Biotemas (Dec 2008)
Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea) visiting flowers in the Botanical Garden of the Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil
Abstract
Urban environments, such as parks and gardens, may offer many alimentary resources, besides shelter and favorable conditions, for butterfly survival. This study aimed to make an inventory of butterflies visiting flowers in the Botanical Garden of the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM). From March 2006 to March 2007, the floral visitors were observed weekly for 2h. After 108 hours’ observations, 1114 visits by 39 butterfly species, associated with 43 plant species (21 families), were confirmed. Among the butterflies, Nymphalidae had the highest richness of species (S= 18), followed by Hesperiidae (S= 8), Pieridae (S= 7), Papilionidae (S= 4) and Lycaenidae (S= 2). The pierid Phoebis philea philea was the most frequent species (188 visits), followed by hesperiids Urbanus proteus proteus (100), U. teleus (73) and the nymphalid Heliconius erato phyllis (71). Lantana camara (Verbenaceae), Eupatorium laevigatum (Asteraceae), Russelia equisetiformis (Scrophulariaceae) and Stachytarpheta cayennensis (Verbenaceae) were the most visited plants. The Botanical Garden of UFSM is an example of an urban park that seems to provide floral resources for the feeding of many butterfly species, being also a potential refuge for species from forest areas nearby.
