Saturniidae, Sphingidae and Geometridae (Lepidoptera) of Yabotí Biosphere Reserve (Argentina) and surroundings

Abstract

In this work it is presented the first list of Saturniidae, Sphingidae and Geometridae moths (Lepidoptera) of Yabotí Biosphere Reserve and surrounding areas in Misiones province, Argentina. This reserve is one of the largest protected areas of the “Paranaense forest” ecoregion, which while it is the most biodiverse in Argentina, it is also a highly vulnerable ecosystem threatened by extreme fragmentation and degradation caused by human activities. Fieldwork was carried out in eight sites during spring and summer in 2012. The moths were attracted to light traps and collected individually. Species accumulation curves were performed and non-parametric estimators of richness were calculated to assess the completeness of the samples. Saturniidae family was represented by 22 species, with four new records for Argentina: Paradaemonia meridionalis (Arsenurinae), Catacantha ferruginea, Hidripa paranensis and Travassosula subfumata (Hemileucinae). In addition, 21 species of Sphingidae and 40 species of Geometridae were identified with six new records of the latter for Argentina: Opisthoxia corinnaria, O. aurelia, Polla carnipennis and P. ochreicosta (Ennominae), Eois isographata (Larentiinae) and the first record of Racasta (Oenochrominae). The number of species collected in each family represents about 60 % of the total expected in the study area, so an increase in the sampling effort is proposed. In addition, the lack of information on the biology and ecology of most of the species found sustains the need for more research on these aspects.