Effects of Argentine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on myrmecophilous lycaenid butterfly,Narathura bazalus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), in western Japan

Effects of the invasive Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr), on a myrmecophilous butterfly, Narathura bazalus (Hewiston), were investigated in the field in western Japan. Larvae of N. bazalus were attended by workers of Argentine ants in invaded parks and of ten native and one cosmopolitan ant species in uninvaded parks. The abundance of eggs and larvae were not significantly different between invaded and uninvaded parks. Pupal weight and parasitized ratio by tachinid flies were also not different between the two types of parks. These results indicate that the role of Argentine ants for the butterfly might be almost equivalent to the native ants.