"E. aurinia" females are batch-layers, meaning they lay a large number of eggs at one site. Because 200-300 eggs are at stake every time an egg-laying site is chosen, batch-laying females tend to undergo a discrimination phase in searching for a location to lay eggs on. Each plant can serve as an egg-laying site for four to five clusters of eggs, meaning that more than a thousand larvae may hatch on a single plant. If so, the newly-hatched larvae will face serious food shortage and fierce competition for food, which has huge repercussions for offspring survivorship. Therefore, "Euphydryas" and other batch-laying females, such as "Melitaeini" females, spend more time choosing a place to lay eggs and are more selective when looking for a host plant.