Confirmation of the northermost population of the endangered butterfly Heliconius nattereri C. Felder & R. Felder, 1865 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

Abstract

Heliconius nattereri C. Felder & R. Felder, 1865 is an enigmatic and rarely collected species. Because of severe habitat reduction, the species is currently listed as endangered. We here report the confirmation of a northernmost population. This collection and further observations reported here add two more known localites to the distribution of the species. Two of the three confirmed locations are in protected areas. We worry that the northern population may be at great risk because it is not formally protected. We urge conservation efforts to preserve the local forests where the species is found.

The roles of hybridization and habitat fragmentation in the evolution of Brazil’s enigmatic longwing butterflies, Heliconius nattereri and H. hermathena

“…Both H. hermathena and H. nattereri have patchy, limited distributions that make them difficult to find and study in their natural habitats. Heliconius nattereri in particular is restricted to a few pockets of Atlantic Forest in a narrow region of eastern Brazil, usually only abovẽ 500 m elevation, and is already listed as endangered by the IUCN [21][22][23][24]. To better understand the genetic health of these rare species, we estimated their current genetic diversity, historical population sizes, and deleterious mutation loads using population genomic data.…”

“…Heliconius nattereri has been found in only four areas of Atlantic Forest that are each surrounded by large areas of unsuitable habitat and deforested areas, leading to the current patchy distribution of this threatened species [21][22][23]71]. While local population densities can be high, most collection efforts have produced few specimens from any of these four sites.…”

“…Heliconius nattereri is an exceptionally rare, geographically restricted species found only along a section of Brazil's Atlantic Forest spanning portions of the states of Espírito Santo and Bahia [21][22][23]. Heliconius nattereri stands out relative to other species in the genus because it is the only Heliconius species that is endangered [24] and it is also the only Heliconius species with pronounced sexually dimorphic color patterns (Fig.…”

“…As part of an international collaboration, we have been studying the biology, genomics, and population genetics of Brazil's endemic, and enigmatic, Heliconius fauna. With permission and funding from the Brazilian government, we have performed new surveys of H. nattereri [23] and H. hermathena [27] populations, collected samples, and performed genomic analyses. Here, we present reference genome sequences and whole-genome resequencing datasets for both species.…”