Abstract
Leptalina unicolor is a hesperiid butterfly with a restricted distribution in Korea, Japan, China, and Russia. Recently, the number of individuals is rapidly decreased in their natural habitat. This skipper has been classified as an endangered species in the 'Red Data Book', and according to an IUCN report, is under threat of extinction. Therefore, the conservation and restoration of this species both locally and globally are urgently needed. A population of L. unicolor was found in an unknown habitat in Jaeyaksan, Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea in 2011, and these individuals were used in the present study. Here, the life cycle, characteristics of each instar larva and breeding information were determined by breeding L. unicolor in the laboratory from 2012 to 2015. The results indicated that L. unicolor occurs twice a year and over-winter as a fifth instar larva. A spring-form female individual laid $17.25{\pm}5.52eggs$, and summer form laid $29.00{\pm}5.86eggs$; it takes $53.79{\pm}0.73days$ for L. unicolor to develop from eggs to adults. After spawning, the eggs developed in $6.16{\pm}0.18days$, and larvae developed in $33.71{\pm}0.58days$; the pre-pupal stage to emergence required $14.22{\pm}0.31days$. Based on these results, we presented effective breeding information for the restoration and proliferation of the species. Several candidate plants species have been reported in the literature as a food source for L. unicolor, but we found that the preferred diet this butterfly was Miscanthus sinensis. The larvae could move easily when their preferred diet was planted in ${\geq}80%$ the cage floor area Year-round breeding was achieved by placing overwintering individuals in low temperatures in autumn. To our knowledge, this is the first study to the biology of L. unicolor in Korea, and the results of this study could be used as preliminary information for the conservation and restoration of this species in its natural habitat.
