The presence of Aglais urticae (lepidoptera:Nymphalidae) in the Maltese islands. Arnold Sciberras & Esther Schembri Abstract Aglais urticae was mentioned in literature the first time in the Maltese islands by T.B Fletcher in 1904-05.It was also repeatedly mentioned by a number of other authors but till ‘Il-Lepidoptera’-P.Sammut 2000 it was listed as a misidentification. This present work is for confirming the presence of this species in the Maltese islands based on the previous two records.
Distribution and taxonomy. This species is widespread from the Atlantic coast of Europe through to the pacific coast
of Asia. The distribution in Europe is stable. The wingspan is generally from 45-62mm. The sexes look very similar but males are often smaller than females. The upperside is dark red with black and yellow stain like colour. The slightly scalloped wings have a series of blue spots close to the side and hind margins. The undersides are less colourful, the pattern on the forewing being a duller reflection of the upperside. Eggs are laid in large clusters with numbers ranging from 30 to 200. These are pale, glassy-green with 8 or 9 ribs running from top to base. These can be found on young tender nettle leaves, sometimes hidden deep within the main clump. The eggs will hatch within 12 days. The caterpillars feed on common nettle (Urtica dioica) and small nettle (U. urens). As a result of this, Aglais urticae inhabits a huge range of habitats, wherever the foodplants occurs. Literature T.B Fletcher, 1904-1905 Aglias (Vanessa) urticae, Linn – Mr. Gervase F. Mathew in forms me (in litt.) that he noticed one specimen on March 23rd 1892. It must, however, be a rare species in Malta, and is probably only a casual immigrant. Caruana Gatto, 1925 Aglias (Vanessa) urticae, Linn (Ing. Small Tortoise Shell) Thomas Bainbridge Fletcher R.N, F.E.S, in “A Preliminary List of the Lepidoptera of Malta” nota su questa specie “Mr. Gervase F. Mathews informs me (in litt.) that “he noticed one specimen on March 23rd 1892. It must, however, be a rare species in Malta, and is probably only a casual immigrant”, e infatti allín fuori di questo singoli esemplari, soltanto osservato e non catturato da Mathew questo specie non é stata piu vista in Malta. L’epoca inoltre indicate da costui, nella quale prevalgono giornate assai ventose, contribuisce a ritenere che l’individuo da lui osservato sia uno do quelli erratici portati col vento.
Borg. P 1932 V. urticae, Lin. Small Tortoiseshell – Rare Borg. J 1939 I have caught a specimen of Thecla rubi from Wied Encita, in the central part of Malta. More or less battered specimens of Papilio podalirius, Anthocharis euphenoides and Vanessa urticae have also been blown here by winds. C. De Lucca, B.Sc., M.D, March 1950 Other rare species of Rhopalocera are found in Mr. Borg’s List, published 1932; these are: Aporia crategi L., Leptidea sinapis L., Argynnis dia L., Melitaea cinxia L., Aglais urticae L., Nymphalis polychloros L., Polygonia c-album L.; no records of capture are, however, given. Borg also mentions in this list Pieris napi L., Gonepteryx rhamni L., Maniola tithonus L., and Lycaena bellargus Rott. As being fairly common. In my long time of collecting I have never come across one of them.
