Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of the Restinga de Cabedelo National Forest, Paraíba State, Brazil

Restinga forests are plant formations that occur on plains of quaternary sandy deposits along the Brazilian coast. Despite historical reduction of the Restinga forests, little effort has been made to know the butterfly fauna of these areas. This paper is an important contribution to the butterfly’s knowledge, being the second inventory in the Restinga forest of northeastern Brazil. The survey was conducted in the Restinga de Cabedelo National Forest (FLONA de Cabedelo, following the Portuguese abbreviation) and aimed to provide preliminary information on the butterflies richness in this region. A total of 89 butterfly species and 1,503 individuals were recorded at FLONA de Cabedelo. Hesperiidae was the richest family (34 species), followed by Nymphalidae (33) Pieridae (eight), Lycaenidae (seven), Riodinidae (five), and Papilionidae (two). In general, the butterfly fauna of the FLONA de Cabedelo is dominated by species widely distributed and commonly found in open or forested areas in Brazil. Five species are new records in Paraíba state: Calydna sturnula (Geyer), Theope foliorum (Bates), Cogia hassan (Butler), Vehilius inca (Scudder), and Chiothion asychis (Stoll). We suggest carrying out monthly samplings which will certainly increase the list of species herein presented.

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) in the Arboretum of Alagoas State, Brazil / Borboletas (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) no Arboretum de Alagoas, Brasil

The deforestation of areas due to the expansion of cities and urban zones have directly affected natural habitats, causing negative changes, biodiversity loss and reducing populations size of native flora and fauna. In this context, butterflies are considered excellent organisms for monitoring environmental quality as they are involved in extremely specific ecological relationships with their habitats. Thus, this research aimed to carry out a survey of the butterfly (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) fauna in the Arboretum of Alagoas State. Weekly samplings were carried out from September 2019 to March 2020. During 140 sampling hours, 415 individuals were collected, being observed the occurrence of 44 species distributed in six families. The low number of recorded taxa reflects an expected poor richness as, in general, the closer the analyzed fragment is to an urban area, the smaller the number of species. Nymphalidae was the most well represented family, being recorded seven subfamilies. Based on these results, it was possible to state that the butterfly fauna in the Arboretum of Alagoas State comprises species commonly found in anthropic environments and/or areas under high anthropogenic influence.

Endemism-based butterfly conservation: insights from a study in Southern Western Ghats, India

Background The Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot in India harbours a high percentage of endemic species due to its unique and diverse habitats. These species which cannot survive elsewhere due to their specialised habitat requirements are at high risk from climatic and anthropogenic disturbances. The butterfly fauna of the region although well documented has not been investigated intensively at local scales. In this study, we present information on species presence within 10 km × 10 km grid cells (n= 30; area=3000 km2) of 94 butterfly species in the Western Ghats region. The data on the species distribution within these grids which included three wildlife sanctuaries and four forest divisions was mapped. Indicator analysis was performed in R using multipatt function in indispecies package to determine species associated with sites/site combinations. The corrected weighted endemism indices of the study grids were estimated. Results The data collected over a 4-year period comprised of 393 records of 60 endemic species belonging to five families observed along 102 transects. Troides minos was the most widespread species occuring in 19 grids. Seventeen species indicative of sites and site combinations were obtained, of which Cirrochroa thais, Papilio paris tamilana, Papilio helenus daksha, Parthenos sylvia virens and Mycalesis patnia were significant. The highest corrected weighted endemism index was observed in grid 25 (14.44) followed by grids 24 (12.06) and 19 (11.86). Areas harbouring unique and range restricted species were Parambikulam WLS/TR: Kuthirakolpathy, Pupara, Kalyanathi, Top slip and Muthalakuzhy; Peechi-Vazhani WLS: Ayyapankadu; Thrissur FD: Chakkapara and Vellakarithadam; Nenmara FD: Karikutty, Pothumala and Nelliampathy estate; Vazhachal FD: Poringalkuthu dam, Meenchal and Vazhachal. Conclusions The study area which covers 2.14% of the Western Ghats hotspot harbours almost 63.82% of the region’s endemic butterfly species making this particular region crucial for butterfly conservation and management. Studying the phylogenetic endemism of the butterflies, identification of microrefugia and testing the mountain geobiodiversity hypothesis with respect to butterflies are the suggested approaches to be adopted for fine-tuning research and conservation of butterflies in this fragile hotspot.

