Differences in the Aerobic Capacity of Flight Muscles between Butterfly Populations and Species with Dissimilar Flight Abilities

Habitat loss and climate change are rapidly converting natural habitats and thereby increasing the significance of dispersal capacity for vulnerable species. Flight is necessary for dispersal in many insects, and differences in dispersal capacity may reflect dissimilarities in flight muscle aerobic capacity. In a large metapopulation of the Glanville fritillary butterfly in the Åland Islands in Finland, adults disperse frequently between small local populations. Individuals found in newly established populations have higher flight metabolic rates and field-measured dispersal distances than butterflies in old populations. To assess possible differences in flight muscle aerobic capacity among Glanville fritillary populations, enzyme activities and tissue concentrations of the mitochondrial protein Cytochrome-c Oxidase (CytOx) were measured and compared with four other species of Nymphalid butterflies. Flight muscle structure and mitochondrial density were also examined in the Glanville fritillary and a long-distance migrant, the red admiral. Glanville fritillaries from new populations had significantly higher aerobic capacities than individuals from old populations. Comparing the different species, strong-flying butterfly species had higher flight muscle CytOx content and enzymatic activity than short-distance fliers, and mitochondria were larger and more numerous in the flight muscle of the red admiral than the Glanville fritillary. These results suggest that superior dispersal capacity of butterflies in new populations of the Glanville fritillary is due in part to greater aerobic capacity, though this species has a low aerobic capacity in general when compared with known strong fliers. Low aerobic capacity may limit dispersal ability of the Glanville fritillary.     

Landscape genetics of an endangered lemur (Propithecus tattersalli) within its entire fragmented range

Habitat fragmentation may strongly reduce individuals’ dispersal among resource patches and hence influence population distribution and persistence. We studied the impact of landscape heterogeneity on the dispersal of the golden‐crowned sifaka (Propithecus tattersalli), an endangered social lemur species living in a restricted and highly fragmented landscape. We combined spatial analysis and population genetics methods to describe population units and identify the environmental factors which best predict the rates and patterns of genetic differentiation within and between populations. We used non‐invasive methods to genotype 230 individuals at 13 microsatellites in all the main forest fragments of its entire distribution area. Our analyses suggest that the Manankolana River and geographical distance are the primary structuring factors, while a national road crossing the region does not seem to impede gene flow. Altogether, our results are in agreement with a limited influence of forest habitat connectivity on gene flow patterns (except for North of the species’ range), suggesting that dispersal is still possible today among most forest patches for this species. Within forest patches, we find that dispersal is mainly among neighbouring social groups, hence confirming previous behavioural observations.     

Barriers to dispersal of rain forest butterflies in tropical agricultural landscapes

Fragmentation of natural habitats can be detrimental for species if individuals fail to cross habitat boundaries to reach new locations, thereby reducing functional connectivity. Connectivity is crucial for species shifting their ranges under climate change, making it important to understand factors that might prevent movement through human‐modified landscapes. In tropical regions, rain forests are being fragmented by agricultural expansion, potentially isolating populations of highly diverse forest‐dependent species. The likelihood of crossing habitat boundaries is an important determinant of species dispersal through fragmented landscapes, and so we examined movement across rain forest‐oil palm plantation boundaries on Borneo by using relatively mobile nymphalid butterflies as our model study taxon. We marked 1666 individuals from 65 species, and 19 percent (100/527) of recaptured individuals crossed the boundary. Boundary crossing was relatively frequent in some species, and net movement of individuals was from forest into plantation. However, boundary crossing from forest into plantation was detected in less than 50 percent (12/28) of recaptured species and was dominated by small‐sized butterfly species whose larval host plants occurred within plantations. Thus, while oil palm plantations may be relatively permeable to some species, they may act as barriers to the movement of forest‐dependent species (i.e., species that require rain forest habitat to breed), highlighting the importance of maintaining forest connectivity for conserving rain forest species.     

