Thermoregulatory ability and mechanism do not differ consistently between neotropical and temperate butterflies.

ABSTRACT: Climate change is a major threat to species worldwide, yet it remains uncertain whether tropical or temperate species are more vulnerable to changing temperatures. To further our understanding of this, we used a standardised field protocol to (1) study the buffering ability (ability to regulate body temperature relative to surrounding air temperature) of neotropical (Panama) and temperate (the United Kingdom, Czech Republic and Austria) butterflies at the assemblage and family level, (2) determine if any differences in buffering ability were driven by morphological characteristics and (3) used ecologically relevant temperature measurements to investigate how butterflies use microclimates and behaviour to thermoregulate. We hypothesised that temperate butterflies would be better at bufferin

SUBMITTER: Laird-Hopkins BC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10946725 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature