Dutch Alcon Blue Butterfly

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 Classification

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Tracheophyta

Class Insecta

Order Lepidoptera

Family Lycaenidae

Genus Maculinea
Species Maculinea alcon
Subspecies Maculinea alcon arenaria

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 Anatomy

➢ The males are deep blue

➢ The females are black-brown, dusted with dark blue at
the basal area
➢ The undersides of the wings are a dark violet-grey

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 Locomotion

➢ It got around by flying

➢ It flew during the day
➢ It was seen flying in mid to late summer

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 Diet

➢ It fed on the nectar of...

○ Cross-leaved heath
○ Marsh gentian
○ Cross gentian

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 Habitat

➢ They were endemic to the Netherlands

➢ Two populations were known
○ One in Meijendel
○ One in Meije
➢ Lived in nutrient poor dune grasslands

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 Reproduction

➢ They are very sensitive to changes in vegetation when

laying eggs
➢ The caterpillars are myrmecophiles (meaning they
depend on ants for support in certain areas)
➢ The caterpillars emit chemicals similar to those of ant
larvae, causing the ants to take the caterpillars into
their nests and feed them
➢ This is commonly known as the cuckoo strategy

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 Enemies

➢ When the caterpillars are underground in the ant

nests, they are in danger from the Ichneumon eumerus
wasp
➢ If the wasp detects a caterpillar, it will enter the nest
and spray a pheromone that makes the ants attack
each other
➢ In the chaos, the wasp injects the caterpillar with its
eggs
➢ When the caterpillar becomes a chrysalis, the wasp
eggs hatch and devour it from the inside out

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 Protection

➢ Camouflage
○ The light, underside wing colour hides them from the view of
predators
➢ Signals
○ There are three common signaling types in butterfly wings
■ Warning colouration warns predators not to attack
■ Mimicry mimics another butterfly species’ warning
colouration
■ Colours help butterflies find mates
➢ Startle Defense
○ Creates an unexpected flash of colour to startle predators

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 Timeline

➢ They disappeared from Meije in 1975

➢ They disappeared from Meijendel in 1979
➢ The cause of extinction was a change in vegetation
○ Shrubs and trees became more prevalent, while the plants
they relied on dried out
○ Cross Gentians dried out, and they drank nectar and laid eggs
on that plant

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 Most Interesting Fact

➢ I’ve included most things I find interesting, but the

things I found most interesting is their relationships with
ants and wasps

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 Natural Selection

➢ This is the only extinct subspecies of the Alcon Blue

➢ They were very sensitive to changes in vegetation

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 Sources

https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232543/http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct/speciesinfo
/dutchalconblue.htm

http://worldextinctanimals.blogspot.com/2011/09/dutch-alcon-blue-butterfly.html

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13139-parasitic-butterflies-fool-ants-with-smell/

https://www.wired.com/2008/01/butterfly-and-w/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptEh98Qm2PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLvuevf__Ok

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