Immature Stages, Natural History and Population Biology of Opoptera syme (Hübner, 1821), (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) from Southeastern Brazil.

The present study describes the immature stages of Opoptera syme (Hübner, [1821]) using SEM and Micro-CT to generate 2D and 3D models to study the morphology and chaetotaxy, and present information on the natural history, behavior, and population biology. In laboratory, eggs were laid singly, and the isolated larvae passed through six to seven instars. Host plant in the study site is unknown, but larvae are known to feed on bamboos; in laboratory, larvae accepted the ornamental bamboo Bambusa textilis McClure, 1940. Adults are diurnal and univoltine, flying from December to April (the austral summer). The present study adds information to the biology and natural history of Brassolini, an iconic and still poorly known tribe of Neotropical butterflies.

Geographical sampling bias on the assessment of endemism areas for marine meiobenthic fauna.

Species distribution patterns are constrained by historical and ecological processes in space and time, but very often the species range sizes are geographical sampling biases resulting from unequal sampling effort. One of the most common definitions of endemism is based on the "congruence of distributional areas" criterion, when two or more species have the same distributional limits. By acknowledging that available data of marine meiobenthic species are prone to geographical sampling bias and that can affect the accuracy of the biogeographical signals, the present study combines analyses of inventory incompleteness and recognition of spatial congruence of Gastrotricha, Kinorhyncha, meiobenthic Annelida and Tardigrada in order to better understand the large-scale distribution of these organisms in coastal and shelf areas of the world. We used the marine bioregionalization framework for geographical operative units to quantify the inventory incompleteness effect (by modelling spatial predictions of species richness) and to recognize areas of endemism. Our models showed that the difference between observed and expected species richness in the Southern Hemisphere is much higher than in the Northern Hemisphere. Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity delimited 20 areas of endemism, most found in the Northern Hemisphere. Distribution patterns of meiobenthic species are shown to respond to events of geographical barriers and abiotic features, and their distribution is far from homogeneous throughout the world. Also, our data show that ecoregions with distinct biotas have at least some cohesion over evolutionary time. However, we found that inventory incompleteness may significantly affect the explanatory power of areas of endemism delimitation in both hemispheres. Yet, whereas future increases in sampling efforts are likely to change the spatial congruence ranges in the Southern Hemisphere, patterns for the Northern Hemisphere may prove to be relatively more resilient.

Knowledge gaps hamper understanding the relationship between fragmentation and biodiversity loss: the case of Atlantic Forest fruit-feeding butterflies.

BACKGROUND: A key challenge for conservation biology in the Neotropics is to understand how deforestation affects biodiversity at various levels of landscape fragmentation. Addressing this challenge requires expanding the coverage of known biodiversity data, which remain to date restricted to a few well-surveyed regions. Here, we assess the sampling coverage and biases in biodiversity data on fruit-feeding butterflies at the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, discussing their effect on our understanding of the relationship between forest fragmentation and biodiversity at a large-scale. We hypothesize that sampling effort is biased towards large and connected fragments, which occur jointly in space at the Atlantic forest. METHODS: We used a comprehensive dataset of Atlantic Forest fruit-feeding butterfly communities to test for sampling biases towards specific geographical areas, climate conditions and landscape configurations. RESULTS: We found a pattern of geographical aggregation of sampling sites, independently of scale, and a strong sampling bias towards large and connected forest fragments, located near cities and roads. Sampling gaps are particularly acute in small and disconnected forest fragments and rare climate conditions. In contrast, currently available data can provide a fair picture of fruit-feeding butterfly communities in large and connected Atlantic Forest remnants. DISCUSSION: Biased data hamper the inference of the functional relationship between deforestation and biodiversity at a large-scale, since they are geographically clustered and have sampling gaps in small and disconnected fragments. These data are useful to inform decision-makers regarding conservation efforts to curb biodiversity loss in the Atlantic Forest. Thus, we suggest to expand sampling effort to small and disconnected forest fragments, which would allow more accurate evaluations of the effects of landscape modification.

Atlantic butterflies: a data set of fruit-feeding butterfly communities from the Atlantic forests.

