Drivers of species richness and abundance of butterflies in coffee–banana agroforests in Uganda

Faunistic Study on Butterflies in the Lowland Forests of Central Surigao del Sur, Philippines

The province of Surigao del Sur is among the areas in the Philippines with limited wildlife studies, especially on lepidopteran fauna. Thus, this study was conducted to evaluate the butterfly congregation and diversity in Gamut and Mat-e, areas which are underexplored for lepidopteran surveys. It also aimed to assess the conservation and ecological status of the species. Sweep netting for a total of 196 person-hours was carried out to document the species. The results revealed a total of 29 species belonging to four families. Among the families, Nymphalidae was the most represented, comprising 48% of the total richness. The species Gandaca harina mindanaensis and Junonia hedonia ida were the most dominant in both sites representing 12% (each) of the total population. Species richness and diversity (H’) were relatively higher in Mat-e (n=22; H’=1.22) than in Gamut (n=15; H’=1.00). The total endemicity was 31%, but higher endemism was observed in Mat-e (36%) compared with Gamut (20%). The noteworthy findings are the listing of the nationally and globally assessed as rare species (Acrophtalmia leto ochine and Jamides celeno), but were locally assessed as common in Mat-e. One recorded butterfly (Atrophaneura semperi aphtonia) was assessed to be a threatened species. Based on the results, the two habitats showed a poor representation of butterfly assemblage, however, these results are highly affected by the limitations of the observation. Thus, it is recommended that an intensive study on butterflies in the area should be considered.

Butterfly species diversity and their floral preferences in the Rupa Wetland of Nepal

Floral attributes often influence the foraging choices of nectar-feeding butterflies, given the close association between plants and these butterfly pollinators. The diversity of butterflies is known to a large extent in Nepal, but little information is available on the feeding habits of butterflies. This study was conducted along the periphery of Rupa Wetland from January to December 2019 to assess butterfly species diversity and to identify the factors influencing their foraging choices. In total, we recorded 1535 individuals of 138 species representing all six families. For our examination of butterfly-nectar plant interactions, we recorded a total of 298 individuals belonging to 31 species of butterfly visiting a total of 28 nectar plant species. Overall, total butterfly visitation was found to be significantly influenced by plant category (herbaceous preferred over woody), floral color (yellow white and purple preferred over pink), and corolla type (tubular preferred over nontubular). Moreover, there was a significant positive correlation between the proboscis length of butterflies and the corolla tube length of flowers. Examining each butterfly family separately revealed that, for four of the families (Lycaenidae, Nymphalidae, Papilionidae, and Pieridae), none of the tested factors (flower color, plant category, and corolla type) were shown to significantly influence butterfly abundance at flowers. However, Hesperidae abundance was found to be significantly influenced by both flower color (with more butterflies observed at yellow flowers than purple) and flower type (with more butterflies observed at tubular flowers than nontubular flowers). Our results reveal that Rupa Lake is a suitable habitat for butterflies, providing valuable floral resources. Hence, further detailed studies encompassing all seasons, a greater variety of plants, and other influential factors in different ecological regions are fundamental for creating favorable environments to sustain important butterfly pollinators and help create balanced wetland ecosystems.

Influence of Climate and Local Habitat Characteristics on Carabid Beetle Abundance and Diversity in Northern Chinese Steppes

Carabids are an important insect group in grassland ecosystems and are involved in numerous ecosystem services. Steppes are the most widespread ecosystems in China, but they are under increasing degradation. Despite their importance, little is known about the relationships between environmental variables and carabid community structure in Chinese steppes. We studied the effects of fine-scale factors (soil and vegetation) and coarse-scale factors (climate) on carabid community parameters (abundance, richness, diversity, dominance, and evenness) in three types of steppes (desert, typical, and meadow steppes) in northern China. Carabid communities responded to environmental factors in different ways according to the type of steppe. Climate factors were the most important drivers of community structure, whereas the effects of soil and vegetation were less important. Desert steppe showed the lowest carabid abundance, richness, diversity, and evenness, and the highest dominance. This community is relatively simple and strongly dominated by a few species adapted to the severe conditions of this environment. Typical and meadow steppes showed carabid communities with a more complex structure. As expected on the basis of environmental severity, the most severe ecosystem (i.e., the desert) was only influenced by climatic factors, whereas a certain influence of biotic factors emerged in the other ecosystems.