Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of grassland areas in the Pampa biome, southern Brazil

Abstract

The temperate and subtropical grassland ecosystems are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world due to habitat loss. This study aimed to make a list of butterfly species present in native grassland fields in the city of Santa Maria, southern Brazil. The sampling field effort was 225 h using entomological nets, from 2009 to 2011. In total, 117 species of butterflies were recorded, distributed in six families and 18 subfamilies. Nymphalidae was the richest family, with 56 species, while Lycaenidae was the least rich family, with six species. Twenty species constitute new records for Santa Maria; while six of those are new records for the Central Depression Region of Rio Grande do Sul. In the face of global and local threats, it is urgent to increase efforts to study the biology and ecology of the grassland communities in order to provide support to biological conservation.

Elucidating plant-pollinator interactions in South Brazilian grasslands: What do we know and where are we going?

“…In the last few years, there was an increase in studies of butterfly diversity in the South Brazilian grasslands. However, data about plant species pollinated by butterflies are still scarce and new studies on pollination ecology of species visited by this group are promising (Paz et al 2013;Carvalho et al 2015).…”

“…However, the recent increase in the number of studies about plant-pollinator interactions from grassland vegetation could enable a better understanding of the pollination ecology of these landscapes (Freitas & Sazima 2006) The South Brazilian grasslands englobe two different phytogeographic domains (Coutinho 2006;Batalha 2011); the most southern portion belongs to the Pampa domain, while the northern portion is part of the Atlantic Rain Forest domain (hereafter, called ARF) (Overbeck et al 2007). The Brazilian Pampa accounts for 63 % of the Rio Grande do Sul State area, where grasslands with scattered shrubs and tree formations represent the dominant vegetation in the landscape (Carvalho et al 2015). The Atlantic Rain Forest domain includes the grasslands of the Brazilian Plateau and is characterised by a mosaic of grasslands and forests in the northern half of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and some areas of Paraná state.…”