Diversity and composition of tiger moths (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) in an area of Atlantic Forest in southern Brazil: is the fauna more diverse in the grassland or in the forest?

Abstract

The Atlantic Forest is considered a biodiversity hotspot for conservation, because its fauna and flora are highly endemic and suffer from loss of natural habitats. This study assessed the composition and diversity of tiger moths (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) in two floristic formations of the southern Atlantic Forest (grassland and Araucaria forest) and in a transition zone (forest edge). The moths were attracted to UV light reflected onto a white sheet. A total of 3,574 tiger moths were collected, representing 121 species. The rarefaction curves showed that the tiger-moth assemblage collected in the grassland was more diverse than the assemblages from the Araucaria forest and the transition zone. The assemblages in the forest and forest edge resembled each other, whereas the grassland assemblage was distinct. The composition of the tiger-moth assemblages was related to the environmental characteristics [habitat type (grassland, edge, or forest), altitude, temperature, air relative humidity] and the location of the sites. The faunal similarity decreased in response to increasing environmental and geographical distances between the sites. The responsiveness of tiger moths to small-scale variation in environmental and geographical parameters indicates their good potential as environmental indicators

Arctiinae moths (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) of the Emas National Park, Goiás, Brazil

“…The fauna of the ENP is the second richest locality in the Cerrado, after Brasilia (222 species, Ferro & Diniz 2010). The richness observed in the ENP (149 species) was similar to the other intensively sampled areas in the Cerrado, such as Vilhena (136) and Chapada dos Guimarã es (129) , and Rain Forest sites, such as Sã o José dos Ausentes (121) (Ferro & Romanowski 2012), La Selva Biological Station (148) (Brehm 2007), and Sã o Bento do Sul (162) ). However, Hilt & Fiedler (2005) observed a significantly greater tiger moth richness in Ecuador (287 species).…”

Changes in Species Richness and Composition of Tiger Moths (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) among Three Neotropical Ecoregions

“…At middle latitude in the Brazilian Cerrado with a seasonal tropical climate, 197 tiger moth species (Chao2 = 383.8 species) were found [ 52 ]. At higher latitude, in the southern Atlantic Forest of Brazil, at a similar latitude to our Yungas and Paraná sampling sites, 121 species (Chao2 = 162 species) were found [ 17 ]. In our study, Paraná at the lowest latitude had 125 species (Chao2 = 138 species), followed by Yungas at similar latitude to Paraná with 63 species (Chao2 = 83.11 species) and Chaco Serrano at the highest latitude with 24 species (Chao2 = 26.9 species) ( S1 Table ).…”

“…Our results ( Fig 4 , Permutest and Pearson correlation) show that the climatic seasonality becomes an important factor in the distribution of tiger moths at higher latitudes. Nonetheless, some authors suggest that vegetation types also influence significantly the assemblages of tiger moths [ 17 , 19 , 27 , 28 , 51 , 52 , 55 ]. Although we could not study the vegetation type, the resulting NMDS ordination indirectly reflected strong vegetation units that encompass plant communities from subtropical rainforest in Paraná, montane forest in Yungas to dry forest in Chaco Serrano.…”

Arctiini Leach, [1815] (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae) of the Brazilian Amazon. IV - Subtribe Euchromiina Butler, 1876

“…Moreover, studies that sample Amazonian Lepidoptera in different types and strata of vegetation are rare. However, it is known that tiger moths respond to vegetation changes (Kitching et al 2000, Ferro & Diniz 2007, Ferro & Romanowski 2012 and Poliopastea) are canopy flyers (Brehm 2009). In order to suggest efficient conservation policies for the Amazon Arctiinae fauna, it is urgent to intensify the sampling effort in this biome, both spatially and temporally.…”