Butterflies are one of the best-known insect groups, and they have been the subject of numerous studies in ecology and evolution, especially in the tropics. Much attention has been given to the fruit-feeding butterfly guild in biodiversity conservation studies, due to the relative ease with which taxa may be identified and specimens sampled using bait traps. However, there remain many uncertainties about the macroecological and biogeographical patterns of butterflies in tropical ecosystems. In the present study, we gathered information about fruit-feeding butterfly species in local communities from the Atlantic Forests of South America. The ATLANTIC BUTTERFLIES data set, which is part of ATLANTIC SERIES data papers, results from a compilation of 145 unpublished inventories and 64 other references, including articles, theses, and book chapters published from 1949 to 2018. In total, the data set contains 7,062 records (presence) of 279 species of fruit-feeding butterflies identified with taxonomic certainty, from 122 study locations. The Satyrini is the tribe with highest number of species (45%) and records (30%), followed by Brassolini, with 13% of species and 12.5% of records. The 10 most common species correspond to 14.2% of all records. This data set represents a major effort to compile inventories of fruit-feeding butterfly communities, filling a knowledge gap about the diversity and distribution of these butterflies in the Atlantic Forest. We hope that the present data set can provide guidelines for future studies and planning of new inventories of fruit-feeding butterflies in this biome. The information presented here also has potential use in studies across a great variety of spatial scales, from local and landscape levels to macroecological research and biogeographical research. We expect that such studies be very important for the better implementation of conservation initiatives, and for understanding the multiple ecological processes that involve fruit-feeding butterflies as biological indicators. No copyright restrictions apply to the use of this data set. Please cite this Data paper when using the current data in publications or teaching events.

Borboletas (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea e Hesperioidea) de Matas Paludosas e Matas de Restinga da Planície Costeira da região Sul do Brasil / Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea) from Swamp forests and Restinga forests at the southern Brazilian Coastal Plain

Este trabalho teve como objetivo elaborar uma lista de espécies de borboletas de Matas Paludosas e de Restingas da Planície Costeira do Rio Grande do Sul e de Santa Catarina contribuindo para o conhecimento da fauna de borboletas da Mata Atlântica. Foram compilados dados obtidos com amostragens realizadas através de duas técnicas de coleta (armadilha com isca atrativa e rede entomológica) nos anos de 2005 e 2011. Com um esforço amostral de 10.920 horas com armadilhas e de 360 horas-rede foram encontradas 225 espécies de borboletas nos dois ambientes, distribuídas em seis famílias e 19 subfamílias. Vinte e cinco espécies são registros novos ainda não publicados para o Rio Grande do Sul e 35 espécies são novos registros para a Mata Atlântica do Rio Grande do Sul, sendo seis Nymphalidae, dez Hesperiidae, doze Lycaenidae e sete Riodinidae. Os resultados gerados no presente estudo são fundamentais para o conhecimento e conservação dos táxons estudados bem como dos ambientes aos quais estão associados.

This paper presents a butterfly species list of Swamp and Resting forests in the Coastal Plain of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina States aiming to contribute to the knowledge of butterflies for these environments in the Atlantic Forest. Data compilation was obtained through inventories carried out in the years 2005 and 2011 with two sampling protocols (bait traps and butterfly nets). After 10.920 trap-hours and 360 net-hours 225 species of butterflies were recorded belonging to six families and 19 subfamilies. Twenty-five species are new records for the Rio Grande do Sul State and 35 species are new records for the Atlantic Forest in Rio Grande do Sul, with six Nymphalidae, ten Hesperiidae, twelve Lycaenidae and seven Riodinidae. The results obtained in the present study are fundamental for the knowledge and conservation of the taxa studied and to their associated habitats.

Fruit-feeding butterflies guide of subtropical Atlantic Forest and Araucaria Moist Forest in State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil / Guia de borboletas frugívoras das Florestas Ombrófilas Densa e Mista do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

This study presents a compilation of fruit-feeding butterflies species for Rio Grande do Sul Atlantic Forest aiming to be a tool for identification of these lepidopterans from two phytophysiognomies of this biome. Samples were carried out for more than four years with entomological nets and bait traps techniques in areas of Subtropical Atlantic Forest (SAF) and Araucaria Moist Forest (AMF). Seventy-six butterfly species were recorded in this region of Atlantic Forest, 60 species for SAF and 53 for AMF. Fruit-feeding butterflies represent about 50 percent of the total species richness of the Nymphalidae recorded for the region, a value of the same order of those found for similar studies in tropical forests regions. Dasyophthalma rusina is a new record for Rio Grande do Sul.

Este estudo é uma compilação de dados sobre a fauna de borboletas frugívoras na Mata Atlântica no Rio Grande do Sul, e tem como objetivo possibilitar a identificação das espécies ocorrentes em duas formações vegetais deste bioma. Foram realizadas amostragens com as técnicas de rede entomológica e armadilhas de iscas atrativas em áreas de Floresta Ombrófila Densa (FOD) e Floresta Ombrófila Mista (FOM), ao longo de mais de quatro anos. Foram registradas 76 espécies para a Mata Atlântica, sendo 60 espécies para a FOD e 53 para a FOM. As borboletas frugívoras representaram cerca de 50 por cento da riqueza total de espécies da família Nymphalidae já registradas para a mesma área, valor semelhante foi encontrado para outras regiões de florestas tropicais. Dasyophthalma rusina constitui-se em um novo registro para o Rio Grande do Sul.