Great Eggfly

Fascinating facts about the Great Eggfly

• Male great eggflies are notably territorial and often return to the same perch. Individuals can defend that spot for up to 54 days, and older butterflies show stronger site fidelity. They choose territories that improve visual detection of females, favouring locations that aid mate finding. Their hunting style relies on a sit-and-wait approach to locate potential mates.
• On the Samoan Islands of Upolu and Savai'i a Wolbachia strain wBol1 was killing male great eggflies, reducing them to just 1% of the population by 2001. Within ten generations - about five years - the survivors evolved immunity, and the male proportion rose to nearly 40% by 2007. This rapid change stemmed from alterations at a single region on chromosome 25 and ranks among the fastest natural-selection events recorded in wild populations.
• Female great eggflies show extreme colour variation thanks to both genetic polymorphism and phenotypic plasticity. Their dorsal wings can display a mix of white, orange and blue markings, and one genetic morph called euploeoides mimics members of the Euploea genus. In western parts of the range the females are monomorphic, specifically copying oriental and Australasian danaid Euploea species, providing a classic example of Batesian mimicry.
• Male great eggflies are vulnerable to a bacterial infection that eliminates only the males, leaving females unharmed. This male-killing agent is a strain of Wolbachia that has been documented in populations on the Samoan Islands, where it once drove the sex ratio to extreme imbalance. More recently the same Wolbachia lineage has been found in Indonesian butterflies, where it carries extra genetic elements that reinforce its lethal effect on males.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Great Eggfly

As the warm sunlight dances across the forest floor, the Great Eggfly emerges, its iridescent wings beating in a hypnotic rhythm as it flutters from bloom to bloom, sipping nectar with delicate precision. With a subtle flash of blue and purple, this enchanting butterfly navigates the lush undergrowth, its agile form weaving through the dense foliage with an effortless elegance. In its gentle, wandering flight, the Great Eggfly embodies the carefree spirit of the tropical wilderness, a fleeting glimpse of beauty that vanishes as suddenly as it appears.

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