Assessment of the current state of biodiversity data for butterflies and skippers in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea)

Abstract

Lepidoptera is one of the four megadiverse insect orders, comprising butterflies and moths. In Brazil, the bulk of knowledge about the butterfly fauna is restricted to some areas in the southeast of the country, with large gaps of knowledge in other areas. The state of Mato Grosso is one of the largest states in Brazil, and holds three of the main Brazilian biomes: Amazon rain forest, Cerrado and Pantanal. However, knowledge about Mato Grosso butterflies is fragmented and restricted to a few localities, and information is scattered in various sources. The aim of this study is to assemble the biodiversity information of the butterfly fauna of the state of Mato Grosso based on historical and recent literature data and collections carried out in the southwest of the state from 2007–2009. Records without precise locality data or taxonomic information were not included. Species identification was based on literature and comparison with specimens in collections; higher and species-level taxonomy were updated based on the Neotropical Checklist of Hesperioidea and Papilionoidea and recent phylogenetic and revisionary taxonomic works. In total, 901 species were recorded in 2,820 occurrence records. This represents 148 species of Hesperiidae, 29 Papilionidae, 28 Pieridae, 77 Lycaenidae, 238 Riodinidae, and 381 Nymphalidae. Of these, 207 species records are from the type specimens of species described in the state. Based on the results and literature records for other Brazilian states and biomes, probably the figures for Mato Grosso are underestimated, particularly in the families Hesperiidae, Lycaenidae and Riodinidae, in that order. Future collecting efforts should be directed towards certain areas of the state, especially in less sampled areas and biomes, as the north of the state and Pantanal.

The butterflies of Cristalino Lodge, in the Brazilian southern Amazonia: An updated species list with a significant contribution from citizen science

“…The 1010 recorded species and the estimates for the total number of species present in the area (see below) represent between one quarter and one third of the 3522 butterfly species (including 23 Hedylidae) known to occur in Brazil (Casagrande 2022), a proportion similar to that of the well-known avifauna of the region (Lees et al 2013). The species recorded also surpass the total diversity of butterflies of the State of Mato Grosso in the thorough assessment by Queiroz- Santos et al (2016), which found a total of 901 species recorded in the State, and confirms their suggestion of the need for intensive inventories of its northernmost, Amazonian portion. For two families, Hesperiidae and Lycaenidae, we recorded more species than were represented in the previous list from the whole of Mato Grosso, with a remarkable 314 species at Cristalino compared with 148 species from Mato Grosso for Hesperiidae, and 123 versus 77 for Lycaenidae.…”

“…For two families, Hesperiidae and Lycaenidae, we recorded more species than were represented in the previous list from the whole of Mato Grosso, with a remarkable 314 species at Cristalino compared with 148 species from Mato Grosso for Hesperiidae, and 123 versus 77 for Lycaenidae. These two families were precisely the ones that Queiroz- Santos et al (2016) expected to be the most underrepresented in their study. A quick and conservative look through their database, considering unknown subspecies or other ambiguities in both lists as representing the same taxa, reveals that the Cristalino Lodge list adds more than 360 species to the previously reported State total.…”

“…One interesting case relevant to the Amazon Forest was the publication of the book "Butterflies of Southern Amazonia: A Photographic Checklist of Common Species" (Garwood & Lehman 2007), which compiled images of live butterflies representing some 2000 species, recorded by several butterfly watchers and ecotourists, especially in Amazonian lodges and ecotourism centers across Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. This publication included several images taken at Cristalino Lodge, in Alta Floresta, Mato Grosso state, Brazil, information that has already been used in studies of the state of knowledge of butterflies in Brazil (Santos et al 2008, Queiroz-Santos et al 2016, Shirai et al 2019. Photographic records have continued to be made in this location ever since; furthermore, the region has been equally attractive to researchers, and the focus of several expeditions by the authors of this paper, which have resulted in the description of a Satyrini genus (Freitas et al 2019), a new subspecies of ithomiine (Mota et al 2022), descriptions of immature stages , and research on butterfly communities and mimicry (Mota et al, in preparation).…”

Ficha de Paryphthimoides eous

“…Existem registros de Paryphthimoides eous nos Estados do Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro e nos estados da região sul do Brasil. Os Estados do Pará e Amazonas possuem registros sem localidade específica (Queiroz-Santos et al, 2016;Shirai et al, 2019;Savela, 2022). Paryphthimoides eous ocorre no Paraguai, Uruguai, Argentina e Brasil, onde é registrada nos estados do Amazonas, Bahia, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul e Santa Catarina.…”

Composition and structure of the frugivorous butterfly community (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) at the Serra Azul State Park (PESA), Mato Grosso, Brazil

“…Furthermore, the ecological importance and status of frugivorous butterflies as bioindicators were so far poorly considered in studies carried out in the region (Uehara-Prado et al 2007, 2009. Knowledge about Mato Grosso butterflies is fragmentary and information is scattered across various sources (Santos et al 2008, Queiroz-Santos et al 2016.…”