Lost in hostile lands: moths of conservation concern in cultivated and suburban areas of south Italy

By

Bevacqua, Laura
Zucco, Giada
Garofalo, Kevin
Innocenzo, Muzzalupo
Scalercio, Stefano

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023

Original Publication

Nature conservation

Volume

54

Pages

203--215

Subjects

Amphipyra cinnamomea , Biodiversity , Boudinotiana notha , habitat fragmentation , Lepidoptera

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2012-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.54.108425

 

Abstract

Cultivated and suburban areas are usually considered unfavourable to the vulnerable components of biodiversity and regarded as not interesting from a conservation point of view. However, remnants of semi-natural vegetation can be embedded in such areas, becoming possible refuges for wild biodiversity despite the high anthropogenic pressures. With the present study, we raise awareness that, in some cases, these areas can be regarded as biodiversity treasure chests, even when apparently poor and with low appeal for conservationists. We demonstrate the importance of urbanised and cultivated landscapes by providing new records of two lepidopteran species rare for the Italian Peninsula, namely Amphipyra (Pyrois) cinnamomea and Boudinotiana notha. The European range of A. cinnamomea has become strongly reduced, seeming extinct in some Central European regions and the few Italian records mostly date back several decades. B. notha has very few relict populations in Mediterranean Europe, some of which are in peninsular Italy, where it is threated by urbanisation and reduced precipitations expected in the next decades. Our findings confirm the importance of small and highly fragmented patches of semi-natural vegetation for biodiversity conservation, as they can allow species of conservation interest to persist in hostile lands.