Social Butterflies

by Henry S. Horn

Overview

An ecologist's investigation of the social lives of butterflies

Throughout his career, Henry Horn took a unique approach to the study of butterflies. This book brings together his findings with recent advances in behavioral ecology to provide an incomparable look at the social lives of butterflies, illuminating for the first time the marvelously diverse range of butterfly behaviors across several species.

Social Butterflies features in-depth studies of five sympatric species—the Plain Ringlet, the Eyed Brown, the Great Spangled Fritillary, the Viceroy, and the Pearly Eye—showing how their social interactions span much of the range of behaviors observed in vertebrates. Drawing on decades of his own keen observations in the field, Horn describes the natural history and behavioral peculiarities of each species and develops models to explain characteristic aspects of their behaviors. He then emphasizes key departures from these models to challenge the notion that butterflies are simply preconditioned to react to stimuli, showing how some make decisions by observing how other butterflies interact with the landscape and each other. Along the way, he sheds light on butterfly territoriality, mating tactics, vagrancy, feeding strategies, and more.

Charting new directions for future research, Social Butterflies poses intriguing questions about the complex and sometimes mystifying social behaviors of these marvelous creatures, making it essential reading for lepidopterists, ecologists, and anyone interested in the social behaviors of invertebrate species.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691212685
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	08/03/2021
Series:	Monographs in Population Biology , #65
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	296
File size:	76 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Henry S. Horn (1941–2019) was professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University. He was the author of The Adaptive Geometry of Trees and the coeditor of Molds, Molecules, and Metazoa: Growing Points in Evolutionary Biology (both Princeton).

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Preface ix

1 Introduction: Mysteries and Methods 1

2 Morphological and Perceptual Adaptations to Habitat and Society: Bases for Cues and Rules of Behavior 27

3 Tactical Forward Vagrancy: The Ringlet Coenonympha tullia inornata 74

4 Fortuitous Site-Fidelity? The Eyed Brown Satyrodes eurydice 96

5 Setting and Running a Trapline: The Great Spangled Fritillary Speyeria cybele 110

6 Defining and Defending a Territory: The Viceroy Limenitis archippus 125

7 Sociology at a Singles Bar: The Pearly Eye Enodia anthedon 138

8 Do Butterflies Make Decisions? 160

9 Life History Consequences of Individual Behavior 187

10 Summary and Speculations 202

Appendix A Taxonomy 213

Appendix B More Natural History 216

Appendix C Machinery 221

Appendix D NetLogo Programs 230

Notes 237

Bibliography 249

Index 265

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Butterflies have proven their status as model organisms for biology, on par with mice and fruit flies. Horn shows how they provide general insights into the behavior of all animals. His very personal account of his scientific process and observation will spark new studies of butterflies and other animals."—Nick Haddad, author of The Last Butterflies: A Scientist's Quest to Save a Rare and Vanishing Creature

"Social Butterflies demonstrates that great things can emerge by putting a clever person in a woodlot and giving him or her permission to do what comes naturally. The book's greatest value lies in its documentation of the process of discovery."—Arthur M. Shapiro, University of California, Davis

Editorial Reviews

"This book will surely fuel further conceptual unification by inspiring future generations of scientists."—-Mark E. Laidre, The Quarterly Review of Biology

"The book abounds with new ideas and is a must read for anyone starting out on a career in field entomology."—-John Badmin, British Journal of Entomology and Natural History

From the Publisher