Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of grassland areas in the Pampa biome, southern Brazil

By

Carvalho, Ana Paula dos Santos de
Piovesan, Geisa
Barros De Morais, Ana Beatriz

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2015-10-19

Original Publication

Check list : journal of species lists and distribution

Volume

11

Series / Issue

Issue: 5

Pages

1772--6

Subjects

Conservation , Nymphalidae , richness , species inventory

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

[São Paulo, Brazil] Luís Felipe Toledo 2005-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15560/11.5.1772

 

Abstract

The temperate and subtropical grassland ecosystems are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world due to habitat loss. This study aimed to make a list of butterfly species present in native grassland fields in the city of Santa Maria, southern Brazil. The sampling field effort was 225 h using entomological nets, from 2009 to 2011. In total, 117 species of butterflies were recorded, distributed in six families and 18 subfamilies. Nymphalidae was the richest family, with 56 species, while Lycaenidae was the least rich family, with six species. Twenty species constitute new records for Santa Maria; while six of those are new records for the Central Depression Region of Rio Grande do Sul. In the face of global and local threats, it is urgent to increase efforts to study the biology and ecology of the grassland communities in order to provide support to biological conservation.