Phengaris alcon is an endangered, ant-associated butterfly found, amongst other places, in Denmark, where it has undergone a severe decline during the last century. However, the population genetic consequences of this decline remain unknown. To explore past and current patterns in population structure in relation to the decline, we analyzed DNA microsatellite data from 184 recent and 272 historical P. alcon specimens from 44 spatiotemporal locations in Denmark. We thus generated the most temporally and spatially comprehensive population genetic dataset for P. alcon in Denmark so far. Our results for the Bayesian population assignment of recent samples revealed three major current genetic clusters: western Jutland, northern Jutland, and the island of Læsø. Estimates of genetic diversity showed signs of inbreeding in several extant populations. When including data from museum specimens, only a single locatSion showed a decline in heterozygosity between 1967 and 2021. We suggest that the two distinct clusters in western and northern Jutland indicate two temporally separated Holocene colonizations of Denmark, the latter of which may have been aided by changes in agricultural practice in the late Neolithic period. The unique genetic signature of the Læsø populations may be a result of the admixture of northern Jutland and western Swedish populations. Full article

This work presents the first outcomes resulting from a DNA barcode reference library of lepidopteran species from Malta. The library presented here was constructed from the specimens collected between 2015 and 2019 and covers the genetic barcodes of 146 species (ca. 25% of lepidopterous Maltese fauna), including four newly recorded Lepidoptera species from the Maltese islands: Apatema baixerasi, Bostra dipectinialis, Oiketicoides lutea, and Phereoeca praecox. The DNA reference barcode library constructed during this study was analyzed in conjunction with publicly available DNA barcodes and used to assess the ability of the local DNA barcodes to discriminate species. Results showed that each species occupies a different BOLD BIN; therefore, DNA barcoding was able to discriminate between the studied species. Our data led to the formation of 12 new BOLD BINs—that is, OTUs that were identified during this work—while nearly 46% of the barcodes generated during this study were never recorded on conspecifics, further indicating the uniqueness of genetic diversity on these central Mediterranean islands. The outcomes of this study highlight the integrative taxonomic approach, where molecular taxonomy plays an important role for biodiversity investigation in its entirety. Full article

(1) Background: Monitoring programs are essential to conservation but are often restricted by limited financial resources. Optimal monitoring can lead to higher cost-effectiveness. (2) Methods: In this study, we used butterflies as bioindicators to assess the effects of filling a dam in the Brazilian Amazon. We studied the effects of flooding on butterfly assemblages through samples collected before and after the flooding. We contrasted three sampling techniques: baited traps in the (a) canopy and (b) understory and (c) active collections using entomological nets. (3) Results: Community composition showed low resistance, with pronounced changes after disturbance, and low resilience, with the failure to recover taxonomic diversity even after two years. We found that using the three techniques together was redundant and baited understory traps alone were sufficient to detect community changes. (4) Conclusions: Our study adds to the currently limited knowledge about the effects of hydroelectric plants on terrestrial insect fauna. In addition, identifying cost-effective monitoring, which is often lacking in conservation studies, allows projects to use time and financial resources more efficiently, particularly given the financial limitations available for conservation studies in tropical countries. Full article

Introduction: In animals, body size is correlated with many aspects of natural history, such as life span, abundance, dispersal capacity and diet breadth. However, contrasting trends have been reported for the relationship between body size and these ecological traits. Methods: Fruit-feeding butterflies were used to investigate whether body size is correlated with species abundance, dispersal, permanence, and larval diet breadth in a Neotropical savanna in Brazil (Cerrado). We used Blomberg’s K and Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares models (PGLS) to measure phylogenetic signal strength in species traits and to estimate size–dispersal–diet breadth associations, while also taking shared ancestry into account. Results: 539 individuals from 27 species were captured, and 190 individuals were recaptured, representing a 35% recapture rate. We found body size to be negatively associated with butterfly abundance, and positively associated with dispersal level, distance traveled, number of traps visited, individual permanence, and diet breadth. These results indicate that larger butterflies are more likely to disperse over longer distances. Moreover, larger butterflies have more generalized larval diets, based on the number of host plant families, genera, and phylogenetic diversity of the host plants they consume as larvae. Smaller butterflies rely on fewer resources, which is reflected in their higher survival in small patches and may explain their lower dispersal ability and higher diet specialization. Nevertheless, lower dispersal ability may, if not compensated by large population sizes, threaten small-bodied species inhabiting environments, such as the Cerrado, which have intense deforestation rates. Conclusions: Body size is positively associated with dispersal and diet breadth for the fruit-feeding butterflies collected in this study. Full article

Most evaluations of passive regeneration/natural succession or restoration have dealt with tropical rain forest or temperate ecosystems. Very few studies have examined the regeneration of tropical dry forests (TDF), one of the most damaged ecosystem types in the world. Owing to their species diversity and abundance, insects have been widely used as bioindicators of restoration. Butterflies were among the most abundant and useful groups. We sampled four sites with different levels of anthropogenic disturbance in a Mexican TDF (Morelos State) and compared butterfly communities. A first goal was to examine whether adult butterflies were significant bioindicators owing to their specificity to restricted habitats. A second aim was to determine if differences exist in butterfly communities between some fields abandoned from 4–8, 8–15 and 15–30 years and a reference zone considered as primary forest. We found 40% to 50% of the species of butterflies were specifically related to a habitat and/or a level of anthropogenic disturbance. The time it takes for passive regeneration and recovery of the Mexican tropical dry forest is much higher than 25 years (our older zone), considering that almost none of the butterflies found in our conserved reference zone were present in our 25 year aged study zone. Full article

Lepidoptera, an order of insects traditionally linked to the aerial habitat, are much more diverse in their living environment than the clichéd image we may have of them. The imago stage, which is the most visible in these insects, is not the one that has the most interaction with the environment (usually caterpillars) nor the one that lasts the longest (very often chrysalises). These two stages are often directly related to litter and soil, although only the interaction at the pupal stage seems to follow a phylogenetic logic with two independent evolutionary events for the preference with soil: Use of litter and the upper “O” horizon as protection against predation for the evolutionarily oldest Lepidoptera families, pupation at greater depths (up to 60 centimetres in extreme cases) for the most derived Lepidoptera families; this probably to take advantage of the thermal and moisture buffer provided by the soil. An estimate suggests that about 25% of lepidopteran species worldwide have more or less obligatory interactions with soil. Full article

The family Lecithoceridae (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea) is one of the more poorly known groups of microlepidoptera, even though it is a highly diverse group containing more than 1430 known species so far. During the last two decades since the end of the 20th century, the author has intensively studied the family Lecithoceridae, especially for the less explored areas including southern Asia and the Oceanian and Afrotropical regions. Throughout these studies, the author (often with his co-authors) described the new subfamily Crocanthinae Park, 2015, 32 new genera, and over 540 new species of the family. In this article, a historical review for the taxonomic works of the family since the comprehensive study by Gozmány is briefly summarized, with a comparison of the number of genera/species of each subfamily, and the number of the species by the subfamily in each region of the world. All available information on the phylogeny, biology, morphological characters of subfamilies, and zoogeographical remarks for the distribution of family are listed and discussed. Full article