page_title: Niphanda fusca
section_title: Habitat loss
hierarchical_section_title: Niphanda fusca / Conservation / Habitat loss
caption_attribution_description: English: Satoyama, utilizing with plant layer, from bottom, agriculture field, Prunus mume tree for Umeboshi, bamboo woods and thicket. 日本語: 植生の層によって活用される里山、下層から畑、梅の木、竹林、雑木林。
context_page_description: Niphanda fusca is a parasitic butterfly primarily found in East Asian countries such as Japan and Korea. It is a "cuckoo-type" parasite of the ant Camponotus japonicus. It utilizes chemical mimicry to trick the host worker ants into adopting it while it is a third-instar caterpillar. From there, it is fed mouth-to-mouth by the worker ants as though it were one of their own young.
  The butterflies of this species differ in color between the male and the female. The male has more of a purple tint with a gray underwing.
  N. fusca is currently an endangered butterfly, with an alarming and rapid decrease in numbers. Many locations that have previously recorded sightings have now become areas where the butterfly is extinct. These changes, which have come about mostly in the past 40 years, have resulted from habitat changes moving away from preferred early stage succession ecosystems, as well as habitat changes due to urban development.
context_section_description: N. fusca is listed in the Japan Red List as endangered – only 27 of 44 listed prefectures with records of the butterfly currently have maintained their records, showing a 39% decrease. Most of the decline has occurred in the past 40 years, from 1980s to the present. It is one of the four species that have disappeared in Shikoku.
  Two main causes are listed for leading to N. fusca's decline in numbers and thus endangerment: degradation of satoyama ecosystems and urban development. Because one of the few places the butterfly can inhabit are early stages of succession, these habitats must be maintained in such a state in order to prevent the progression into later stages and thus the loss of a habitat for the butterflies. Many of the satoyama have either been destroyed or have progressed into becoming forests due to lack of management – this has been increasingly the case for the last 30–40 years.
  Another cause is the urban development. Not only has this led to decreased value of the satoyama (leading then to its abandonment), but this has also led to the destruction of certain natural lands to make way for urban development. While early stage succession may be harder and more expensive to maintain, the preservation of other more stable lands, such as cliffs or grasslands near volcanoes, would be more feasible of a conservation effort.
  A similar decline can also be seen in South Korea, where they have not been observed since 1999.
caption: Satoyama, utilize plant layer.
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