Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Mass rearing the endangered Palos Verdes blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis: Lycaenidae)

2003; Volume: 37; Linguagem: Inglês

10.5962/p.266554

2156-5457

Rudolf H T Mattoni, Travis Longcore, Zdeňka Křenová, Alison Lipman,

Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy

Mass rearing of the endangered lycaenid Glaucoljsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis (Ralos Verdes bine bntterily) is described.Nnmerons problems were encountered in onr attempts to predictably produce a large stock population both as insurance against extinction and for re-introduction to sites where the species has been extirpated.We describe our approaches to mass rearing with discussion of all aspects of life history, difficulties with parasitoids and predators, cage design, and artificial diet nse.Both cylindrical cages placed over individual potted plants and outdoor tent cages were successful in providing conditions where captive individuals would mate without intervention, transcending previous limits posed by hand pairing.Fi'om a small initial stock, we produced between 168 and 968 pupae each season.Highest lo,sses were experienced in first instar, with later losses from microsporidian infection.Predation during pupation was also significant in semi-natural confined conditions.The effort has been in progress for eight years and is continuing.