The white-gray butterfly was found for the first time in Tibet

Atlas

Lhasa, 19 Sep (Xinhua) -- Recently, the "Second Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Scientific Expedition Research Sub-project other major pollinator scientific expedition detachments" collected and photographed a butterfly that had no record in Tibet in Tawalong Township, Chayu County, Tibet, and was identified by Jia Fenghai, a well-known domestic butterfly expert, as a butterfly of the genus White Ash in the family Gray Butterfly, and before that, there was no record of the distribution of butterflies in Tibet.

The main members of the "Second Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Scientific Expedition research sub-topic other major pollinator scientific expedition teams" are composed of the Tibet Plateau Biological Research Institute. Dawa, an associate researcher at the head of the scientific expedition team, introduced that the new discovery has increased the geographical distribution of butterflies in China.

According to the research literature, butterflies of the genus White Gray butterfly are sporadically distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, and the distribution state is discontinuous and fragmented. Its biological properties are one of the most unique species of butterflies.

The new findings provide important material for studying the relationship between Tibetan butterflies and other insects, between butterflies and plants, and between butterflies and ecosystems. The 1st to 2nd instar larvae of the white gray butterfly will feed on plants of the labial flower family, and the 3rd year will fall to the ground, emitting the hormonal smell of the black ant larvae, attracting specific species of black ants, and when the passing black ants mistakenly bring the larvae back to the nest as lost ant larvae, the white gray butterfly larvae feed on the larvae of the black ants in the ant nest and pupate in the ant nest. The unique and demanding biological characteristics of the white gray butterfly require that its distribution place must have only specific plants, specific species of ants, and a good ecological environment.

It is understood that studying the causes and conditions for the formation of the biological characteristics of the white gray butterfly is of great significance for further exploring the interdependence of biodiversity in the ecosystem.

Editor-in-Charge: Liu Yang