Phengaris rebeli

Phengaris rebeli
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Phengaris
Species:
P. rebeli
Binomial name
Phengaris rebeli
(Hirschke, 1904)
Synonyms
  • Glaucopsyche rebeli
  • Maculinea rebeli (Hirschke, 1904)

Phengaris rebeli (formerly Maculinea rebeli), common name mountain Alcon blue,[1] is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It was first found and described in Styria, Austria, on Mount Hochschwab around 1700.[2] Although it was initially classified as a subspecies of P. alcon, a European researcher, Lucien A. Berger, designated it as a separate species in 1946. Genetic similarities between P. rebeli and P. alcon have led many researchers to argue that the two are the same species and differences are due to intraspecific variation.[2]

Although P. rebeli is found across the Palearctic (see subspecies), it is difficult to determine the species' precise range due to confusion with P. alcon.[3]

Behavioral ecologists have found its role as a brood parasite to be of particular interest as, unlike many brood parasites, it does not directly oviposit in the hosts' nests. P. rebeli parasitizes the colony ant species Myrmica schencki as a larva by using chemical mimicry to trick the ants into believing that they are ant larvae; thus, the ants bring P. rebeli caterpillars back to their nests and feed them.[4] P. rebeli is dependent on the plant Gentiana cruciata early in its life cycle[5] and is vulnerable to parasitism by Ichneumon eumerus while inside the nest of M. schencki.[6] It was placed on the IUCN Red List in 2000 and is classified as a species vulnerable to extinction.[7]

  1. ^ "Maculinea rebeli". UniProt Consortium. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  2. ^ a b Steiner, F; Schlick-Steiner B.C., Hçttinger H., Nikiforov A., Moder K. and Christian E. (2006). "Maculinea alcon and M. rebeli (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) – one or two alcon blues? Larval cuticular compounds and egg morphology of East Austrian populations". Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien. 107B: 165–180. JSTOR 41767345.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Steiner, F.M; B.C . Schlick-Steiner, H . Höttinger 1, A . Nikiforov, K . Moder & E . Christian (2006). "Geographical versus food plant differentiation in populations of Maculinea alcon (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in Northern Hungary" (PDF). Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien. 107B: 165–180. Retrieved 23 October 2013.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Akino, T; JJ Knapp; JA Thomas; GW Elmes (1999). "Chemical mimicry and host specificity in the butterfly Maculinea rebeli, a social parasite of Myrmica ant colonies". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 266 (1427): 1419–1426. doi:10.1098/rspb.1999.0796. PMC 1690087.
  5. ^ Kéry, M; Matthies, D & Fischer, M (2001). "The effect of plant population size on the interactions between the rare plant Gentiana cruciata and its specialized herbivore Maculinea rebeli". Journal of Ecology. 89 (3): 418–427. Bibcode:2001JEcol..89..418K. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2745.2001.00550.x. S2CID 73568263.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Hochberg, M; Elmes, G. W.; Thomas, J. A.; Clarke, R. T (1996). "Mechanisms of local persistence in coupled host-parasitoid associations: the case model of Maculinea rebeli and Ichneumon eumerus". Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences. 351 (1348): 1713–1724. Bibcode:1996RSPTB.351.1713H. doi:10.1098/rstb.1996.0153.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference macreb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).