On the ecology of the poplar admiral (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Limenitis populi</Emphasis>, Lepidoptera,Nymphalidae) in Eastern Fennoscandia

The ecology of the poplar admiral was studied in the periphery of its range for over 19 years (1990–2008), including seasonal phenomena, spatial distribution, and dynamics of abundance and dispersal of the species. The spatial organization of population of the species was studied in one of the local areas. The flying period of butterflies in Eastern Fennoscandia is divided into three phases: the observed flight of males, latent activity, and observed flight of females. The males emerge more than 10 days earlier than the females. The difference is likely to be one of the reasons for strong reduction in the butterfly abundance. The asynchrony of dynamics in different areas was explained by the influence of local factors. In the years of high abundance, the proportion of occupied areas increased. Analysis of the dispersal and abundance curves showed a trend for colonization of vacant areas. Within the occupied area, the butterflies are irregularly distributed. The presence of areas with constantly moist soils and aspen trees in the forest stands are the main factors responsible for butterfly aggregations. Observations of the marked individuals showed that the maximum distance covered by a butterfly was 4.8 km. The butterfly moved freely across all the study area, and no single accumulation of butterflies isolated from the others was recorded. All the movements are shown to be local. The distance of these movements, according to the exponential model, reached 6–7 km; the grouping itself is classified as a subpopulation, i.e., a structural unit of a large spatially differentiated population. The high mobility of the poplar admiral ensures migration of individuals between the populations and colonization of vacant habitats.     

What is a patch in a dynamic metapopulation? Mobility of an endangered woodland butterfly,Euphydryas maturna

In metapopulations of butterflies inhabiting transient forest openings, the dynamic character of biotopes prevents unequivocal delimitation of habitat patches, complicating analyses of inter-patch dispersal. We analyse mobility of one such metapopulation, using mark-recapture data on an endangered butterfly, the scarce fritillary Euphydryas maturna , at its last site in the Czech Republic. The butterfly inhabits woodland clearings, its population numbered 190 individuals in 2002. We modelled movements in eight habitat patchworks delimited according to different criteria and superimposed over the forest, using the Virtual Migration model. Resulting mobility parameters were generally robust against patchwork definitions, the main distinction was between patchworks based on presence of adults and consisting of small patches and patchworks based on distributions of larval nests and consisting of large patches. Emigration constant decreased towards the latter, whereas males suffered higher migration mortality than females in the former. Patchworks delimited according to presence of adults performed better than patchworks based on distribution of larval nests. A comparison of our parameters with those found for the species in Finland showed that the Czech butterflies were more prone to leave individual patches and suffered higher migration mortality, which combined into considerably shorter survival. We conclude that transferring dispersal parameters among different regions and populations is more risky than using less suitable definitions of habitat patches within single region.     

Sex-biased dispersal in a rare butterfly and the implications for its conservation

The survival of many species may be dependent on their ability to exist in human-altered landscapes within metapopulations; in turn, metapopulation persistence is dictated by the ability of individuals to move effectively among patches to promote recolonization. The Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha taylori) is a species that does not naturally occur in fragmented landscapes, yet it is now restricted to a handful of small isolated prairie habitats. Current recovery plans aim to establish a stable metapopulation; however, to date little is known about the species’ ability to move across the landscape. In 2010 and 2011, we conducted marking, tracking and boundary surveys to explore the movement dynamics of adults within two sites in Oregon, USA. Over the survey period, we marked 136 male butterflies, tracked 174 individuals and observed the behavior of 1,576 individual butterflies at site boundaries. Our study revealed a significant sex-bias in the movement dynamics of the Taylor’s checkerspot in both suitable habitat and surrounding matrix. Males were highly motile, whereas females appeared sedentary, rarely moving from their natal site. The limited dispersal behavior of females indicates that populations cannot persist naturally in a metapopulation and thus are at high risk of extinction. Based on our findings, we recommend that managers take proactive measures to increase or enable dispersal (including translocation) to existing and/or restored sites.     

Species-specific traits predict genetic structure but not genetic diversity of three fragmented Afrotropical forest butterfly species

The Upper Guinean forests of Ghana, West Africa, are considered among the most threatened and fragmented in the world. Little is known about the genetic consequences of fragmentation on Ghana’s forest-associated species, but this genetic signature is generally expected to differ across species. We compared patterns of mtDNA cytochrome oxidase I (COI) variation of three Nymphalid forest butterfly species that differ with respect to their relative dispersibilities (Aterica galene: high habitat fidelity, low dispersal ability; Euphaedra medon: high habitat fidelity, strong dispersal ability; Gnophodes betsimena: relaxed habitat fidelity, low dispersal ability). Individuals were collected from two large forest reserves and five small sacred forest groves. Patterns of differentiation across species were broadly coincident with our predicted hierarchy of relative species dispersibility and suggested that genetic connectivity is most compromised by strict fidelity to forest habitat rather than by raw capacity for sustained flight. Connectivity was uncorrelated with geographic distance, but instead seemed best explained by urbanization and the sequential pattern of forest loss. Genetic diversity was dramatically different among species and not easily explained by either species-specific traits or effects of fragmentation. Aterica galene, the species most impacted by fragmentation, exhibited very high diversity, whereas G. betsimena, a broadly distributed, very common species, with relaxed habitat fidelity, was genetically depauperate. There was limited evidence of genetic erosion from the sacred groves despite these small forest patches accounting for less than 1–10 % of the total area of the forest reserves, which indicates these forest relics have high conservation value.     

