2022 Volume 73 Issue 3-4 Pages 93-110
Population surveys of the Marbled fritillary(Brenthis sp.)were performed in the Nojiri grassland at the foot of Mount Fuji using the mark and recapture method from 2011 to 2013. The estimated numbers of males in mid-July were about 150 in 2012 and 310 in 2013. Males and females displayed differences in behavior. Males selectively patrolled in a 500-m range with core and sub-core emergence areas/nectariferous plant habitats and a high possibility of encountering females. Females moved in a straight line by short and long displacements and often made movements to nectariferous plants in a direct fashion. Males emerged earlier than females, alternating between resting and seeking females, then copulating with emerged females and nectaring in between. After copulation, females moved to the nectariferous plant habitats, and after a period of time returned to the larval host plants to oviposit their eggs. There was only one isolated local population in this study area, which had some core and sub-core emergence areas. Nectariferous plants were located in and around the emergence areas.
