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Flight and Oviposition Behavior of the Adult Maritime Ringlet (Coenonympha nipisiquit McDunnough) Females in Response to Microhabitat

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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 species.

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Acknowledgements

The 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, #2002-11 and #ES03-014) 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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  1. Graduate Program of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01002, USA

    Makiri Sei

  2. Department of Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA

    Makiri Sei

  3. Department of Biology, Arcadia University, 209 Boyer Hall, Glenside, PA, 19038, USA

    Makiri Sei

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Sei, M. Flight and Oviposition Behavior of the Adult Maritime Ringlet (Coenonympha nipisiquit McDunnough) Females in Response to Microhabitat. J Insect Behav 22, 87–100 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-008-9156-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-008-9156-x

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