ADULT SURVIVAL OF PARNASSIUS SMINTHEUS DOUBLEDAY (PAPILIONIDAE) IS UNRELATED TO METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS OVER THE LAST DECADE.

Climate change is affecting insects across the globe. Here, we examined how meteorological conditions during the adult flight season of the alpine butterfly, Parnassius smintheus affected estimates of survival using mark-release-recapture methods. We compiled meteorological and survival data from two large, contiguous populations for 10 years between 2011 and 2022. Over this period, we found an increase in mean photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and mean temperature during the markrecapture interval. Despite these patterns there was no relationship between PAR, rainfall, relative humidity, and mean, minimum or maximum temperature, and apparent survival. We also found no interactions between rainfall and maximum or mean temperature on survival. Similarly, we found that the loss rate (due to either mortality or emigration) among all 17 subpopulations along Jumpingpound Ridge, Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada was unrelated to any meteorological condition. Our results indicate that adult P. smintheus are resilient to meteorological conditions experienced during their flight season over the last decade. Survival estimates are similar to those estimated for many other Parnassius species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]