Diversity of the moth fauna (Lepidoptera: Heterocera) of a wetland forest: A case study from Motovun forest, Istria, Croatia

Abstract

Background and Purpose: The Motovun forest located in the Mirna river valley, central Istria, Croatia is one of the last lowland floodplain forests remaining in the Mediterranean area.Materials and Methods: Between 2011 and 2014 lepidopterological research was carried out on 14 sampling sites in the area of Motovun forest. The moth fauna was surveyed using standard light traps tents.Results and Conclusions: Altogether 403 moth species were recorded in the area, of which 65 can be considered at least partially hygrophilous. These results list the Motovun forest as one of the best surveyed regions in Croatia in respect of the moth fauna. The current study is the first of its kind for the area and an important contribution to the knowledge of moth fauna of the Istria region, and also for Croatia in general.

The Grecian anomalous blue <i>Polyommatus</i> (<i>Agrodiaetus</i>) <i>aroaniensis </i>(Brown, 1976) (Lepidoptera: Lycaneidae) discovered in Croatia, at the north-western edge of its distribution

“…Also, it was recorded on Poštak Mt. (Koren et al 2015) and at the spring of the Zrmanja River (Koren et al 2011). Our new records greatly increase its known distribution toward the north-west.…”

“…According to literature and recent data, P. admetus is distributed from the Kamešnica Mountain, following the Cetina spring area, Krka River, Zrmanja spring area and Poštak Mt. in the north of Croatia (Koren 2010a, Koren & Lauš 2013, Koren et al 2015. Several literature records exist for this species, but during our survey we provided only two new records, which are clustered within the known species distribution (Koren 2010a).…”

“…In addition, P. ripartii had been recorded only a few years ago in Croatia (Koren 2010b). For all three species, several new records expanding their known range in Croatia have been gathered and published in the last few years (Mihoci et al 2006, Koren et al 2011, Tvrtković et al 2012, Koren & Lauš 2013, Koren et al 2015. However, their distribution in the country is far from well known.…”

Ecology of Terrestrial Arthropods in Freshwater Wetlands

“…1,410 and 584 terrestrial Hymenoptera species were collected, respectively, in Alberta and Ontario peatlands, with the majority being small parasitic wasps (84); 377 species of bees and wasps alone were collected from the Brazilian Pantanal (4); >400 species of Lepidoptera were collected from a Czech bog (119) and a Croatian floodplain forest (76); 302 spider species were reported from 11 bogs in England (114), 214 spider species were reported from 23 bogs in Germany (30), and reports of 50 to >100 spider species from other wetlands are routine (e.g., 7,34,53,65,78,83,112,148); 50 to 100 species of carabids per wetland are commonly reported (20,28,78,80,81,85,110); 76 species of soil Acarina (70) and 52 species of Collembola (122) were collected from European floodplains; and 31 species of Diplopoda were reported from the Pantanal (51).…”

“…Besides comprising much of the overall biodiversity, terrestrial arthropods include many rare and threatened species in wetlands. Numerous wetland butterflies and moths (see 45,76,79,93,121) and wetland grasshoppers (62,72) have become threatened because their host plants are threatened. Nonherbivorous wetland arthropods are also threatened.…”