Biodiversidad de Lepidoptera en México

The phenology of butterflies was analyzed in the Calakmul Region (CR) in the state of Campeche, México, over the course of 3 years. Altogether, 60,662 individuals were recorded, consisting of 359 species in 207 genera, 18 subfamilies, 5 families, and 2 superfamilies. Greatest species diversity was recorded during Oct and Nov. Monthly fluctuation in diversity was defined by rare species. Hesperiidae (135 species) and Nymphalidae (111 species) were the most diverse families, and showed the greatest variation with respect to distribution of species richness throughout the year. Papilionidae showed the greatest species richness during the dry season. Pieridae, Nymphalidae, and Lycaenidae showed peaks of greatest species richness and relative abundance during the rainy season. Results were compared to faunal studies of the Sierra de Atoyac de Álvarez, in the state of Guerrero, and of the Sierra de Manantlán, in Jalisco and Colima. Important similarities were observed among phenological patterns in the... Resumen La fenología de las mariposas fue analizada en la región de Calakmul (CR), Campeche, México. A lo largo de tres años se registraron 60,662 individuos, de 359 especies en 207 géneros, 18 subfamilias, cinco familias, y dos superfamilias. La mayor diversidad fue registrada durante octubre y noviembre. La fluctuación mensual de la diversidad fue definida por las especies raras. Las familias con mayor diversidad fueron Hesperiidae (135 especies) y Nymphalidae (111 especies) y presentaron la mayor variación con respecto a la distribución de la riqueza de especies a través del año. Papilionidae mostró la riqueza más grande de especies durante la estación seca. Pieridae, Nymphalidae y Lycaenidae presentaron sus máximos de riqueza de especies y abundancia relativa durante la estación lluviosa. Se hizo una comparación entre el presente estudio y los de fauna de Atoyac de Álvarez, en el estado de Guerrero, y de Manantlan, en Jalisco y Colima. Se observaron semejanzas entre la fenología de las tres regiones, ...

In many butterfly species of the family Lycaenidae, the morphology and color pattern of the hind wings, together with certain behaviors, suggests the presence of a false head (FH) at the posterior end of the perching individual. This FH is considered an adaptation to escape from visually oriented predators. A frequent component of the FH are the tails that presumably resemble the antennae, and the typical hind wings back-and-forth movement along the sagittal plane (HWM) performed while perching apparently move the tails in a way that mimics antennal movement. By exposing 33 individuals from 18 species of Lycaenidae to a stuffed insectivorous bird, we tested two alternative hypotheses regarding HWM. The first hypothesis proposes that, when the butterfly is observed at close range, the HWM distorts the shape of the false head thus reducing its deceiving effect and, therefore, selection will favor butterflies that stop moving their wings when a predator is close by; the second hypothesis says that an increase in the frequency of HWM improves its deflective effect when the butterfly confronts a predator at close range. Our results tend to support the second hypothesis because half of the butterflies started to move their hind wings or increased the rate of HWM when exposed to the stuffed bird; however a substantial proportion of butterflies (30%) stopped moving their hind wings or decreased the rate of HWM as expected from the first hypothesis. Our observations also showed that there is great variation in the rates of HWM, and demonstrated the existence of alternative ways of producing “vivid” movement of the hind wing tails (the “false antennae”) in the absence of HWM.