Mating or egg-laying behaviour could not be recorded throughout the observation period.
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28 Chtistian H. ScHuLzE and Konrad FiEDLER
Larya
On 27th March 1994 a nearly mature larv awas found in the canopy ea 40 m above ground
level .The food plant was a very larg ewoody climber of the famil yFabaceae with simply
pinnate leaves .Two days late r(29t Mharch) the caterpillar fasten eidtsel ifn a positio nfbr
pupation which was atypical for Pieridae because the head was orientated dewnwards (Fig.
4). Pupation fo11owe odn the next day (30t Mharch),
It seems that only two earlier notes on larva lhost-plants of the genus Dercas exist in the
literatur e,Mell (191 319,43) mentioned the genus DaLbeign of the Fabaceae-trib eDa,lber-
gieae ,fbr n verhuent in South China, and Johnston & Johnston (1980 n)oted Daibergia
benthami as larva lhost-plan tef the same Dercas species from Hong Kong. Because the
host-plan otbserved at Poring/Bomeo had no fiower sor seed-pods at the time of observation,
a procise determinatio nwas precluded ,Judging from characters offbliage and growth fbrrn,
however, this plant most likel yalso belongs to the genus DaLbergi a(Comer ,1988 ; Whitmore,
1983).
Description
Shape and colouration of the larva (Fi g4,) agreed with the typical character combination of
most Coliadina ecaterpillars. Head, thorax, and abdomen of the las tinsta rlarva are pale
green . A diffUs eyellew 1atera sltripe extended from the fron tof the thorax to the tip ofthe
abdomen. The ventral side and the fron tof the head capsule are covered with white erect
setae, the dorsa lside-dorsal region abeye the latera lstripe-is covered with shert hairs
tipped with yellow globula rstructure. The abdominal spiracles are conspicuously whitish,
The colouration is very similar to that of the D. vethueth caterpillar figure dby Johnston &
Johnston (1980).

Pupa
The pupa was fixe don a twig with the cremaster and a silken ghdl earound the first
abdominal segment as in most pierid sb,ut, unlike typical pierid st,he pupa was hanging head-
down (Fig 5.) . Whether this is the usual pupation behaviour of D. gobria sor not requires
further confirmation. The form and colouration of the pupa are very similar to those of
Hebomoia glauc41p e(Linnae u1s75,8) . The ground colour is a pale yellow-gree n.Laterally
and dorsall ya straight reddish-brown line is stretching from the front of the head to the tip
of the abdomen. In addition the antennal sheaths are tinged with reddish-brown (Fi g5,),
Contrary to Mell' sstatement (194 3t)he pupal wing cases protrude distinct lyA. male
butterf i(yFig 2s and 3) emerged from the pupa on orh Apri1 1994 ,10 days after pupation.
Discussion
Our observations on adult behaviou ras well as the locati oonf only one larva found in
Borneo indicat tehat DL gobhas is basicall ayn insec tof the canopy layer of intac train forests,
where the species is not rare at leas tat oertain times . Hence, the apparent searcity of Dereas
butterfi iiens tropical areas of SE Asia is probabl yan observational artifact caused by the
dithcul taocess to the canopy. Arthropod fauna sof tropical fbres ctanopy layer sare among
the leas tunderstood biotas on the earth (Groombri d1g99e2,) ,and we can expect that many
more [`rare" butterfl ioeftsropical rainforests will turn out to be canopy specialists rather than
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Biology Dercas 29
of gobrias
to be truly species with low abundances, provided that more studies of these tree crown
habitat sbecome available. This emphasizes the urgent need of more observational and
sampling efibrts in tropical forest sas well as the importance of intac train forest sfor
preservin sgpecies which could hardly suryive in secondary habitat s.As early as 1943 ,Mell
remarked that survival of Chinese Deretzy spp. was restr:icted to remnants of forest-like
vegetatlon.
The apparent restriction of Dereas butterfl iteos DaZbergi ahostplant sshould be investigated
in more detai le,. g by rearing 1arva ofrelated species or from other localiti esD.athergi aand
its relatives are characterized by particul asrecondary metabolites (isoflavo n; oei, dgs Frohne
& Jensen ,1992). If Dercas larva eshould turn out to be specialist herbivore softhese plants,
this specialization might be a synapomorphic trait supporting the monophyly and taxonomic
distincti oofn the genus which is otherwise dif}ric tuol tseparate from related Coliadine ssuch
Goneptet:yx.
as
Acknowledgements
We thank Datuk Lamri Ali and Frances Liew fbr granting permissio nto work at Mount
Kinabalu National Park. Specia lthanks are due to the staff of Sabah Parks at Poring Hot
Springs for their kind suppert to our studies. DrChristoph L. Hh'user (Natur aHilstory
Museum, Stuttgart )kindly provided access to some references, shared his own observations on
Dercas gobrias, and gave critical comments on the earlier manuscript versien. Our field
work was supperted through the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinscha f(tF i547/1-1).
References
Bridges ,C.A., 1988. Catalogue of Papitionido eand Ptericin e.Published by the author, Urbana,
Ilinois.
Corner ,E.J.H., 1988 , PVIiysi deTleee sof Mtiidya 1 (3r dedn). xxii, 476pp., 138pls. The Malayan
NatureSocietyK,uala Lumpur.

