Objective.

Considering the high destruction rate of forest in the Caribbean of Colombia and the lacking of available information about population ecology of butterflies from the genus Morpho, we analyzed the variation of the population structure of Morpho helenor peleides Kollar, 1850 in a Tropical Dry Forest (TDF) landscape on “Montes de María”, in the Caribbean of Colombia.

Methodology.

For the butterfly study, we used the capture-mark-recapture method (CMR) on seven stations, in which we installed Van Someren-Rydon traps, baited with a mixture of fermented fruits.

Results.

The total abundance was 287 individuals, with 59 recaptures (20,5%). The population size we obtained was between 8 and 339 individuals. Sexual proportion male-female was 3:1. We captured a higher percentage of new butterflies (41,8%) and intermediate butterflies (38,6%). The maximum residence time we registered was 38 days. We calculated total distances of flight between 149 and 1,231; although females presented the highest average distances (303.7±189.4m), there was not statistical significance in the distances of flight between sexes (U= 265,5, p>0,05).

Conclusions.

The population structure of M. helenor peleides presented a spatio-temporal variation in the dry forest landscape we studied. Additionally, we determined that natural canopy cover plays an important role in the temporal dynamic and distribution of the abundance of this butterfly group in tropical dry forest, and it is emphasized the importance of this ecosystem in the conservation of this species.

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