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Population biology, natural history and conservation of two endangered high elevation Neotropical butterflies

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Abstract

The southeastern Brazilian highlands harbor a high number of endemic and threatened species of animals and plants, including two species of Pampasatyrus butterflies (Satyrinae: Pronophilina). As for many other threatened Brazilian butterflies, there is virtually no biological information available for these butterflies. A mark-recapture study was carried out for two consecutive years (2017 and 2018) to study population parameters, movement, natural history and threats for the two Pampasatyrus species. The results showed that population parameters of both species are similar to those of satyrine butterfly species from temperate regions, including a single flight season, short adult lifespan and a typical pattern of protandry (adult males flying before females). Moreover, adults were shown to have high habitat fidelity, being restricted to natural grassland, and are mostly sedentary. Both studied species are seriously threatened by human-caused impacts, including urban expansion, presence of non-native large grazing animals, uncontrolled tourism and natural and man-made fires. Although none of these impacts have been directly measured, a fire that consumed more than 70% of the study area in the winter of 2017 did not cause the extinction of the populations of both species, as evidenced by population numbers in 2018. The present study contributes important data on the population biology and ecology of these two threatened butterflies, providing information that can be used for future management plans of these species and their habitats.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Flávia Ramos, Elisa Ramos, Lucas Espindola e Moises Luna for all logistical support, Marina Beirão, Ricardo Solar and Claudia Jacobi for several suggestions and critical reading on a previous version of the manuscript. Martin Konvička carefully read the submitted version, making valuable suggestions to improve the final version. Juliana A. Oliveira and Marcelo M. Egea helped with identification of nectar sources and Samuel Costa for mite identification. Special thanks to Keith Willmott, who kindly revised the accepted version of the manuscript. To the ICMBio for the research permits (SISBIO nº 10802-5 and 53016-7). AHBR thanks Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, 130314/2016-1), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brazil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. AVLF acknowledges support from FAPESP (Biota-Fapesp—2011/50225-3), from CNPq (303834/2015-3) and from the National Science Foundation (DEB-1256742). This publication is part of the RedeLep “Rede Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Lepidópteros” SISBIOTA-Brasil/CNPq (563332/2010-7). This study is registered in SISGEN (A3D306A).

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  1. Departamento de Biologia Animal and Museu de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, CEP 13083-862, Brazil

    Augusto H. B. Rosa & André V. L. Freitas

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, CEP 13083-865, Brazil

    Augusto H. B. Rosa

  3. Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso Do Sul, Campo Grande, CEP 79070-900, Brazil

    Danilo B. Ribeiro

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Rosa, A.H.B., Ribeiro, D.B. & Freitas, A.V.L. Population biology, natural history and conservation of two endangered high elevation Neotropical butterflies. J Insect Conserv 24, 681–694 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-020-00242-2

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