Eliot, J. N., 1992. 7;he Buttecflie sof the Mala.v Peninsul a(4t hedn). x, 597 pp., 69 pls, The Malayan
NatureSocietyK,uala Lumpur,

Frohne, D. and U.Jensen, 1992 . Spstema tdieks Pfanzenreichs C4t hedn). x, 344 pp. Gustav Fischer
Verlag,StuttgartJ,ena,New York.

Groombridge, B. (ed. )1,992 . Global Biodivensi tyx.viii, 585 pp. Chapman & Hall ,London, Glasgow,
New York,Tokyo,Melbourne,Madras.

Johnston, G. and B.Johnston, 1982. T7ii sts Hong Kong : ButterLMes . 224pp. Heng Kong Govern-
ment Publicatio nH,ong Kong.
Kitayama, K., 1992, An altitudinal transect study of the vegetation on Meunt Kinabalu ,Borneo,
Vegetatio 102: 149-171.
Mell, R., l913, Die Gattung Dereas Dbl. int, ent Z. 29: 193-194, 1pl.
- B e i,t r1t9a4' 3gz .eurI nFvauennatu rsiunnicda 6XkXoIl.o giZsocohle QsMgaitcea r,Sitau ltziug 1e0in0e:r 1B-i1o3l2o.gi eder sUdchinesischen Pieriden
Otsuka, K., 1988, Buttei:iZ iqefs 'Borneo 1. xix, 61 pp. ,80pls . Tobishima Corporation ,Tokyo.
Whitmore,T.C.(ed.)1,983. 7>ee Flbraoj'Madya1(2nd edn). 473,xpp, Longman,KualaLumpur.

Wynter-Blyth, M.A., 1982. Butteptie sqf 'the indian Region, Reprinted edn. xx, 523pp., 72pls,
Today & Tomorrow's Publ., Delh{.
Yata, O., 1985. Pieridae. IhTsukada,E.(ed,B)u,tterLfZieosfthe SbuthEastAsian1lslanc2ts(English

