Peter F. McGrath

• Biodiversity Journal, 6 (1): 053-072

  Peter F. McGrath
  A multi-year survey of the butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) of a defined area of the Triestine karst, Italy

  ABSTRACT
  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 three-year 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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