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Animalia >Arthropoda >Insecta >Lepidoptera >Lycaenidae >Chrysozephyrus >

This behavior of two butterflies flying around each other is a contest over the mating territory in males of Chrysozephyrus smaragdinus. The reason for considering this behavior as a contest is that the owner of the resource (territory) is determined through this action as follows.

1, when another individual intrudes into a certain space (territory), a circling flight occurs between the original and the intruder
2, When the circling flight is over, one male will go out of the territory

However, considering this behavior in a model similar to contests of many animals, a big question arises. Contests occurs in animals that can attack their opponent. Why must butterflies, who can not attack opponents, consume themselves by displays (circling flights)?

I propose a model that thinks that such actions are performed because the butterfly males can not identify the sex of the opponent in flight, and they expect each other to be female and chase for courtship (Takeuchi, Yabuta & Tsubaki 2016). With this model, we can explain why butterflies act to exhaust itself.

(Data No.momo050115cs01b)

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