USE OF SPACE AND RESOURCES IN A MEDITERRANEAN POPULATION OF THE BUTTERFLY EUPHYDRYAS-AURINIA

Population parameters of a central Spanish population of the marsh fri tillary butterfly, Euphydryas aurinia (Rott.), were studied between 19 90 and 1991. Numbers were very similar in the two study years, but adu lt emergence was delayed 15 days in the second year as a consequence o f variation in weather conditions. The nectar sources used by adults w ere different in the two years and were correlated with the most abund ant plants available during the flight period. Adult abundance was cor related with the presence of the larval foodplant (Lonicera periclymen um) in open woodland and was higher where this habitat was mixed with open areas, where nectar sources abound. Estimates of male population numbers were higher than those of females, suggesting that males used wider ranges than females, or a higher residence rate for males. Never theless mobility did not differ significantly between the sexes. The c onservation of the species in central Spain depends on maintaining pat ches of oak woodlands, important for the presence of larval foodplants . Large numbers of the butterfly in the Natural Park study area are fa voured by traditional management including charcoal production and ext ensive grazing by cattle and goats.