Abstract
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.
Highlights
Butterflies attracted to fruitbaits have been extensively studied in the past two decades to evaluate the conservation state of natural areas, effects of land management and fragmented habitat, monitoring of populations and to assess ecological parameters [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
A total of 957 individuals belonging to 15 species of Nymphalidae were trapped
Among the eight species that occurred in both seasons, only H. februa showed a significant increase of individuals during the dry season (χ 2 = 8.28; P = 0.01), which was reflected in the predominance of Biblidinae in this period
Summary
Butterflies attracted to fruitbaits have been extensively studied in the past two decades to evaluate the conservation state of natural areas, effects of land management and fragmented habitat, monitoring of populations and to assess ecological parameters [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. The frugivorous trophic guild constitutes a considerable portion of the family Nymphalidae and is formed by Charaxinae, Biblidinae, Morphinae, Satyrinae, and Nymphalinae: Coeini Butterflies in these groups feed mainly on the juices of fermented fruits and on dung, plant exudates, and carrion [8]. It is mainly a thorn-shrub succulent savanna with several physiognomies, depending on local rain regime and soil constitution It is characterized by a semiarid climate and highly seasonal rainfall regimes [18, 19]. The aim of this study was to verify the seasonal influences on the abundance, richness, and composition of fruit-feeding butterflies from an area of the Brazilian semiarid, during the course of one year. One Sample unit (SU), consisting of five bait traps each, was placed in each site, avoiding very sunny areas. To determine which species best represented seasonal fluctuations of the local butterfly community, Pearson’s
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