Seasonal Patterns of Inga spp. (Fabaceae) Hostplant Use by Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) in Costa Rican Montane Forests

Sympatric butterflies in the same family (Pieridae) utilize the same genus of hostplant (Fabaceae), yet some are only found as caterpillars on young foliage, while others appear to eat mature foliage. Observations conducted over the course of a single year on five species of Inga (Fabaceae) in Monteverde, Costa Rica, revealed three butterflies whose caterpillars consumed their leaves. One species was more common throughout the year with caterpillars encountered on primarily mature foliage; two others were found only on species with new leaves and occurred seasonally, during months of increased new leaf production. In feeding preference tests, those species showed a marked preference for eating new leaves, whereas the more common species showed no preference. The seasonality of occurrence of the two species eating new leaves may be explained, in part, by availability of their preferred foliage. The coexistence of the three butterflies using the same host-plants may be facilitated by their leaf age preferences and differential oviposition patterns of the females.