Urban forest fragments as unexpected sanctuaries for the rare endemic ghost butterfly from the Atlantic forest

Anthropogenic land expansion, particularly urbanization, is pervasive, dramatically modifies the environment and is a major threat to wildlife with its associated environmental stressors. Urban remnant vegetation can help mitigate these impacts and could be vital for species unable to survive in harsh urban environments. Although resembling nonurban habitats, urban vegetation remnants are subject to additional environmental stresses. Here, we evaluate the occurrence and density of the endemic ghost butterfly (Morpho epistrophus nikolajewna) that was once common, in the highly fragmented Atlantic forest of NE Brazil. We tested whether this butterfly would be found at lower densities in urban forest fragments of contrasting sizes as opposed to rural ones, given the number of environmental stressors found in urban areas. We surveyed 14 forest fragments (range 2.8 to over 3,000 ha) of semideciduous Atlantic forest in rural and urban locations using transect based distance sampling. The ghost butterflies showed strong seasonality; flying only from April to June. They were only identified in an urban fragment (515 ha), with an estimate of 720 individuals and a density 1.4 ind/ha. All forest fragments had experienced some level of logging in the past, which might have had an effect in the butterfly population. Nevertheless, rural forest fragments were subject to increased particulate matter concentrations, associated to biomass burning that we suggest might have had a more influential role driving the collapse of rural populations. Our findings show the importance of urban forest remnants to sustain population of this endangered species.     

Repertoire Sharing and Song Similarity between Great Tit Males Decline with Distance between Forest Fragments

Birdsong can play a critical role in establishing a territory and finding a mate among individuals from local and foreign populations. Variation in birdsong among populations can be influenced by habitat fragmentation and might affect successful dispersal among habitat fragments. We studied variation in great tit song in a long‐term study population distributed over nine forest fragments. All individual males recorded had a known dispersal history within the fragmented forest habitat. We found spatial structure of declining song‐type sharing with distance, with a marked drop from an individual’s own forest fragment to another across a habitat gap. We also found decreasing song similarity among increasingly distant fragments in terms of temporal and spectral characteristics of shared song types. The change in acoustic structure was more gradual and seemed less affected by habitat discontinuity but also showed a tight correlation with dispersal index among forest fragments. Immigrant birds shared fewer song types with neighbouring birds that were born within the same forest fragment, but not less compared to birds born in another forest fragment within the study area. Our data provide detailed insight into the relationship between song differentiation and male dispersal and contribute to our understanding of the potential role of song in reproductive exchange and avian speciation. The fact that birds in small forest fragments shared more songs than birds in larger forest fragments confirms that song analysis has potential as a tool for conservation in rare species.     

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Signature of Adaptation to Landscape Fragmentation

We characterize allelic and gene expression variation between populations of the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia) from two fragmented and two continuous landscapes in northern Europe. The populations exhibit significant differences in their life history traits, e.g. butterflies from fragmented landscapes have higher flight metabolic rate and dispersal rate in the field, and higher larval growth rate, than butterflies from continuous landscapes. In fragmented landscapes, local populations are small and have a high risk of local extinction, and hence the long-term persistence at the landscape level is based on frequent re-colonization of vacant habitat patches, which is predicted to select for increased dispersal rate. Using RNA-seq data and a common garden experiment, we found that a large number of genes (1,841) were differentially expressed between the landscape types. Hexamerin genes, the expression of which has previously been shown to have high heritability and which correlate strongly with larval development time in the Glanville fritillary, had higher expression in fragmented than continuous landscapes. Genes that were more highly expressed in butterflies from newly-established than old local populations within a fragmented landscape were also more highly expressed, at the landscape level, in fragmented than continuous landscapes. This result suggests that recurrent extinctions and re-colonizations in fragmented landscapes select a for specific expression profile. Genes that were significantly up-regulated following an experimental flight treatment had higher basal expression in fragmented landscapes, indicating that these butterflies are genetically primed for frequent flight. Active flight causes oxidative stress, but butterflies from fragmented landscapes were more tolerant of hypoxia. We conclude that differences in gene expression between the landscape types reflect genomic adaptations to landscape fragmentation.     

