How to translate text using browser tools
1 January 2002 Nectar Sources of Day-Flying Lepidoptera of Central Illinois
John F. Tooker, Peter F. Reagel, Lawrence M. Hanks
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

We tabulated flowering plant species visited by 98 species of Lepidoptera as extracted from records of C. Robertson, who observed >15,000 insect visitors of flowering plants in central Illinois during a 33-yr period. Diversity of Lepidoptera was highest on plant species of the Asclepiadaceae and Verbenaceae, and the greatest number of lepidopteran species visited Verbena stricta Ventenat (Verbenaceae), Aster pilosus Willdenow (Asteraceae), Cephalanthus occidentalis L. (Rubiaceae), and Pycnanthemum flexuosum (Walter) Britton, Sterns, Poggenberg (Lamiaceae). Lepidopterans were particularly abundant on A. pilosus and C. occidentalis. The most polyphagous lepidopteran species were Colias philodice Godart (Pieridae), Danaus plexippus (L.) (Danaidae), Artogeia rapae (L.) [=Pieris rapae (L.); Pieridae], Phyciodes tharos (Drury) (Nymphalidae), Polites themistocles (Latreille) (Hesperiidae), Pontia protodice (Boisduval & LeConte) (Pieridae), and Everes comyntas (Godart) (Lycaenidae), each of which visited flowers of 50 or more plant species. Colias philodice, Phyciodes tharos, and Pontia protodice were the most common species. Most lepidopteran species evidently visited a limited range of nectar plants, which may have implications for species conservation and selecting “butterfly plants” for gardening.

John F. Tooker, Peter F. Reagel, and Lawrence M. Hanks "Nectar Sources of Day-Flying Lepidoptera of Central Illinois," Annals of the Entomological Society of America 95(1), 84-96, (1 January 2002). https://doi.org/10.1603/0013-8746(2002)095[0084:NSODFL]2.0.CO;2
Received: 24 April 2001; Accepted: 1 September 2001; Published: 1 January 2002
JOURNAL ARTICLE
13 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
butterfly
flower
moth
pollination
prairie
skipper
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top