EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY

Eur. J. Entomol. 116: 468-476, 2019 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2019.048

Sexual differences in the morphology and movement of a butterfly: Good shape does not make good dispersersOriginal article

Elisabeth REIM¹, Fee WIDDERICH¹, Klaus FISCHER²

¹ Zoological Institute and Museum, Greifswald University, Soldmannstraße 14, D-17489 Greifswald, Germany; e-mail: elisabeth.reim@uni-greifswald.de, f.widderich@hotmail.de

² Institute for Integrated Natural Sciences, University Koblenz-Landau, Universitätsstraße 1, D-56070 Koblenz, Germany; e-mail: Klausfischer@uni-koblenz.de

Movements are involved in several routine processes and may scale up to important ecological processes such as dispersal. However, movement is affected by a wealth of factors including flight capacity and behavioural traits. Both frequently differ in the sexes, which may well affect movement. We here aim to disentangle the relative importance of sexual differences in flight capacity versus behaviour on small-scale movements under controlled laboratory conditions in the temperate-zone butterfly Lycaena tityrus. The morphology of males is typically associated with increased flight capacity in this species. Nevertheless, the flight performances of the sexes did not differ, but the mobility of the females was higher. Thus, flight capacity and patterns of movement may not be intimately associated. Rather, the costs and benefits of flight seem to differ substantially between the sexes, with females being more mobile, potentially as a risk spreading strategy, while males are territorial and thus more sedentary. Thus, predictions regarding movement based on morphology are difficult.

Keywords: Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Lycaena tityrus, dispersal, flight capacity, flight performance, sexual dimorphism, territoriality

Received: April 4, 2019; Accepted: November 13, 2019; Published online: December 9, 2019  Show citation