A provisional checklist of European butterfly larval foodplants

Successful conservation of butterflies is dependent on knowing which larval foodplants they use. However, many published lists of larval foodplants have been copied from previous lists, which in turn have been copied from previous lists. Consequently, errors have crept in, and many plant names have...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Harry E. Clarke
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pensoft Publishers 2022-04-01
Series:Nota Lepidopterologica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://nl.pensoft.net/article/72017/download/pdf/
_version_ 1797965117492559872
author Harry E. Clarke
author_facet Harry E. Clarke
author_sort Harry E. Clarke
collection DOAJ
description Successful conservation of butterflies is dependent on knowing which larval foodplants they use. However, many published lists of larval foodplants have been copied from previous lists, which in turn have been copied from previous lists. Consequently, errors have crept in, and many plant names have long been superseded. This can result in duplicates in the list, with the same plant being given two different names. Most plant lists do not include the authority, which can make it difficult or impossible to identify which plant is being referred to. For the first time, a list of the current accepted plant names utilised by 471 European butterfly larvae is presented, with references. Where possible, errors in previous lists have been removed. The list of larval foodplants doubled from previous published lists. This has resulted in a list of 1506 different plant species in 72 different families. 86 plant records are only known at the generic level. Larval foodplants of 25 butterfly species are currently unknown. Whilst most plant families are utilised by less than six butterfly species, a few plant families are particularly favoured, with the Poaceae and Fabaceae being the most popular. Similarly, most plant species are only utilised by a few butterfly species, but Festuca ovina and Festuca rubra are favoured by a large number of butterfly species. 20% of European butterfly larvae are monophagous, 50% are oligophagous, and 30% are polyphagous, with Celastrina argiolus able to use plants in 19 different families.
first_indexed 2024-04-11T01:55:09Z
format Article
id doaj.art-432ef0cddf7a4084b7f0f9a80fb0ff8c
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2367-5365
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-11T01:55:09Z
publishDate 2022-04-01
publisher Pensoft Publishers
record_format Article
series Nota Lepidopterologica
spelling doaj.art-432ef0cddf7a4084b7f0f9a80fb0ff8c2023-01-03T05:25:31ZengPensoft PublishersNota Lepidopterologica2367-53652022-04-014513916710.3897/nl.45.7201772017A provisional checklist of European butterfly larval foodplantsHarry E. Clarke0unaffiliatedSuccessful conservation of butterflies is dependent on knowing which larval foodplants they use. However, many published lists of larval foodplants have been copied from previous lists, which in turn have been copied from previous lists. Consequently, errors have crept in, and many plant names have long been superseded. This can result in duplicates in the list, with the same plant being given two different names. Most plant lists do not include the authority, which can make it difficult or impossible to identify which plant is being referred to. For the first time, a list of the current accepted plant names utilised by 471 European butterfly larvae is presented, with references. Where possible, errors in previous lists have been removed. The list of larval foodplants doubled from previous published lists. This has resulted in a list of 1506 different plant species in 72 different families. 86 plant records are only known at the generic level. Larval foodplants of 25 butterfly species are currently unknown. Whilst most plant families are utilised by less than six butterfly species, a few plant families are particularly favoured, with the Poaceae and Fabaceae being the most popular. Similarly, most plant species are only utilised by a few butterfly species, but Festuca ovina and Festuca rubra are favoured by a large number of butterfly species. 20% of European butterfly larvae are monophagous, 50% are oligophagous, and 30% are polyphagous, with Celastrina argiolus able to use plants in 19 different families.https://nl.pensoft.net/article/72017/download/pdf/PlanthabitatconservationLepidopteraPapilio
spellingShingle Harry E. Clarke
A provisional checklist of European butterfly larval foodplants
Nota Lepidopterologica
Plant
habitat
conservation
Lepidoptera
Papilio
title A provisional checklist of European butterfly larval foodplants
title_full A provisional checklist of European butterfly larval foodplants
title_fullStr A provisional checklist of European butterfly larval foodplants
title_full_unstemmed A provisional checklist of European butterfly larval foodplants
title_short A provisional checklist of European butterfly larval foodplants
title_sort a provisional checklist of european butterfly larval foodplants
topic Plant
habitat
conservation
Lepidoptera
Papilio
url https://nl.pensoft.net/article/72017/download/pdf/
work_keys_str_mv AT harryeclarke aprovisionalchecklistofeuropeanbutterflylarvalfoodplants