Seasonal changes in the pupal weight, the pupal duration and the forewing length of adult in the painted lady butterfly(<i>Vanessa cardui</i> Linnaeus: Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae)

SUZUKI Hikaru

doi:10.18984/lepid.73.3-4_123

<p>Measurements were made of the weight of the pupa, the length of the pupal stage and the length of the forewing of the adults in the painted lady butterfly. The distribution and the mean value of the weight of pupae were nearly identical for male and female. There were seasonal changes in the weight of pupae, heavier in late spring and lighter in summer and winter. The pupae lost weight with time, and the amount of loss was greater in heavy pupae than in light pupae. However, the relative weight loss to the weight at pupation was constant irrespective of the differences in the size of pupae but was increased by lengthening of the pupal stage. The rate of loss of pupal weight was reduced with elongation of the pupal stage. The amount of loss of pupal weight was asymptotically increased with time, and the weight loss reached a steady value of about 16.5% of the original at about 25 days in the pupal stage. The length of the forewing was correlated with the weight of the pupae, and was longer for female than for male at any given weight. The length of the forewing also showed seasonal changes, nearly in parallel to the weight of the pupae, and large adults appeared in late spring and small adults in summer and winter.</p>

Seasonal changes in the pupal weight, the pupal duration and the forewing length of adult in the painted lady butterfly(<i>Vanessa cardui</i> Linnaeus: Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae)

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