Valletta 1966 Before proceeding with the naming of the different species, I would like to point out that the following species which appear in Borg’s list have never been taken or seen by me and by other collectors these last 33 years. Papilio podalirius L., P. napi L., Aporia crategi L., Leptidea sinapis L., Colias hyale L., G. rhamni L., Argynnis dia L., Melitaea cinxia L., V. urticae L., V. Polychloros L., V. calbum L., Hipparchia tithonus L., and L. bellargus Rott. P. Sammut 2000 Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) Skond Thomas Bainbrigge – Fletcher (1904-04), certu Gervase mathew ra ezemplari fit23 ta’ Marzu ta l-1892. Tissemma wkoll minn Borg (1932). Jghid li hija rari. Il –botaniku John Borg (1939) ukoll isemmi din l-ispeci. Jghid li ezemplari xi ftit imkissrin gieli nstabu wara xi maltempata tar – rih. Aktarx xi mis – identifikazzjoni ma’ ezemplari mqattghin tal-Vanessa cardui. On May 14th 1985 Mr. E.Cardona has captured a specimen of Aglais urticae at Wied hanzir, Qormi and in his collection it was misidentified as another species. It was in late 2002 that the specimen was identified correctly by P.Sammut as the latter. The information that the collector provided was that in those days he never collected outside the Maltese islands so there could not be a misidentification of the location from where the specimen was caught. The specimen was caught in a Vanessa cardui migration. On November 23rd 2003 one of the authors (AS) was collecting a number of Vanessa cardui specimens on a Lantana camara at Marsa (Malta racing course) for reference collection and while the specimens were on the setting boards Mr. J.Sciberras noted the different specimen. When placed in the collection box it was obvious that the specimen belonged to species of Aglais urticae. Again this specimen was caught in a Vanessa
cardui migration. It is now in one of the authors (ES) private collection. Only from these last two records we can confirm that this species was present in the Maltese islands. In the same period of the last record there were possibly other sightings from November 13th to December 4th but since these are not fully confirmed they are not listed. We propose the Maltese name of this species as Qoxra ta`fekruna zghira since Nymphalis polychloros commonly known as the large tortoise shell is named in Maltese as Qoxra ta`fekruna. Reference Asher, J., Warren, M., Fox, R., Harding, P., Jeffcoate, G. & Jeffcoate, S. (2001) The Millennium Atlas of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland. Oxford University Press, Oxford BORG, J. 1939: Our Insect Visitors. Archivum melitense 9(4): 196 BORG, P. 1932: The Lepidoptera of the Maltese Islands. Goverment Printing Press, Malta v + 25pp CARUANA-GATTO, A. 1891a: Notes on the Lepidoptera of Malta. Mediterranean Naturalist. 1(6): 85-88, 106-107 CARUANA-GATTO, A. 1891b: Prima Contribuzione alla Fauna Lepidotterologica dell'Isola di Malta. Riv.Ital.Sc.Nat. Siena. 11(5): 1-8 CARUANA-GATTO, A. 1925: Di Alcune specie di Farfalle Erratiche Catturate o Osservate in Malta. Archivum melitense. 6(4): 155-159 Carter, D. (1992) Butterflies and moths. Dorling Kindersley, London. Carter, D. & Hargreaves, B. (1986) A field guide to caterpillars of butterflies and moths in Britain and Europe. William Collins & Sons Ltd, London. DELUCCA, C. 1950: Casual Immigrant Rhopalocera in Malta. Entomologist 83: 64-65. FLETCHER, T.B. 1904-05: A Preliminary List of the Lepidoptera of Malta. Entomologist.37: 273-276, 315-319, 38: 18-20 FLETCHER, T.B. 1905: A Preliminary List of the Lepidoptera of Malta. Daily Malta Chronicle.(10 iii 1905):, (14 iii 1905). SAMMUT, P.M. 1982: Eine revision uber dei Tagfalterfauna (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) der maltesischen Insel gruppe. Entomologischen Nachrichten 81: 71-78. SAMMUT, P.M. 1984: A Systematic and Synonymic List of the Lepidoptera of the Maltese Islands. Neue Ent.Nachr. 13: 1-124.
SAMMUT, P.M. 2000: Kullana Kulturali 12 - Il-Lepidptera. Pubblikazzjonijiet Indipendenza, x + 245pp. 24pls. VALLETTA, A. 1966. The Butterflies of the Maltese Islands. Ent. Rec. 78: 38-42.
Acknowledgments The authors gratefully thank Mr. Paul Sammut for providing all the literature work and his assistance. We also thank Mr. Emmanuel Cardona for providing the knowledge of his specimen and Mr. Jeffrey Sciberras for his keen eyesight and identification of the Marsa specimen. Photos 1) Specimen taken at Wied hanzir, Qormi on 14/v/1985 Leg. E.Cardona (photo credit. E.Cardona) 2) Specimen taken at Marsa on 23/xi/2003 Leg A.Sciberras (photo credit A.Sciberras) Address Arnold Sciberras – ‘Marmir’, Flt 1, Buontempo Est., Balzan Valley, Balzan
[email protected] Esther Schembri – 30, ‘Rijo’, Triq il-Malvizz, Fgura
[email protected]
