The butterfly fauna of the Ural Mountains contains 233 species: Papilionidae (6 species), Pieridae (23), Lycaenidae (64), Nymphalidae (60), Satyridae (57), and Hesperiidae (23). The number of ...butterfly species in seven regional and 29 local faunas generally increases gradually from north to south. The mean number of species in the local butterfly faunas is 127 in the southern Urals and slightly over 50 in the Polar Urals. The arealogical structure of the fauna is determined by the distribution of species recorded in 24 meridional and 19 latitudinal groups which together result in 80 distribution patterns. Based on comparison of the local butterfly faunas of the Urals, two large, historically formed faunistic complexes are distinguished: southern and northern. Either complex contains two faunistic complexes of the second order, hypoarctic and boreal in the former, and southern boreal and subboreal in the latter. The faunas of the Kazakhstan part of the Urals form a separate subboreal semi-arid complex, whereas the extreme boreal fauna of Pay-Khoy forms an independent arctic complex.
Agricultural land use is an artificial ecosystem. Insect pollinators are important keys to success of the agroecosystem. Converting natural landscapes to agricultural land, such as oil palm and ...rubber plantations, affects the insects. The research aims to study diversity and abundance of insect pollinators in three different agricultural land uses, i.e. oil palm plantation, rubber plantation, and jungle-rubber. Scan sampling method was used to explore the diversity of insect pollinators. Observations of the insects were conducted from 08.00 to 10.00 AM and 02.00 to 04.00 PM in sunny days. There were 497 individuals of insect pollinators collected, which belong to 43 species in three orders (Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera). Number of species and individual of insect pollinators found in rubber plantations (31 species, 212 individuals) and oil palm plantation (23 species, 188 individuals) were higher than that in jungle rubber (7 species, 97 individuals). Insect pollinators in oil palm plantations were dominated by giant honey bee (Apis dorsata) and stingless bee (Trigona sp. =aff. T. planifrons), whereas in rubber plantation, they were dominated by small carpenter bees (Ceratina lieftincki and Ceratina simillima), and in jungle-rubbers were dominated by hoverfly (Syrphid sp.) and Apis andreniformis. Higher foraging activities of insect pollinators occured in the morning.
The butterfly fauna of the Atlantic Forest Biome is reasonably well-known up to the southern limit of its distribution. However, there are knowledge gaps nearby the central region of Rio Grande do ...Sul State, whose forest areas are considered priorities for biological conservation. This study investigated the butterfly assemblage of a riparian fragment in an ecotone area between Mixed Ombrophilous Forest and Seasonal Decidous Forest, in Itaara municipality. From September 2005 to September 2006, after 105 net-hours through active search sampling, 877 butterflies were registered representing 104 species. Three more species were registered posteriorly, increasing total richness to 107. The most abundant species were the Nymphalidae Hermeuptychia hermes (Fabricius, 1775), Yphthimoides celmis (Godart, 1824), Agraulis vanillae maculosa (Stichel, 1908), Tegosa claudina (Eschscholtz, 1821) and Vanessa braziliensis (Moore, 1883). One new record for the State and four new ones for the central region were registered besides the southern endemic Papilionidae Euryades corethrus (Boisduval, 1836) and the Lycaenidae Arcas ducalis (Westwood, 1852), considered indicator of Atlantic forest preserved areas. Due to the representativeness of the registered fauna, it is suggested the increase of conservation efforts in the area and stimulation of new ecological studies with the local biodiversity.
Polyommatus bellargus is a priority species of butterfly in the UK as a result of its scarcity and the rate of population decline over the last few years. In the UK, the species is associated with ...chalk grassland on hot, south-facing slopes suitable for the growth of the food plant Hippocrepis comosa. Shooting game birds is a popular pastime in the UK. Over 40 million game birds, principally Phasianus colchicus and Alectoris rufa, are bred and released into the countryside each year for shooting interests. There is a concern that the release of such a large number of non-native birds has an adverse effect on native wildlife. A study was carried out over a period of 3 years out to examine whether there was any evidence that A. rufa released into chalk grassland habitat negatively affects populations of P. bellargus. A comparison was made between sites where large numbers of A. rufa were released versus sites where no, or few, birds were released. The study involved the construction of exclosures in these sites to allow an examination of the number of butterflies emerging from H. comosa when the birds were excluded versus when the birds had free range across the area. Where birds were present the on-site vegetation was shorter than where they were absent indicating that the birds were definitely influencing habitat structure. However, the evidence that A. rufa was negatively influencing the number of adult butterflies emerging was not strong, although there was a largely non-significant tendency for higher butterfly emergence when the birds were excluded or absent.
