Flight and Oviposition Behavior of the Adult Marit

Authors: Makiri Sei

Publish Date: 2008/10/29

Volume: 22, Issue: 2, Pages: 87-100

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Abstract

Maritime ringlet butterflies Coenonympha nipisiquit McDunnough an endangered species in Canada inhabit salt marshes which consist of microhabitat mosaics with varied larval survival rate These microhabitats may influence the movement and reproductive behaviors of females which in turn may affect population dynamics I recorded behaviors and locations of females every minute with a GPS rover and calculated their move lengths and turning angles Move lengths did not change in response to microhabitats although turning angles became larger near bodies of water with sparse vegetation Females spent a longer time in one location and oviposited more often where the principal larval host Spartina patens Aiton Muhl is abundant regardless of larval survival rate Older females tended to initiate flight more readily than younger females and spent more time flying and nectaring Younger females were more fecund and spent a longer time at one location Because young females tend to be less mobile and more fecund the majority of oviposition should take place near eclosion sites However some eggs will be laid away from microhabitats favorable to larval survival when older females become mobile and move out of their natal microhabitats Because it seems to have little potential to colonize new habitat on its own monitoring population dynamics and habitat quality will be crucial for the persistence and recovery of this rare speciesThe author would like to thank G Godin L Gagnon N D’Aoust M Toner and D Sabine of the Department of Natural Resources New Brunswick DNRNB J Gaudet of the New Brunswick Community College NBCC at Bathurst and especially R Webster whose support and knowledge of C nipisiquit ecology has been indispensable B Compton helped the author with GIS data manipulation This manuscript greatly benefited from comments by A H Porter and two anonymous reviewers The field office of DNRNB in Bathurst kindly provided the GPS rovers the Pathfinder Office™ software and GPS expertise NBCC at Bathurst provided a computer and office space This study was conducted with scientific/education permits an unidentified permit issued in 2000 200211 and ES03014 issued from the Species at Risk Program Fish and Wildlife Branch Department of Natural Resource New Brunswick This work was supported by DNRNB the Joan Mosenthal De Wind Award from the Xerces Society and University of Massachusetts Graduate Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

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