The Chalk-hill Blue Polyommatus coridon (Lycaenidae, Lepidoptera) in a highly fragmented landscape: How sedentary is a sedentary butterfly?

The habitats of many species are fragmented. Therefore, the survival in a metapopulation depends on the stability of the single populations and the amount of movements between patches. We chose the calcareous grassland specialist butterfly species Polyommatus coridon as a model. As study area, we selected a mosaic-like landscape in Rhineland-Palatinate (western Germany) with several well preserved calcareous grassland fragments. We marked a total of 2,211 individuals during July and August 2003. The overall recapture ratio was 7.1%. The estimated mean butterfly densities over the whole flight season ranged from 52 to 487 individuals per hectare. The within-patch movements were relatively low (13.3%) compared with the between-patch movements (3.2%). Therefore, the metapopulation structure appears to be intact in our study area.     

Habitat complementarity and butterfly traits are essential considerations when mitigating the effects of exotic plantation forestry

Habitat loss threatens insect diversity globally. However, complementary vegetation types in remaining habitat increases opportunities for species survival. We assess the extent to which indigenous forest patches moderate the impact of exotic commercial afforestation on grassland butterflies. Butterflies were sampled in grassland along uncorrelated gradients of landscape-scale indigenous forest and plantation cover, while controlling for variation in local vegetation composition. We separately assessed responses by butterfly groups differing in habitat preference, larval diet, and mobility. There was no effect of landscape- or local-scale variables on species richness, but there was a strong interactive effect of forest and plantation cover on butterfly assemblage structure. The effect varied according to species traits. When forest cover was high, assemblages did not differ at different levels of plantation cover. However, plantation cover significantly influenced assemblage structure when forest cover was low. Grassland with limited forest cover in the protected area supported unique assemblages with high frequency of less mobile, specialized species with herbaceous larval host plants, whereas grassland with low forest cover near plantations had a prevalence of mobile, generalist species. A positive association between forest cover and butterflies with woody larval host plants suggests that indigenous forest patches improved the suitability of fragmented grassland for a subset of butterflies, emphasising the value of natural heterogeneity in transformed areas. However, certain butterfly traits associated with large, open grassland were under-represented in grassland between plantations, underscoring the importance of open areas in the broader landscape to conserve the full diversity of species.

     

西双版纳热带植物园蝴蝶的多样性及变化

中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园（简称“版纳植物园”）保存着上万种植物,且生境多样,具有较高的蝴蝶多样性。本研究选择三类代表性生境：片段化雨林、次生林和专类园,聚焦于环境指示物种蝴蝶这一类群,通过样线法系统调查一年内蝴蝶多样性及其变化。观测结果显示：蝴蝶在版纳植物园内全年发生,共调查到其成虫5科126属218种6 015头,其中蛱蝶科多样性最高。蝴蝶种类及数量随月动态变化,生境间有差异,7-8月种类和数量达到最高峰;1月种类最少,而5-6月数量最低;每月均出现的种类仅有12种,绝大部分种类分散发生于不同月份。影响蝴蝶群落多样性的气候因子中,月最高温显著影响蝴蝶群落的物种丰富度和数量,月最低温显著影响物种丰富度、香农多样性和辛普森多样性,月平均温仅显著影响香农多样性。在版纳的三个典型季节中蝴蝶多样性存在差异,雨季物种丰富度最高,干热季香农和辛普森指数最高;雨季和雾凉季蝴蝶群落组成差异大,仅雾凉季与干热季的蝴蝶群落呈现中等程度相似。此外,在片段化雨林、次生林和专类园这3种不同生境中,蝴蝶群落组成也存在差异,蝴蝶物种丰富度和香农指数在次生林中最高,而辛普森指数则是片段化雨林最高;仅次生林与片段化雨林的蝴蝶群落呈现出中等程度相似。本研究揭示了版纳植物园蝴蝶群落的种类组成与月动态变化规律,并明确了不同季节和生境中蝴蝶群落的多样性变化,可为区域蝴蝶多样性观测及保护提供参考依据。     

High and dry or sunk and dunked: lessons for tallgrass prairies from quaking bogs

