Frugivorous butterflies from the Atlantic Forest in Southern Brazil (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

Abstract

This study aimed to present a list of the species of frugivorous butterflies occurring in Atlantic Forests, in the Conservation Units: National Forest of Chapecó (FLONA), Ecological Station of Mata Preta (ESEC) and State Park of Araucárias (PAEAR) and adjacent forest fragments, located in the western region of the state of Santa Catarina. Three samplings were conducted between December 2017 and March 2018, totaling 24 days of collection in each sampling area. Van Someren-Rydon traps were used to capture frugivorous butterflies. There were 4,231 frugivorous butterflies belonging to four subfamilies, 12 tribes and 49 species. In all, 37 species of frugivorous butterflies were sampled in FLONA and 29 in adjacent forest fragments. In ESEC, 29 species and 33 in adjacent forest fragments. In PAEAR, 33 species and 28 in adjacent forest fragments. Of the total species registered, 15 species are new records for the state of Santa Catarina and 11 are new records for the western region of the state. The most abundant species for FLONA were: Manataria hercyna (Hübner, 1821) and Hermeuptychia sp. In ESEC, were Hermeuptychia sp. and Yphthimoides ordinaria (Freitas, Kaminski & Mielke, 2012). In PAEAR, greater abundance of Forsterinaria quantius (Godart, 1824) and Eryphanes reevesii (Doubleday, 1849) were verified. For the adjacent forest fragments to Conservation Units, there was a greater abundance of Hermeuptychia sp., Moneuptychia soter (Butler, 1877), Morpho epistrophus (Fabricius, 1796) e Forsterinaria quantius (Godart, 1824). Satyrinae presented higher richness (S = 34) and abundance (90.58%) in all areas sampled. The rarefaction and extrapolation curves for the Conservation Units and adjacent forest fragments showed a greater rise in the FLONA and PAEAR sampling units and their adjacent forest fragments. The estimated sampling coverage for Conservation Unit and forest fragments was above 97%. The richness calculated through the Jackknife 1 estimator, for the FLONA and PAEAR samplings, presented a value of 50.75 and 37.09, respectively. The fauna of frugivorous butterflies from this region, first investigated in areas of Conservation Units, showed to be expressive and well represented in the Atlantic Forest Biome, indicating its potential as a refuge for biodiversity.

Communities of Lepidoptera along an elevational gradient in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea)

“…It is expected that the species accumulation curve will not reach the asymptote in studies with insects, even when small areas are sampled, because this group is extremely diverse (BEUTEL et al, 2017). The Jackknife 1 richness estimator showed that the sample included 70.03% of the butterfly species occurring in the Environmental Protection Area; this result is in line with previous studies assessing forest regions, which found sampling efficiencies greater than 60% by using the same estimator as that used here (BORDIN et al, 2019;MELO et al, 2019;GUERATTO et al, 2020;BERTINOTI et al, 2020;VIEIRA et al, 2020;ARAÚJO et al, 2021).…”

“…The richness of butterfly species in the Atlantic Forest region of the Fernão Dias Environmental Protection Area was higher than that observed in some studies (RITTER et al, 2011;BORDIN et al, 2019;BERTINOTI et al, 2020;SILVA et al, 2020) and lower than that reported in others (BONFANTTI et al, 2011;BELLAVER et al, 2012;VIEIRA et al, 2020). Nevertheless, results were within the expected range for forest regions in Brazil, given the differences in the size of experimental sites, sampling methods and efforts between studies.…”

Preferences of fruit-feeding butterfly on bait trap in Soraya Research Station, Leuser Ecosystem, Aceh, Indonesia

“…Observations were carried out for 3 months, September -November 2020 from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm. The data collection of trapped butterflies is carried out every 2x24 hours [13,17].…”

“…Next, the banana was split into 2 parts and placed in each trap, while the pineapple was cut horizontally with a thickness of ± 2 cm. Bait traps were laid from September to November 2020 with different heights of trapping (understorey ± 1-2 meters, midstorey level ± 5-6 meters, and overstorey level ± 10-11 meters) [17]…”