edn). 623 pp, ,162 pls. Plapac Co. Ltd. ,Tokyo.
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30 ChristianH ．ScHuLzE Konrad FIEDLER
　 　 　and 　 　
摘 要
ボル ネオ産 トガ リキチ ョ ウの生態 （Christiu　nH ．　Schulze　and 　Konrad 　Fiedler）
トガリキチョ ウ属 （Dercas　Doubleday ）は東南アジアか らス ン ダラ ン ドにか けて 4種を産するが，こ
れ らの中に は種間関係 の明確で ない もの も含まれて い る．幼生期 につ い て も未調査の部分が多 く，
Mell （1943）に よるこの属の卵，幼虫，蛹の ラフ な記載 と D．　verhueili （Van　der　Hoeven）の卵 の図や
Johnston＆ Johnston（1980）による香港産の D．　verhuelli の幼虫写真炉見受けられる程度で ある，私達
は，ボル ネオの キナバ ル 山国立公園で D．gobrias （Hewitson）の 老熟幼虫と蛹を観察したの で報告す
る．また，熱帯雨林での成虫の行動 も，特に林内の階層に関して調査 したの で，併せ て報告す るこ と
に した．
観察は 1993年8月，1994年2月，3月，4月に Poring温泉 （標高 500−750　m ）周辺で行われ，　canopy
walkway 　system （林冠通路網）か ら飛翔中の個体 を森林内で記録する方式 によっ た．飛翔中の成虫は
双眼鏡で追跡し，林床か ら林冠 までを 10m 間隔に区切っ て 20分 ごとにその個体数を記録 した．樹高
の最 も高い もの で お よそ 50m で あっ たが，成虫の 飛翔は 30−50・m の林冠部で最 も多 く見 られた．ま
た，熱帯の い くつ かの シ ロ チョ ウ，例 えばベ ニ シ ロ チ ョ ウ等 と同様，♂ に比べ て ♀は極めて少な く，
その比はおよそ♂ 4e：♀1で あっ た．1994年の観察期間中は様々 な木が花をつ けてい たが，成虫の訪
花や給餌は見られなか っ た．交尾や産卵行動 も見られなか っ たが，♂ はしばしば，恐 らく探雌の ため，
日に数回発生木上部の飛翔回廊を利用 してい たので，本種の行動は典型的な探索型 と思われる．
幼虫は 1994 年 3月 27 円，ほぼ老熟 した 1頭が蔓性のマ メ科の巨木の地 il4emほ どの とこ ろで得ら
れた．この幼虫は2 日後に前蛹 とな り，その翌 日蛹化，10 日後 の 4月 9 日に羽化 （♂）した．この植
物の正確な鑑定はできなかっ たが，恐 らく1）albergia 属の ものと思われた．文献記録によると，　Mell
〔1913，1943）は中国南部の D．verhuelli の食樹 としてマ メ科の Datbergi　atSを挙げてお り，　 Johnston＆
JohnsLon （L980）も香港産の同種の食樹 として同じ属の Dathergia　benthamiを記録して い る．
幼虫と蛹は図示の通り．幼虫の形態 と色彩は，モ ンキチ ョ ウ亜科の多 くの典型的な特徴を有し，蛹の
形 と色合い はツマ ベ ニ チ ョ ウに よ く似てい る．蛹が下向きなのはシ ロ チ ョ ウ科にあっ て はやや 異端だ
が これが正常なものか は この 1例だけで は判断で きない ．
，
ボル ネオでの私達の観察か ら，本種は基本的に は手付かずの 熱帯雨林の 林冠層の昆虫であっ て，その
ような ところで は少なくとも時期的に は稀でない こ とが分か っ た．東南アジアの熱帯域で この属の蝶
が少ない の も，そ うい っ た林冠部に近づ きに くい こ とによると思われる．熱帯雨林の稀な蝶の多 くは，
本当に少ない訳で はなく，結局はその ような林冠生活者と判明することも期待される，
“
トガ リキチ ョ ウ属の食樹b・　Dalbergia に限定され てい るか どうか は さ らに 調査 され ね ばな らな い ．
Dalbergia属の植物は特殊な二 次代謝物 〔イソフラボノイ ド）で特徴付けられ るが，もし トガ リキチ』
ウ属が もっ ぱらこの植物に結び付 くことが判明すれ ば， 他の点で はモ ンキチ ョ ウ亜科の例えばヤマ キ
チョ ウ属などとの区別が難しい この属の単系統性や分類学的区分を支持する派生形質 となるか も知れ
．
ない
［文責 ：吉本　浩］
（Accepted　September　26，1996）
Published　by　the　Lepidopterological　Societ　yof　Japan，
c／00gata 　Building，2−17，　Imabashi　3−chome ，　Chuo−ku，　Osaka，541　Japan
一
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