Large Blue butterfly (Maculinea arion), Cotswolds.
The Large Blue (Maculinea arion) must have the weirdest life-cycle of all the 18,000 known butterfly species on the planet. Many butterflies in the “Blue” family have a special relationship with ants, their larvae exchanging a nutritious secretion for protection from predators. The Large Blue (in fact all five European species) takes this to a different level for after a few weeks of feeding on Wild Thyme, it is taken into the nest of a red ant (usually Myrmica sabuleti) where it feeds on the ant grubs. More amazingly, both the Large Blue caterpillar and pupa produce sounds (by rubbing together specialised edges to two abdominal segments) which are similar to the queen ant, but unlike the sounds made by mere workers. The ants protect it like a queen too, even though it behaves like a cuckoo in the nest. Like the (European) Cuckoo, it usually destroys the nest of its host.
The Large Blue has always been a rare butterfly in Britain and unfortunately the final original British colony declined to extinction in 1979. The original population was an endemic subspecies “eutyphron”, but similar-looking butterflies were successfully introduced from Sweden in 1983, and now it thrives in a number of colonies in south-west England. These were photographed in a remote valley in the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, where they apparently survived naturally until 1976.
The scientific name is Maculinea arion. Recently it has been placed in the genus Galucopsyche (means blue/grey butterfly) but I am reluctant to drop Maculinea (means row of spots). Arion was a Greek poet and musician of the 7th century BC. After winning a music competition in Sicily he sailed home to Corinth, but the sailors wanted to murder Arion and steal his prize money. They allowed him to play one last time and his beautiful music attracted a school of dolphins. He leapt over the side and one carried him to safety on its back.
Large Blue butterfly (Maculinea arion), Cotswolds.
The Large Blue (Maculinea arion) must have the weirdest life-cycle of all the 18,000 known butterfly species on the planet. Many butterflies in the “Blue” family have a special relationship with ants, their larvae exchanging a nutritious secretion for protection from predators. The Large Blue (in fact all five European species) takes this to a different level for after a few weeks of feeding on Wild Thyme, it is taken into the nest of a red ant (usually Myrmica sabuleti) where it feeds on the ant grubs. More amazingly, both the Large Blue caterpillar and pupa produce sounds (by rubbing together specialised edges to two abdominal segments) which are similar to the queen ant, but unlike the sounds made by mere workers. The ants protect it like a queen too, even though it behaves like a cuckoo in the nest. Like the (European) Cuckoo, it usually destroys the nest of its host.
The Large Blue has always been a rare butterfly in Britain and unfortunately the final original British colony declined to extinction in 1979. The original population was an endemic subspecies “eutyphron”, but similar-looking butterflies were successfully introduced from Sweden in 1983, and now it thrives in a number of colonies in south-west England. These were photographed in a remote valley in the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, where they apparently survived naturally until 1976.
The scientific name is Maculinea arion. Recently it has been placed in the genus Galucopsyche (means blue/grey butterfly) but I am reluctant to drop Maculinea (means row of spots). Arion was a Greek poet and musician of the 7th century BC. After winning a music competition in Sicily he sailed home to Corinth, but the sailors wanted to murder Arion and steal his prize money. They allowed him to play one last time and his beautiful music attracted a school of dolphins. He leapt over the side and one carried him to safety on its back.