Caracterização e diversidade da fauna de borboletas frugívoras (lepidoptera, nymphalidae) em floresta estacional semidecidual da reserva biológica guaribas no litoral norte da Paraíba

Abstract

Biodiversity is one of the most striking and essential characteristics of natural ecosystems, playing a fundamental role in their stability and resilience. Butterflies provide an excellent basis for ecological and evolutionary research, offering indicators of the ecosystem quality in which the species reside. This study aimed to characterize the frugivorous butterfly fauna in terms of composition, diversity, and seasonality in the Semideciduous Seasonal Forest of REBIO Guaribas. To achieve this, butterflies of the Nymphalidae family from the Guaribas Biological Reserve were sampled, using VanSomeren-Rydon traps, with four traps organized along four trails in the reserve, totaling 16 traps. During the collection period, from November 2 to 5, 2023, 29 butterflies were found across the 16 traps set along the four trails in the Guaribas Biological Reserve. The traps that yielded the highest number of butterflies were Trap 1 on Trail 3 (n=5) and Trap 3 on Trails 1 (n=5) and 3 (n=5), followed by Trap 2 on Trails 3 (n=5) and 4 (n=4), and Traps 3 and 4 on Trail 4 (both with n=4). Regarding butterfly counts per trail, Trail 3 had the highest numbers on November 3 (n=8) and November 5 (n=9), followed by Trail 4 on the same days, with 7 butterflies on November 3 and 8 on November 5. Among the species identified, Taygetis thamyra was dominant (n=13; 45%), followed by Taygetis laches and Archaeoprepona demophon (each with n=3). Thus, this study enabled the characterization of the diversity of frugivorous butterfly fauna in a semideciduous seasonal forest within the Guaribas Biological Reserve, located on the northern coast of Paraíba.