Movements and flight morphology in the endangered Large Blue butterflies

Abstract

Movements and flight morphology of the endangered Large Blue butterflies Phengaris teleius and P. nausithous in southern Poland were studied with mark-release-recapture surveys and GIS analyses. Most individuals moved relatively small distances (<40 metres) within their habitat patches. Distances covered by both species were positively related to season progression and wing length, and negatively related to body mass. P. teleius movement distances slightly exceeded those of P. nausithous. In addition, females moved longer distances than males, although the difference was significant only in P. teleius. Morphological traits appeared to be good indicators of the inter-specific and inter-sexual differences in mobility. While P. teleius individuals were heavier than P. nausithous ones, they had considerably longer wings, which may explain longer movements in the former species. Similarly, females were heavier than males in both species, but they invested more in wing size, which is likely to compensate for the negative impact of body mass on movement distances. Our results indicate that combination of GIS analysis of movement distances recorded with mark-release-recapture methods and morphometric measurements taken in field during non-lethal handling of captured individuals proved useful for studying the mobility potential of the endangered insect species.

Within-patch mobility and flight morphology reflect resource use and dispersal potential in the dryad butterfly Minois dryas

“…Specifically, it has been found that mobility is negatively affected by body mass, but positively by thorax width and wing length (Berwaerts et al 2002;Skórka et al 2013). The results of the present study generally confirm the above patterns, although we found that wing loading index is more useful as a factor explaining the dryad mobility.…”

Movements and occurrence in two closely related fritillary species

“…wing span or thorax width), which is often used as a proxy for mobility (Nieminen et al ., 1999; Greenleaf et al ., 2007; Öckinger et al ., 2010; Kuussaari et al ., 2014). Numerous studies suggest that larger individuals tend to be able to cover longer flight distances (Nieminen et al ., 1999; Berwaerts et al ., 2002; Kalarus et al ., 2013; Skórka et al ., 2013a), and body size could also influence population densities, and the other way around. High population densities during the larval stage could lead to reduced larval development time, thereby decreasing the risk of resource depletion before metamorphosis.…”

Emigration propensity and flight performance are decoupled in a butterfly

“…The multi‐causality of dispersal has been fully appreciated in recent years (reviewed by Matthysen ), suggesting that complex interactions between several factors influence the dispersal process (Skórka et al. , Legrand et al. ).…”

“…Third, we assessed individual variation in several morphological parameters (e.g., thorax–abdomen ratio, wing loading, and fat content) that may be associated with movement ability (Skórka et al. , Legrand et al. ).…”