Diversity of Hesperiidae, Pieridae and Papilionidae Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea) in the mountain massif Shkoza in Kosovo

In this paper we present the results of a survey of three butterfly families: Hesperiidae, Pieridae and Papilionidae, in the Mountain massif Shkoza in central Kosovo, conducted from May to October 2016. Among 29 recorded butterfly species in this survey, 14 (48%) species belong to Pieridae, 10 (24%) to Hesperiidae and 4 (13.7%) to Papilionidae. Recorded species belong to five faunal elements according to Kudrna, Pennestorfer & Lux (2015) (KPS): 14 are Euro-Siberian (ES), 10 are Euro-Oriental (EO), two species are Mediterranean (EM), two are Holarctic (Hol) and one Boreo-Montane. Regarding the IUCN Red list status (van Swaay et al., 2010), three species Carcharodus floccifera (Zeller, 1847), Thymelicus acteon (Rottemburg, 1775) and Parnassius mnemosyne (Linnaeus, 1758) are Near Threatened (NT), while the other 27 are of Least Concern (LC). From our results we can conclude that the massif Shkoza has a well developed butterfly fauna, however further research is needed to have a complete picture of its diversity.

Status, abundance, and seasonality of butterfly fauna at Kuvempu University Campus, Karnataka, India

A survey was conducted to record the diversity, status, and occurrence of butterfly species in the Kuvempu University Campus, Jnana Sahyadri, Shivamogga District, Karnataka during February 2010 to January 2011. A total of 115 species of butterflies in 77 genera, belonging to five families were recorded. Nymphalidae comprised the highest number of species, followed by Lycaenidae, Pieridae, Papilionidae, and Hesperiidae. The study area hosts 14 species of butterflies protected under various schedules of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Nine species recorded are endemic to the Western Ghats of peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Hence there is an urgent need to protect this habitat by adapting long-term monitoring programs to manage and conserve the butterfly diversity.

First record of Lestranicus transpectus (Moore, 1879) and Graphium macareus (Godart, 1819) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) in Bangladesh

Lestranicus transpectus and Graphium macareus are new observations of butterfly fauna to Bangladesh for the first time from Baro Chara (22.50° N, 92.18° E, 9 m), Rangamati district of Chittagong division. These two new findings signify previous sampling gaps and suggest further surveys needed to make an updated and exhaustive checklist for Bangladesh.

Actinor radians (Moore, 1878) (Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae: Aeromachini): addition to the butterfly fauna of Haryana, India

We report a rare skipper butterfly from Kalesar National Park, Haryana, which is the first record for the state and the lowermost elevation record for the species.

Fifty-one new additions to the butterfly (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) fauna of Tripura, North-east India

The state of Tripura of North-east India is a part of the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot and rich in unique biological flora and fauna. The present study is based on extensive surveys done by the author for a period of 5 years in different parts of North Tripura, North-east India. Here, I present a total of 21 genera and 51 species that are new additions to the butterfly fauna of Tripura. These new records include 18 species of Hesperiidae, 12 species of Lycaenidae, 17 species of Nymphalidae and 4 species of Pieridae. These records represent a 20.90% increase in the number of butterflies known from Tripura and update the existing checklist of butterfly fauna of the state.

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) in and around the Unakoti Archaeological Site with 59 new additions to the Butterfly Fauna of Tripura, North-eastern India

The authors have surveyed different habitats in and around the Unakoti Archaeological Site and documented a total of 216 species classified under 6 families, 23 subfamilies and 126 genera of the order Lepidoptera. The study was conducted from 2016 to 2020, covering different seasons namely pre-monsoon (Jan-Apr), monsoon (May-Aug) and post-monsoon (Sep-Dec) respectively. The study reports 2 species under schedule I, 25 species under schedule II, and 5 species under schedule IV of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. This study also documented seasonal diversity and habitat-wise occurrence of butterflies in and around the Unakoti Archaeological Site. During the study, 59 butterfly species were recorded as new additions to the butterfly fauna of Tripura. High-quality photographs of all the butterfly species documented during the study have been included in this paper.