Metapopulation structure of the endangered grassland butterfly Plebejus subsolanus (Lycaenidae)

Abstract

A conservation ecological survey of Plebejus subsolanus (Lycaenidae) larvae and adults was conducted from May 2009 to July 2011. Totals of 370 and 535 larvae were observed in 2010 and 2011. Larvae were concentrated in 6 core and 3 secondary emergence areas. Among the larvae observed in 2010 and 2011, 94% and 98% were reconfirmed on the same plants, respectively. In total, 222 male and 272 female adults were marked, and the recapture rate was 62.9% for males and 57.4% for females. The estimated maximum numbers of adults were about 50 males and 60 females in 2009, about 65 males and 100 females in 2010, and about 90 males and 80 females in 2011. Both male and female adults seemed to have moved mainly between the 6 larval core emergence areas. This paper discusses the hierarchical structure of local populations and a metapopulation. A group of individuals concentrated in one habitat patch constitutes a “sub-local population”. All the sub-local and local populations in and around the study area formed one large metapopulation in 2009.