Phenology responses of temperate butterflies to latitude depend on ecological traits

We studied changes of butterfly flight periods towards latitude. We analyzed 105 European and American species using more than 250,000 distribution records. There is no simple relationship between latitude and the timing of butterfly flight. Majority of species either delay their flight towards North, or display no change, whereas few species fly earlier in the higher latitudes. The character of responses was linked to the species’ seasonality and oceanic vs. continental climatic niches.

: Silver-spotted skipper, Hesperia comma, as an example of studied butterfly species.

Publications:

Faltýnek Fric Z., Rindoš M., Konvička M. (2020) Phenology responses of temperate butterflies to latitude depend on ecological traits. Ecology Letters 23, 172-180.