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Multi-generational long-distance migration of insects : studying the painted lady butterfly in the Western Palaearctic
Stefanescu, Constantí (Museu de Granollers. Àrea de Ciències Naturals)
Páramo, Ferran (Museu de Granollers. Àrea de Ciències Naturals)
Åkesson, Susanne (Lunds universitet. Institutionen Biologiska)
Alarcón Jordán, Marta, 1958- (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear)
Àvila i Castells, Anna (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Brereton, Tom (Butterfly Conservation)
Carnicer i Cols, Jofre (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Cassar, Louis F. (University of Malta. Institute of Earth Systems. Division of Environmental Management and Planning)
Fox, Richard (Butterfly Conservation)
Heliölä, Janne (Suomen ympäristökeskus)
Hill, Jane K. (University of York. Department of Biology)
Hirneisen, Norbert (Science4you)
Kjellén, Nils (Lunds universitet. Institutionen Biologiska)
Kühn, Elisabeth (Helmholtz Zentrum für Umweltforschung. Department Biozönoseforschung)
Kuussaari, Mikko (Suomen ympäristökeskus)
Leskinen, Matti (Helsingin yliopisto. Fysiikan laitos)
Liechti, Felix (Schweizerische Vogelwarte Sempac.)
Musche, Martin (Helmholtz Zentrum für Umweltforschung. Department Biozönoseforschung)
Regan, Eugenie C. (Trinity College Dublin. Department of Zoology)
Reynolds, Don R. (University of Greenwich. Department of Plant and Invertebrate Ecology)
Roy, David B. (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology)
Ryrholm, Nils (Högskolan i Gävle. Department of Electronics, Mathematics and Natural Sciences)
Schmaljohann, Heiko (Institut für Vogelforschung (Helgoland, Germany))
Thomas, Chris D. (University of York. Department of Biology)
Van Swaay, Chris (Butterfly Conservation Europe)
Chapman, Jason W. (University of Exeter. Department of Plant and Invertebrate Ecology)

Date: 2013
Abstract: Long-range, seasonal migration is a widespread phenomenon among insects, allowing them to track and exploit abundant but ephemeral resources over vast geographical areas. However, the basic patterns of how species shift across multiple locations and seasons are unknown in most cases, even though migrant species comprise an important component of the temperate-zone biota. The painted lady butterfly Vanessa cardui is such an example; a cosmopolitan continuously-brooded species which migrates each year between Africa and Europe, sometimes in enormous numbers. The migration of 2009 was one of the most impressive recorded, and thousands of observations were collected through citizen science programmes and systematic entomological surveys, such as high altitude insect-monitoring radar and ground-based butterfly monitoring schemes. Here we use V. cardui as a model species to better understand insect migration in the Western Palaearctic, and we capitalise on the complementary data sources available for this iconic butterfly. The migratory cycle in this species involves six generations, encompassing a latitudinal shift of thousands of kilometres (up to 60 degrees of latitude). The cycle comprises an annual poleward advance of the populations in spring followed by an equatorward return movement in autumn, with returning individuals potentially flying thousands of kilometres. We show that many long-distance migrants take advantage of favourable winds, moving downwind at high elevation (from some tens of metres from the ground to altitudes over 1000 m), pointing at strong similarities in the flight strategies used by V. cardui and other migrant Lepidoptera. Our results reveal the highly successful strategy that has evolved in these insects, and provide a useful framework for a better understanding of long-distance seasonal migration in the temperate regions worldwide.
Grants: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CSD2008-00040
Rights: Tots els drets reservats.
Language: Anglès
Document: Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject: Migration ; Butterfly
Published in: Ecography, Vol. 36 Issue 4 (April 2013) , p. 474-486, ISSN 1600-0587

DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0587.2012.07738.x


Post-print
44 p, 1.2 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles

 Record created 2016-03-30, last modified 2024-02-11



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