Publisher : Biodiversity Journal
Place of publication :
Publication year : 2015
Thematic : Species
Language : English
Note
A photographic survey of butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) was carried out over a period
of three years (2011, 2012 and 2013) in an area around the villages of Malchina, Ceroglie
and Slivia, the municipality of Duino-Aurisina near Trieste, in the Friuli Venezia-Giulia
region, northeast Italy. Historically, this area of the Triestine karst has been influenced by
human activities. Grazing intensity, however, has declined over the past 50-100 years, leading
to encroachment of the forested areas over previously more open grasslands. During the threeyear
survey period, sampling intensity, measured as the number of days during which butterflies
were observed and/or photographed, increased from year to year. In 2012 and 2013,
especially surveys began in February and continued into December. During the three years,
a total of 79 species (Papilionidae, 3; Pieridae, 11; Lycaenidae, 17, Riodinidae, 1; Nymphalidae,
37, including 15 Satyrinae; and Hesperiidae, 10), including seven listed as either
endangered or near-threatened in Europe, were identified. Among the species of European
conservation value recorded were: Scolitantides orion, Melitaea aurelia, Melitaea trivia,
Argynnis niobe, Hipparchia statilinus, Coenonympha oedippus and Carcharodus floccifera.
Strong local populations of the following regionally threatened, declining and/or protected
species were also recorded: Euphydryas aurinia, Brintesia circe, Arethusana arethusa,
Hipparchia fagi, Pyronia tithonus and Coenonympha arcania. Such intensive surveys covering
several months of each year provide in-depth knowledge of butterfly fauna in an area of
changing land use, and can provide a benchmark for future surveys against a background of
continued land-use change, as well as other pressures such as climate change.
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Keywords : fisheries
Encoded by : Pauline Carmel Joy Eje
