OPEN CORRIDORS APPEAR TO FACILITATE DISPERSAL BY RINGLET BUTTERFLIES (APHANTOPUS-HYPERANTUS) BETWEEN WOODLAND CLEARINGS

We studied the ringlet butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus) in an area of woodland in eastern England. A. hyperantus occurs in open fields, rid es (grassy tracks), and glades within the woodland. Mark-recapture met hods showed that exchange rates of adult A. hyperantus between fields and glades can be predicted better by distance-via-rides than by direc t distance. Behavioral observations showed that A. hyperantus readily moved from glades into rides but rarely moved from glades into dense w oodland. The rides are likely to be corridors that act as conduits bet ween fields and glades. In the A. hyperantus system, connectivity coul d reduce local extinctions and increase rates of recolonization in the event of local extinction.