Northern Wisconsin bogs provide a natural experiment on butterfly population occurrence in a naturally highly fragmented vegetation type, which may provide insight on conserving butterflies in anthropogenically fragmented and degraded landscapes. We surveyed butterflies in bogs (about as unaffected by humans as possible, but naturally occurring over <1% of northern Wisconsin) primarily during 2002?C2009, with additional observations from 1986 to 2001. Different bog types had different bog-specialist butterfly faunas, but bog butterfly abundance also differed in similar vegetations among subregions. Some small isolated bogs held very high densities of specialist butterflies. Summer but not spring specialists frequented adjacent lowland roadsides and utilized a variety of non-native as well as native nectar sources. Paleo-entomology indicates that insects don??t evolve out of trouble; instead they move out of trouble. Given the low dispersal apparent today for species restricted to bogs, ??move?? might be better understood as ??hunkering?? within their vegetation as it expands and shrinks and moves around the landscape. Although bogs appeared to have more intact specialist butterfly faunas than tallgrass prairies (99.9% destroyed by human activities), bog butterflies do not live in average sites even in a relatively natural landscape. Just as bog butterflies are ??sunk and dunked?? in isolation, specialist butterflies elsewhere may have been left ??high and dry?? naturally, or are now due to human activities. Numerous studies have demonstrated that presence and abundance of specialist butterflies increase with increasing size and connectedness of habitat patches. But with long-term consistent vegetation, populations with high abundances in small isolated sites and with low numbers thinly occurring in large sites can be secure, as shown by bog butterflies.     

Long distance dispersal and landscape occupancy in a metapopulation of the cranberry fritillary butterfly

Movements between habitat patches in a patchy population of the butterfly Boloria aquilonaris were monitored using capture-mark-recapture methods during three successive generations. For each data set, the inverse cumulative proportion of individuals moving 100 m distance classes was fitted to the negative exponential function and the inverse power function. In each case, the negative exponential function provided a better fit than the inverse power function. Two dispersal kernels were generated using both negative exponential and inverse power functions. These dispersal kernels were used to predict movements between 14 suitable sites in a landscape of 220 km². The negative exponential function generated a dispersal kernel predicting extremely low probabilities for movements exceeding 1 km. The inverse power function generated probabilities predicting that between site movements were possible, according to metapopulation size. CMR studies in the landscape revealed that long distance movements occurred at each generation, corresponding to predictions of the inverse power function dispersal kernel. A total of 26 movements between sites (up to 13 km) were detected, together with recolonisation of empty sites. The spatial scale of the metapopulation dynamics is larger than ever reported on butterflies and long distance movements clearly matter to the persistence of this species in a highly fragmented landscape.     

The Contribution of Tropical Secondary Forest Fragments to the Conservation of Fruit-feeding Butterflies: Effects of Isolation and Age

Concomitant with the rapid loss of tropical mature forests, the relative abundance of secondary forests is increasing steadily and the latter are therefore of growing interest for conservation. We analysed species richness of fruit-feeding nymphalid butterflies in secondary forest fragments of different age and isolation and in mature forest at the eastern margin of the Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. From April to August 2001 we collected 2322 individuals of fruit-feeding butterflies, belonging to 33 species. Butterfly species richness increased with succession, but was significantly higher in mature forests than in all types of secondary forest. Isolation of the forest fragments did not have a significant effect on butterfly species richness in the range of distances (up to 1700 m) studied. Rather it appeared to affect only a few species. Species richness of endemic species was higher than of non-endemic species. Although endemic species were most diverse in mature forests, many species captured were restricted to secondary forests. Our results show that mature forest is essential for the conservation of nymphalid butterflies and for the endemic species in this area. However, considering the relatively large number of species found in these rather small habitat islands, secondary forest fragments, especially older successional stages, can be taken into account in conservation efforts and thus contribute to the preservation of tropical biodiversity on a landscape scale.     

Functional composition and phenology of fruit-feeding butterflies in a fragmented landscape: variation of seasonality between habitat specialists

For butterflies, tolerance to the matrix may be an important criterion of habitat occurrence in fragmented landscapes. Here we examine the relative effects of habitat fragmentation and the surrounding agricultural matrix on the functional composition of fruit-feeding butterflies of the Atlantic rain forest in southeastern Brazil. Generalized linear models were used to detect the effects of landscape metrics on butterfly richness and abundance of the total assemblage and functional groups. Circular statistics were used to analyze the patterns of monthly abundance of the total assemblage and functional groups in the forest remnants and the surrounding matrices. In total, 650 butterflies representing 57 species were captured; species composition differed significantly between the forest fragments and the surrounding matrices. We recorded 22 forest specialists, 18 matrix specialists, 11 common species with matrix preference and six common species with forest preference. Forest connectivity favored the richness of forest specialists, while habitat fragmentation enhances the richness and abundance of matrix-tolerant species. Circular analysis revealed that forest specialists were more abundant in the rainy season while matrix-tolerant species proliferated in the dry season. Although maintaining connectivity of forest fragments may increase the mobility and dispersion of forest species, our results showed that landscape fragmentation modify butterfly assemblage by promoting an increase of matrix tolerant species with detriment of forest specialists.     

