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

Contribution to the knowledge of butterfly and moth fauna (Insecta: Lepidoptera) of Gornje Plavnice, Bjelovar, Croatia – result of a one year photographic study

“…E. atomaria was found on the leaves of Trifolium sp., used as food plant for caterpillars of this species (Koren & Gomboc, 2017) and, like P. tentacularia and Heliothis viriplaca, on the flower of the invasive species Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. Meadows in the study area are also inhabited by Mentha sp., one of the host plants of Scopula ornata (found near the house light), as well as by plants from the genus Galium, Stellaria and Campanula, host plants of another species of Geometer moths, Xanthorhoe ferrugata, recorded near the house light (Koren et al, 2015).…”

“…Moth species like Cydia pomonella, Celypha striana, Oncocera semirubella, Pyrausta purpuralis, Nomophila noctuella, Chiasmia clathrata, Selenia lunularia, Ematurga atomaria, Idaea ochrata, Polypogon tentacularia, Euclidia glyphica, Deltote bankiana, found on the meadows in the study area, mainly appeared on the leaves of the plants from the family Poaceae. Acontia trabealis was photographed on the leaves of Convolvulus arvensis L., A. trabealis the main food plant (Koren et al, 2015), whereas Acontia lucida was found on the flower of the Centaurea sp. Tyta luctuosa was found resting on a leaf of Achillea millefolium L., close to the part inhabited with Convolvulus arvensis L. and species of the genus Plantago, used for the feeding of T. luctuosa caterpillars (Koren & Gomboc, 2017).…”

“…Pieris rapae is often found in cultivated Brassica fields (Friberg et al, 2015); in the study area such fields are usually treated with pesticides two-three times a year, which constitues a threat for their population. An individual from a moth species from the family Erebidae, Polypogon tentacularia, was photographed while sitting on a leaf of Zea maysL., near fallow land inhabited by the P. tentacularia host plant from the genus Solidago, Solidago canadensis L. (Koren et al, 2015), while Autographa gamma was photographed on the leaf of Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers. Although the study area includes some parcels with intensive agriculture, some parcels sown with Triticum aestivum L. are not treated with herbicides and pesticides, and so create a habitat for Matricaria sp.…”

“…Although more numerous, moths are little represented in the literature in Croatia, while for butterfly fauna there is much more published information, as well as the first checklist of Croatian butterflies (Šašić & Mihoci, 2011) and a Red Book of Butterflies of Croatia (Šašić et al, 2015). However, there have been some improvements, through newly published data about moths in Croatia such as the first checklist of the Arctiinae subfamily (Kučinić et al, 2014), the moth fauna of Motovun forest (Koren et al, 2015), of Lonjsko polje , the surroundings of the Bednja River, Varaždin County (Koren, 2018). However, for some areas in Croatia, fauna of neither butterflies nor moths is sufficiently studied; one such area is that of in the Bjelovar-Bilogora area, within Bjelovar-Bilogora County.…”

On the discovery of Arytrura musculus (Menetries, 1859) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) in Croatia

“…While large parts of the country still remain insufficiently studied, during the last few years new overviews of the moth fauna of several smaller parts of Croatia were published, greatly contributing to the general knowledge about the moth diversity within the country. This mainly includes Krk Island (1), central Istria (2,3) and Kopački Rit Nature Park (4). Recently several Macroheterocera species were recorded as additions to the country's rich moth fauna, e.g.…”