Maculinea alcon arenaria

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Kingdom Animalia

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Phylum Tracheophyta
Class Insecta
Order Lepidoptera
Family Lycaenidae
Genus Maculinea
Species Maculinea alcon
Subspecies Maculinea alcon arenaria
Authority Lemke, 1942
 
TEW Status Not Recognised (NR), Year assessed: 2010
IUCN Status Not Evaluated (NE)
 
English Name Dutch Alcon Blue, Dune Alcon Blue
Dutch Name Duingentiaanblauwtje
 
Comments The Dutch Alcon Blue (Maculinea alcon arenaria) is no longer recognised as a distinct subspecies by The Extinction Website. Until 2010 it was listed as extinct. This page is about the non-recognised subspecies Maculinea alcon arenaria, which is now seen as an extinct Dutch population of the Alcon Blue (Maculinea alcon).
 
Taxonomy

International research during the last decades revealed that in many European countries, the Maculinea species using Cross Gentian (Gentiana cruciata) as a foodplant should be considered as Mountain Alcon Blue (Maculinea rebeli). This opened the possibility that the Dutch subspecies of the coastal dunes was in fact a subspecies of Maculinea rebeli, so adding a new species to the list of Dutch butterflies. However, the European project MACMAN has shown that there is in fact no genetic difference between Maculinea alcon and Maculinea rebeli, so all of these butterflies are Maculinea alcon. (Van Swaay 2004)

The international opinion is that the Alcon Blue doesn't have any subspecies (MinLNV 2004). In 2009, genetic research in Leiden (the Netherlands) showed that "no consistent genetic differences between the forms were found" and "it is concluded that Maculinea alcon is still a single widespread species in which geographical isolation of the forms in at least the West Palearctic has not yet resulted in genetic differentiation". (Booister et al., 2009)
 
Lifestyle This butterfly was active during the day and could be seen flying in mid to late summer.
 
Range & Habitat This subspecies of the Alcon Blue (when considered distinct) was endemic to the Netherlands, where two populations were known. One in Meijendel (dunes north of The Hague) and in Meije (in the neighbourhood of Woerden and the Nieuwkoopse Plassen). This lycaenid butterfly lived in relative nutrient poor dune grasslands with foodplants. The Dutch Alcon Blue had the Cross Gentian (Gentiana cruciata) as foodplant in the dunes in Meijendel, like the Mountain Alcon Blue (Maculinea rebeli), which don't occurs in the Netherlands. The Dutch Alcon Blue in the Meije used the Marsh Gentian (Gentiana pneumonanthe) as foodplant, the same as the Alcon Blue subspecies Maculinea alcon ericae, which also occurs in the Netherlands. (Wikipedia contributors 2007)

Image: map showing the possible previous range of the Dutch Alcon Blue (in red). Created by Peter Maas for The Extinction Website. This image has been released under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 3.0 Licence.
 
Food The Alcon Blue (Maculinea alcon) feeds on nectar of Cross-leaved Heath (Erica tetralix) and Marsh Gentian (Gentiana pneumonanthe). The Dutch Alcon Blue (Maculinea alcon arenaria) also fed on nectar of Cross Gentian (Gentiana cruciata).
 
Reproduction The Dutch Alcon Blue had a myrmecophilous relationship with ants, the caterpillars after the third moult are taken by ants will stay and fed in the ant nest. It is not known which ant species the Dutch Alcon Blue used. The remaining subspecies Maculinea alcon ericae has a myrmecophilous relationship with the species Myrmica scabrinodis and Myrmica ruginodis.
 
History & Population Little is known about the Dutch Alcon Blue. It has always been a very rare butterfly. This formelly recognised subspecies disappeared in the Meije in 1975 and in the dunes of Meijendel it disappeared in 1979. When considered extinct, the extinction of this last population in the Netherlands meant the global extinction of this Alcon Blue subspecies. (Wikipedia contributors 2007)
 
Extinction Causes Change in vegetation, with the subsequent growth of shrubs and trees, and drying out of areas, the Cross Gentians lost its function as foodplant. The Dutch Alcon Blue is very sensitive for changes in vegetation structure during the depositing of eggs. 
 
Conservation Attempts This subspecies is classified as 'globally extinct' on the 2004 Dutch red list of butterflies (and on earlier lists). Because of this the creators of this list conclude that conservation measures aren't possible anymore. Because of taxonomic uncertainty it might be removed from the next updated list. (MinLNV 2004)
 
Museum Specimens Specimens of the Dutch Alcon Blue are kept in the collection of the University of Amsterdam and a smaller number in the National Museum of Natural History 'Naturalis' in Leiden. As far as I know there are no photographs of living of this butterfly.
 
Relatives In the Netherlands another Alcon Blue subspecies (when considered distinct) still occurs, namely the Heath Alcon Blue, Maculinea alcon ericae.
 
Links Maculinea alcon arenaria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beschermingsplan Gentiaanblauwtje 2003-2007

Besluit Rode lijsten flora en fauna, 5 November 2004 (pdf, 512 kB)

 

References

(Complete website)

 Booister, M., M. Eurlings, B. Gravendeel, E. van der Meijden, E. van Nieukerken, N. Pul, A.Vliegenthart & M. Wallis de Vries, 2009. Microsatellite analysis of Maculinea alcon (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) eggs and legs using a new method for DNA extraction from tiny amounts of tissue (poster). – Abstracts 16th European Congress of Lepidopterology, Cluj-Napoca. 25-31 May 2009: 34. (Online pdf)

MinLNV. 2004. Besluit Rode lijsten flora en fauna (5 November 2004). Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit. (Decision Red lists flora and fauna, Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.)

Van Swaay, C. 2004. New and lost butterflies. Vlinders (November 2005). De Vlinderstichting (Dutch Butterfly Conservation).

Wikipedia contributors, "Maculinea alcon arenaria," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maculinea_alcon_arenaria&oldid=94734886 (accessed November 17, 2007).

Last updated: 11th April 2010.

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