Kandidateksamen: Majken Grundsø Hansen

An investigation of the suitability of sites for reintroduction of Large blue butterflies in Denmark

Supervisor: David R. Nash, Section for Ecology & Evolution

Censor: Thomas D. Als, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University

The study focuses on the large blue butterflies (Maculinea) in Denmark and their habitatrequirements. It also includes the historical distribution of ants in Denmarkand more detailed investigation into the distribution of the Myrmicaants that are hosts of the large blue butterflies. The study was divided into two parts; during the first winterI georeferenced the Danish ant collections from thenatural history museums in Copenhagen and Aarhus, to provide a first distribution map of Danish ants. In the second part I investigated the overlap of host plants and host ants on current and former Maculinea sites cross Denmark and in Sweden during the wet summer of 2017.