Ecology of Two Apollo Butterflies (Parnassius apollo Linnaeus, 1758 and Parnassius nomion Fischer de Waldheim, 1823) of the Khentii Mountain Range in Mongolia
2019
Gantigmaa Chuluunbaatar | Jigmidmaa Boldbaatar | Richard P. Reading
Determining habitat characteristics and quality is important for conservation planning for threatened species of butterflies. We determined the vegetation in two Apollo butterfly habitat types and recorded the species richness and abundance of vascular plants in 12 randomly chosen plots within our study site in the “Baruun Burkh” Mountains of the Khentii Mountain Range. We also recorded the movements of adult Apollo butterflies (Parnassius apollo and P. nomion) using mark-recapture methods. Apollo butterfly habitats were heterogeneous within alpine shrub communities and meadows. Recapture results showed significant differences between mean total distances moved by P. apollo (200.31 ±38.19 m; median = 125 m) and P. nomion (218.17 ±77.35 m; median = 131 m). The number of recaptures influenced mean total distance moved, with significantly longer total movements for animals recaptured more times. The single largest movement between subsequent recaptures was 484 m for P. nomion and 543 m for P. apollo, whereas the largest total distance traveled (between all recaptures) was 728 m for P. nomion and 1,024 m for P. apollo. More research is required to conserve effectively these threatened butterflies.
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