Baughman, J. F., Murphy, D.D., and Ehrlich, P.R. (1988) Emergence patterns in male checkerspot butterflies: testing theory in the field. Theoretical Population Biology 33: 102-112.
Recent theoretical models predicting the emergence patterns of male butterflies are tested with extensive field data. Previous models suggest that at evolutionary equilibrium the curve of male emergence will be truncated; no males will emerge after a certain date during the flight season. No truncation of male emergence was found for Euphydryas editha in 10 years of detailed mark-recapture data in a homogeneous habitat. In general, a poor fit between theoretical and observed emergence patterns was found, suggesting that the models do not provide useful insights to the natural situation. Possible reasons for this failure are discussed.
