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Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, [1] whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly species.
Articles relating to the Lycaenidae, the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly species.
The caterpillars of the gray hairstreak butterfly consume a wide range of food plants. [3] However, they do mainly use mallows and legumes as their preferred host plant. They commonly use clovers as their food plant as well, eating rabbit-foot clover (Trifolium arvense), white clover (T. repens), bush clover (Lespedeza capitata), white sweet-clover (Melilotis alba), and Malva neglecta.
Plebejus idas lotis (syn. Lycaeides idas lotis, Lycaeides argyrognomon lotis, Plebejus anna lotis [3]) - commonly known as lotis blue butterfly - is a critically endangered subspecies native to Mendocino County, California, [4] with sightings in Sonoma and Marin counties.
Ants like to eat and collect the honeydew made by the caterpillar. In turn, the ants will swarm over anything that might try to harm the larva. The chrysalis is usually formed in leaf litter. Many chrysalises can make faint noises. Scientists believe this noise might ward off predatory ants.
Miletinae are entirely aphytophagous (do not feed on plants). The ecology of the Miletinae is little understood, but adults and larvae live in association with ants , and most known species feed on Hemiptera ( aphids , coccids , membracids , and psyllids ), though some, like Liphyra , feed on the ants themselves.
Generally, Lycaenidae species which have a myrmecophilous relationship with the ant genus Myrmica are locked to primary host specificity. The Alcon blue is unusual in this regard in that it uses different host species in different locations throughout Europe, and often uses multiple host species even within the same location and population.
The caterpillars do not have a wide selection of plants that they can feed on, primarily three buckwheat (Eriogonum) species. When caterpillars first hatch they eat from the underside of the plant. As the caterpillar grows older, it eats the whole leaf.