A unique relationship between air temperature and reproductive activity time of butterflies found in Chrysozephyrus smaragdinus(Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

Abstract

Climatic factors have large effects on the activity of ectotherms. I investigated the effects of air temperature on the territorial behavior of a lycaenid butterfly Chrysozephyrus smaragdinus. Males initiated their territorial activity later on hotter days. Apparently similar shifts are known in some butterfly species, and regarded as heat avoidance. In the case of C. smaragdinus, this shift cannot be regarded as heat avoidance because, on hotter days, they ceased territorial activity in the relatively cooler hours between 10:00 and 12:00 and hold territories between 12:00 and 17:00 during which the air temperature reaches its daily maximum. This is a unique relationship between air temperature and the reproductive activity time of butterflies. Possibly C. smaragdinus mud-puddle in the mornings of hot days, which might delay the start of their territorial activity on such days.