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Selection of age classes of Sasa leaves by caterpillars of the skipper butterfly Thoressa varia using albo-margination of overwintered leaves

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Abstract

A blade of the bamboo grass Sasa veitchii var. hirsuta (Koidzumi) typically has a lifespan of 2–4 years. After winter, the edge of the blade dies and a white margin is drawn on the blade. Such an albo-marginated blade is thought to be of relatively low quality as food for insects. Caterpillars of the skipper butterfly Thoressa varia (Murray) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) that fed on blades of S. veitchii almost always utilized current-year blades. The mechanism by which they discriminate between age classes of blades was studied. The caterpillars did not choose albo-marginated blades, but they chose overwintered blades whose margins had been removed. This indicates that they use albo-margination as evidence of the age of a blade.

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Acknowledgements

I thank M. Hori for critical reading of the manuscript, and I am grateful to members of the Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, for their discussions and comments. I further thank the Kamigamo Experimental Forest Station, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, for permission to conduct this research.

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  1. Jun-Ya Ide

    Present address: Department of Environmental Science, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan

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  1. Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan

    Jun-Ya Ide

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Correspondence to Jun-Ya Ide.

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Ide, JY. Selection of age classes of Sasa leaves by caterpillars of the skipper butterfly Thoressa varia using albo-margination of overwintered leaves. J Ethol 22, 99–103 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-003-0110-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-003-0110-2

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