Owls - Secret hunters of the night

How climate change is turning vegetarians into carnivores - using the example of ant blue butterflies in Africa

A lecture by Svenja Ahlborn, Doctoral researcher (PhD), Lepidoptera, LIB Bonn

The African continent has experienced dramatic climate changes over the last millions of years. From a once heavily forested habitat, a multitude of new, dry biotopes emerged - savannahs and deserts! These changes have had an enormous impact on the fauna and flora of the entire continent, on their evolution, adaptation and diversity. Using the example of a group of small blue butterflies, the ant blue butterflies of Africa ("Euchrysops" group), a unique survival strategy in this changing world is presented. The caterpillars of some species are no longer strictly vegetarian, in extreme cases they even become parasites and feed on the brood of the ants in whose burrows they live. The approach and methodology for researching such a group of insects are explained and the realisation of how little we actually know about them is made clear.