Relatedness and competition between caterpillars of Maculinea alcon within host plants
Competition between related caterpillars on host plant The Alcon Blue is a butterfly with a parasitic lifecycle. The butterfly starts its life on the Marsh Gentian were the caterpillars feed on the seeds within the flower bud. Several females lay eggs on the flower, which could mean that related caterpillars could potentially compete for the resources within the flower bud as there is a limit to
