Fruit-Feeding Butterflies from the Atlantic Forests
Márlon Paluch
Jessie Pereira2019, The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America
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Abstract
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Some nymphalid butterflies obtain their nutrients from fermented fruits or plant saps, forming a guild known as "fruit-feeding butterflies," which serve as biological indicators. This study provides a comprehensive dataset comprising 7,062 records of 279 species across 122 locations in the Atlantic Forest biome, contributing significantly to the understanding of their diversity and distribution. The findings aim to support conservation initiatives and enhance studies related to various ecological processes.
Key takeaways
- They compose a guild known as "fruit-feeding butterflies," a recognized biological indicator.
- Male of Catonephele numilia (Biblidinae: Catonephelini), a fruit-feeding butterfly species.
- Diaethria candrena (Biblidinae: Callicorini), a fruit-feeding butterfly commonly known as "80," landed near waterfalls in Foz do Iguaçu National Park, Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil.
- Photo credit: Augusto Rosa.
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Nature and Conservation, 2023
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Florida Entomologist, 2015
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Species diversity in spatial and temporal dimensions of fruit-feeding butterflies from two Ecuadorian rainforests
Biological Journal of The Linnean Society, 1999
To test the hypotheses that butterflies in an intact lowland rainforest are randomly distributed in space and time, a guild of nymphalid butterflies was sampled at monthly intervals for one year by trapping 883 individuals of 91 species in the canopy and understory of four contiguous, intact forest plots and one naturally occurring lake edge. The overall species abundance distribution was well described by a log-normal distribution. Total species diversity ( -diversity) was partitioned into additive components within and among community subdivisions ( -diversity and -diversity) in vertical, horizontal and temporal dimensions. Although community subdivisions showed high similarity (1--diversity/ -diversity), significant -diversity existed in each dimension. Individual abundance and observed species richness were lower in the canopy than in the understory, but rarefaction analysis suggested that the underlying species richness was similar in both canopy and understory. Observed species richness varied among four contiguous forest plots, and was lowest in the lake edge plot. Rarefaction and species accumulation curves showed that one forest plot and the lake edge had significantly lower species richness than other forest plots. Within any given month, only a small fraction of total sample species richness was represented by a single plot and height (canopy or understory). Comparison of this study to a similar one done in disturbed forest showed that butterfly diversity at a naturally occurring lake edge differed strongly from a pasture-forest edge. Further comparison showed that species abundance distributions from intact and disturbed forest areas had variances that differed significantly, suggesting that in addition to extrapolation, rarefaction and species accumulation techniques, the shapes of species abundance distributions are fundamental to assessing diversity among sites. This study shows the necessity for long-term sampling of diverse communities in space and time to assess tropical insect diversity among different areas, and the need of such studies is discussed in relation to tropical ecology and quick surveys in conservation biology.
Frugivorous butterflies from the Atlantic Forest in Southern Brazil (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
Biota Neotropica, 2019
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.
Seasonality of Fruit-Feeding Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) in a Brazilian Semiarid Area Academic Editors
A survey of 6,000 trap/hours using fruit-bait traps was conducted, in order to characterize the community of fruit-feeding butterflies and their seasonal variation in a semiarid area of NE Brazil, which exhibits a highly seasonal rainfall regime. The community was composed of 15 species, the four most abundant comprising more than 80% of the total individuals. In the first sampling month, 80% of the species had already been recorded. A strong positive correlation was found between butterfly abundance and precipitation of the sampled year. The highly seasonal pattern of the studied community may be related to the availability of both larvae and adult food resources. The endemic Fountainea halice moretta presented the highest positive correlations with other butterfly species and with total butterfly abundance and illustrates well the seasonal variation of the whole community. Hamadryas februa was the only species trapped in all sampling months, probably due to the ability of adults to aestivate during the dryer months. The open and more disturbed sample area showed higher abundance of butterflies in the rainy season and lower abundance in the dry season. Both abundance and richness were affected by season in a manner that the rainy period had significantly more individuals and species.
Species diversity in vertical, horizontal, and temporal dimensions of a fruit-feeding butterfly community in an Ecuadorian rainforest
To test the hypotheses that fruit-feeding nymphalid butterflies are randomly distributed in space and time, a community of fruit-feeding nymphalid butterflies was sampled at monthly intervals for one year by trapping 6690 individuals of 130 species in the canopy and understory of four forest habitats: primary, higraded, secondary, and edge. The overall species abundance distribution was well described by a lognormal distribution. Total species diversity (diversity) was partitioned into additive components within and among community subdivisions (diversity and-diversity) in vertical, horizontal and temporal dimensions. Although community subdivisions showed high similarity (1−-diversity/-diversity), significant diversity existed in each dimension. Individual abundance and observed species richness was lower in the canopy than in the understory. However, rarefaction analysis and species accumulation curves revealed that canopy had higher species richness than understory. Observed species richness was roughly equal in all habitats, but individual abundance was much greater in edge, largely due to a single, specialist species. Rarefaction analysis and species accumulation curves showed that edge had significantly lower species richness than all other habitats. Samples from a single habitat, height and time contained only a small fraction of the total community species richness. This study demonstrates the feasibility, and necessity, of large-scale, long-term sampling in multiple dimensions for accurately measuring species richness and diversity in tropical forest communities. We discuss the importance of such studies in conservation biology.
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