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Thermal physiological ecology of Colias butterflies in flight

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Summary

As a comparison to the many studies of larger flying insects, we carried out an initial study of heat balance and thermal dependence of flight of a small butterfly (Colias) in a wind tunnel and in the wild.

Unlike many larger, or facultatively endothermic insects, Colias do not regulate heat loss by altering hemolymph circulation between thorax and abdomen as a function of body temperature. During flight, thermal excess of the abdomen above ambient temperature is weakly but consistently coupled to that of the thorax. Total heat loss is best expressed as the sum of heat loss from the head and thorex combined plus heat loss from the abdomen because the whole body is not isothermal. Convective cooling is a simple linear function of the square root of air speed from 0.2 to 2.0 m/s in the wind tunnel. Solar heat flux is the main source of heat gain in flight, just as it is the exclusive source for warmup at rest. The balance of heat gain from sunlight versus heat loss from convection and radiation does not appear to change by more than a few percent between the wings-closed basking posture and the variable opening of wings in flight, although several aspects require further study. Heat generation by action of the flight muscles is small (on the order of 100 m W/g tissue) compared to values reported for other strongly flying insects.

Colias appears to have only very limited capacity to modulate flight performance. Wing beat frequency varies from 12–19 Hz depending on body mass, air speed, and thoracic temperature. At suboptimal flight temperatures, wing beat frequency increases significantly with thoracic temperature and body mass but is independent of air speed. Within the reported thermal optimum of 35–39°C, wing beat frequency is negatively dependent on air speed at values above 1.5 m/s, but independent of mass and body temperature. Flight preference of butterflies in the wind tunnel is for air speeds of 0.5–1.5 m/s, and no flight occurs at or above 2.5 m/s. Voluntary flight initiation in the wild occurs only at air speeds ≦1.4 m/s.

In the field, Colias fly just above the vegetation at body temperatures of 1–2°C greater than when basking at the top of the vegetation. These measurements are consistent with our findings on low heat gain from muscular activity during flight. Basking temperatures of butterflies sheltered from the wind within the vegetation were 1–2°C greater than flight temperatures at vegetation height.

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Author notes

  1. Joyce S. Tsuji

    Present address: Dept. of Zoology NJ-15, University of Washington, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA

  2. Joel G. Kingsolver

    Present address: Division of Biology & Medicine, Brown University, Box G, 02912, Providence, RI, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, CA, USA

    Joyce S. Tsuji, Joel G. Kingsolver & Ward B. Watt

  2. Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, P.O. Box 519, 81224, Crested Butte, CO, USA

    Joyce S. Tsuji, Joel G. Kingsolver & Ward B. Watt

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  1. Joyce S. Tsuji
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  2. Joel G. Kingsolver
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Tsuji, J.S., Kingsolver, J.G. & Watt, W.B. Thermal physiological ecology of Colias butterflies in flight. Oecologia 69, 161–170 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00377616

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00377616

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