author(s)
Gyanpriya Maharaj and Huichang Yang

abstract
Butterflies, a well-studied, easily tractable taxon, provide some of the most robust evidence for the ecological effects of recent climate change. In this study, we provide baseline data on how temporal ambient temperature at an equatorial site is related to butterfly behaviour. We observed the behaviours of, measured thoracic temperature and counted free-flying Anartia jatrophae butterflies. Further, we measured abiotic variables during four three-hour diurnal time blocks within their environments. Wild butterflies were also caught and observed in flight cages from June to July 2012 and 2013 at the CEIBA Biological Center, Guyana. We observed the highest species abundance during Time Block II (0900-1159 hrs). We also noted that time blocks significantly influenced all A. jatrophae observed activities except for fanning. The primary activities observed in each time block in addition to flight were as follows: TB I - Dorsal Basking, TB II – Territorial Defense, TB III - Diurnal Roosting and TB IV -Territorial Defense. Overall, we found that the thoracic temperatures of butterflies and ambient air temperatures were statistically similar. Furthermore, we detected statistically significant variations of these temperatures during activities, with significant correlations between thoracic and air temperatures for Diurnal Roosting, Fanning, Flight, and Nocturnal Roosting. Although this study does not show long-term behavioural patterns based on seasonality, it provides baseline line information on the relationship between ambient temperature and butterfly physiology and behaviour that can be expanded on as we design butterfly monitoring programmes to track how species respond behaviourally to climate change.