Coupling inter-patch movement models and landscape graph to assess functional connectivity

Landscape connectivity is a key process for the functioning and persistence of spatially-structured populations in fragmented landscapes. Butterflies are particularly sensitive to landscape change and are excellent model organisms to study landscape connectivity. Here, we infer functional connectivity from the assessment of the selection of different landscape elements in a highly fragmented landscape in the Île-de-France region (France). Firstly we measured the butterfly preferences of the Large White butterfly (Pieris brassicae) in different landscape elements using individual release experiments. Secondly, we used an inter-patch movement model based on butterfly choices to build the selection map of the landscape elements to moving butterflies. From this map, functional connectivity network of P. brassicae was modelled using landscape graph-based approach. In our study area, we identified nine components/groups of connected habitat patches, eight of them located in urbanized areas, whereas the last one covered the more rural areas. Eventually, we provided elements to validate the predictions of our model with independent experiments of mass release-recapture of butterflies. Our study shows (1) the efficiency of our inter-patch movement model based on species preferences in predicting complex ecological processes such as dispersal and (2) how inter-patch movement model results coupled to landscape graph can assess landscape functional connectivity at large spatial scales.     

Landscape configuration determines gene flow and phenotype in a flightless forest-edge ground-dwelling bush-cricket, Pholidoptera griseoaptera

Spatial configuration of habitats influences genetic structure and population fitness whereas it affects mainly species with limited dispersal ability. To reveal how habitat fragmentation determines dispersal and dispersal-related morphology in a ground-dispersing insect species we used a bush-cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera) which is associated with forest-edge habitat. We analysed spatial genetic patterns together with variability of the phenotype in two forested landscapes with different levels of fragmentation. While spatial configuration of forest habitats did not negatively affect genetic characteristics related to the fitness of sampled populations, genetic differentiation was found higher among populations from an extensive forest. Compared to an agricultural matrix between forest patches, the matrix of extensive forest had lower permeability and posed barriers for the dispersal of this species. Landscape configuration significantly affected also morphological traits that are supposed to account for species dispersal potential; individuals from fragmented forest patches had longer hind femurs and a higher femur to pronotum ratio. This result suggests that selection pressure act differently on populations from both landscape types since dispersal-related morphology was related to the level of habitat fragmentation. Thus observed patterns may be explained as plastic according to the level of landscape configuration; while anthropogenic fragmentation of habitats for this species can lead to homogenization of spatial genetic structure.     

Higher mobility of butterflies than moths connected to habitat suitability and body size in a release experiment

Mobility is a key factor determining lepidopteran species responses to environmental change. However, direct multispecies comparisons of mobility are rare and empirical comparisons between butterflies and moths have not been previously conducted. Here, we compared mobility between butterflies and diurnal moths and studied species traits affecting butterfly mobility. We experimentally marked and released 2011 butterfly and 2367 moth individuals belonging to 32 and 28 species, respectively, in a 25 m × 25 m release area within an 11‐ha, 8‐year‐old set‐aside field. Distance moved and emigration rate from the release habitat were recorded by species. The release experiment produced directly comparable mobility data in 18 butterfly and 9 moth species with almost 500 individuals recaptured. Butterflies were found more mobile than geometroid moths in terms of both distance moved (mean 315 m vs. 63 m, respectively) and emigration rate (mean 54% vs. 17%, respectively). Release habitat suitability had a strong effect on emigration rate and distance moved, because butterflies tended to leave the set‐aside, if it was not suitable for breeding. In addition, emigration rate and distance moved increased significantly with increasing body size. When phylogenetic relatedness among species was included in the analyses, the significant effect of body size disappeared, but habitat suitability remained significant for distance moved. The higher mobility of butterflies than geometroid moths can largely be explained by morphological differences, as butterflies are more robust fliers. The important role of release habitat suitability in butterfly mobility was expected, but seems not to have been empirically documented before. The observed positive correlation between butterfly size and mobility is in agreement with our previous findings on butterfly colonization speed in a long‐term set‐aside experiment and recent meta‐analyses on butterfly mobility.