Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.20302/NC.2015.24.17
Contribution to the knowledge of the butterfly and skipper fauna of northern Dalmatia mainland
Rudi Verovnik
; University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Biology, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Toni Koren
; Croatian Herpetological Society – Hyla, I. Lipovac 7, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Gordana Glavan
; University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Biology, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
The mainland of northern Dalmatia has been surprisingly omitted from recent faunistic studies of butterfly fauna in the Croatian coastal region. In order to fill this gap we summarized our observations made in the regionduring the last two decades. Altogether 81 species were recorded, including several rare and potentially threatened species. Among these the distribution of the following species is discussed in detail: Carcharodus orientalis, Gegenes pumilio, Euchloe ausonia, Cacyreus marshalli, Tarucus balkanica, Polyommatus thersites, Euphydryas aurinia, Hyponephele lupina, and Proterebia afra. Although the butterfly diversity and conservation value of the region are not exceptionally high, some locations, in particular valleys of the Bijelina and Karišnica, could be designated as micro-reserves for conservation of high butterfly diversity including the majority of the threatened species in the region. Abandonment and subsequent overgrowing together with habitat destruction due to building of infrastructure and extensions of urban areas have been recognised as the most important factors causing butterfly declines in the region.
Keywords
Lepidoptera; Papilionoidea & Hesperioidea; distribution; diversity; conservation
Hrčak ID:
149881
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2015.
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