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urn:lsid:arphahub.com:pub:73abe0ce-d97c-5d7c-bee5-b8e6e6fe6a17

ARPHA Preprints

preprints

Pensoft Publishers

10.3897/arphapreprints.e83847

83847

Short Communications

Insecta Lycaenidae

Biodiversity & Conservation Diseases & Pests Tropical agriculture

Asia Indonesia Sumatra

The first record of the myrmecophilous caterpillar Liphyra brasollis in weaver ant nests in oil palm plantations

Dwi Advento

Andreas

adadvento@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2208-7376 1 2 Yusah

Kalsum M

kalsum.myusah@gmail.com 3 4 Salim

Hasber

5 Naim

Mohammad

1 Caliman

Jean-Pierre

1 Fayle

Tom Maurice

6 7

Smart Research Institute, Pekanbaru, Indonesia

Smart Research Institute

Pekanbaru

Indonesia 2

Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Sabah, Malaysia

Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Sabah

Malaysia 3

Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Kota Kinabalu

Malaysia 4

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, London, United Kingdom

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

London

United Kingdom 5

School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Minden Penang, Penang, Malaysia

School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Minden Penang

Penang

Malaysia 6

Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 1160/31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 1160/31, 370 05

České Budějovice

Czech Republic 7

School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom

School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London

London

United Kingdom

Corresponding authors: Andreas Dwi Advento (adadvento@gmail.com), Kalsum M Yusah (kalsum.myusah@gmail.com).

Academic editor:

2022

18 03 2022

3 012E3E7E-7CD2-5A95-B4B2-F6AC14A870B4 15 03 2022 15 03 2022

Andreas Dwi Advento, Kalsum M Yusah, Hasber Salim, Mohammad Naim, Jean-Pierre Caliman, Tom Maurice Fayle

This is an open access preprint distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Asian weaver ants are an important biocontrol agent in agricultural habitats. We conducted surveys in oil palm plantations for an obligate myrmecophilous butterfly larvae Liphyra brassolis that is known to consume weaver ant larvae in other habitat types. We found L. brassolis larvae in five of the twenty nests surveyed, with larval presence not being related to weaver ant nest size. We also observed L. brassolis larvae in a weaver ant mass rearing facility. This is the first report of L. brassolis from oil palm plantations, and has implications for the use of weaver ants as biological control agents.