The phenology of butterflies was analyzed in the Calakmul Region (CR) in the state of Campeche, México, over the course of 3 years. Altogether, 60,662 individuals were recorded, consisting of 359 ...species in 207 genera, 18 subfamilies, 5 families, and 2 superfamilies. Greatest species diversity was recorded during Oct and Nov. Monthly fluctuation in diversity was defined by rare species. Hesperiidae (135 species) and Nymphalidae (111 species) were the most diverse families, and showed the greatest variation with respect to distribution of species richness throughout the year. Papilionidae showed the greatest species richness during the dry season. Pieridae, Nymphalidae, and Lycaenidae showed peaks of greatest species richness and relative abundance during the rainy season. Results were compared to faunal studies of the Sierra de Atoyac de Álvarez, in the state of Guerrero, and of the Sierra de Manantlán, in Jalisco and Colima. Important similarities were observed among phenological patterns in the butterfly fauna of the 3 regions, especially between CR and Manantlán. The phenology of species with greater relative abundance was analyzed in relation to wingspan as a parameter of adult size. The small and medium-sized groups, taken together, showed variations in species richness. An analysis of species seasonality was conducted with NMDS, ANOSIM and SIMPER, in the program PRIMER 4.0. Differences among the composition of butterfly communities with respect to the seasons were found.
In this study we examined the territorial, courtship and coupling behavior, mating interruptions and influence of sunlight on mating behavior in
Spalgis epius
(Westwood). We constructed an ethogram ...of territorial and courtship behavior, and catalogued the sequence of behavioral acts associated with mating behavior. Mating behavioral acts were divided into four repertoires i.e. pre-courtship, pre-coupling, coupling and post-coupling behaviors. Totally 22 behavioral acts were recorded from four repertoires. Tree canopy, canopy height and sunlight conditions are the important factors that influence copulation in
S. epius
. The courtship activity led to successful copulation in 71.9 % pairs. Incidence of different types of courtship and copula interruptions in
S. epius
was also recorded.
The genetic population structure of Polyommatus coridon (Poda 1761) over large regions of France, Italy and Germany was studied by allozyme electrophoresis. The genetic diversity within populations ...was high for all parameters analysed (number of alleles 2.72; observed and expected heterozygosity 19.6% and 20.3%, respectively; percentage of polymorphic loci: total: 76.4% and, with polymorphism if the frequency of the commonest allele is below 95%: 53.1%), whereas genetic differentiation between populations was comparatively low (F sub(ST) = 0.021 plus or minus 0.002). The mean number of alleles declined significantly from southern to northern populations (r = -0.53, P = 0.0005). Similar effects were found also for other parameters of genetic diversity. This is interpreted as a loss of genetic diversity during postglacial expansion. However, samples from France and Italy had similar patterns of genetic diversity indicating no significant loss in this region. Populations from southern Germany were genetically uniform, well differentiated from French populations and showed a significant loss of genetic diversity. Probably, this is due to a bottleneck during passing through the Burgundian Gap, which is a migration corridor from north-eastern France to southern Germany. In contrast to southern German populations, western German populations were not well differentiated from French populations. Nevertheless, they were genetically impoverished, probably as a result from local bottlenecks and post-expansion phenomena.
We give the haploid chromosome numbers of 173 species or subspecies of Riodinidae as well as of 17 species or subspecies of neotropical Lycaenidae for comparison. The chromosome numbers of riodinids ...have thus far been very poorly known. We find that their range of variation extends from n = 9 to n = 110 but numbers above n = 31 are rare. While lepidopterans in general have stable chromosome numbers, or variation is limited at most a subfamily or genus, the entire family Riodinidae shows variation within genera, tribes and subfamilies with no single modal number. In particular, a stepwise pattern with chromosome numbers that are about even multiples is seen in several unrelated genera. We propose that this variation is attributable to the small population sizes, fragmented populations with little migration, and the behavior of these butterflies. Small and isolated riodinid populations would allow for inbreeding to take place. Newly arisen chromosomal variants could become fixed and contribute to reproductive isolation and speciation. In contrast to the riodinids, the neotropical Lycaenidae (Theclinae and Polyommatinae) conform to the modal n = 24 that characterizes the family.
Larvae of Arhopala zylda (Lycaenidae) feed on food bodies (FBs) produced by two Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae) myrmecophytic species, M. beccariana and M. hypoleuca. We examined their feeding behavior in ...detail via field observations and rearing experiments in the field and laboratory. Larvae of A. zylda fed only on FBs and not leaves during the first through third instars; during the fourth (final) instar, they ate both FBs and leaves of the host plants. The larvae actively fed on FBs on young leaves, which were always attended by many plant symbiotic ants. These results suggested that A. zylda larvae depend entirely on FBs for food, except late in the final instar, and that the FB-feeding habit is associated with special traits that enable the larvae to evade ant aggression, which usually functions as an effective anti-herbivore defense for the host plants.
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