Contribution to the knowledge of the spring butterfly fauna of the Republic of Macedonia (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea & Hesperioidea)

Abstract

In spring 2010, we encountered 60 butterfly species during field surveys centred mainly in the under-surveyed southeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia. We visited 23 localities, where several interesting observations were made. Among these, new sites of some rare species such as Pontia chloridice, Pieris krueperi, Plebejus sephirus, Scolitantides orion, Tarucus balkanicus, Melitaea ornata, Carcharodus orientalis, and Erynnis marloyi should be mentioned. Such a high number of species observed indicates an overall high butterfly diversity of this region, particularly in the lower Vardar valley. Here, several specific habitats hosting rare and threatened species were discovered. The anthropogenic pressure on important butterfly habitat is still low in the surveyed area; however, the first signs of large scale abandonment are already visible.Spomladi 2010 smo med terenskimi raziskavami, usmerjenimi predvsem v manj raziskani jugovzhodni del Republike Makedonije, zabeležili 60 vrst dnevnih metuljev. Obiskali smo 23 lokacij in našli številne zanimive in redke vrste. Med njimi lahko posebej omenimo nova najdišča za Pontia chloridice, Pieris krueperi, Plebejus sephirus, Scolitantides orion, Tarucus balkanicus, Melitaea ornata, Carcharodus orientalis in Erynnis marloyi. Veliko število opaženih vrst v pomladanskem obdobju nakazuje visoko vrstno pestrost dnevnih metuljev tega območja, še posebej spodnjega dela doline reke Vardar. Tu smo odkrili nekaj specifičnih življenjskih okolij z redkimi in ogroženimi vrstami metuljev. Antropogeni vpliv na življenjski prostor, pomemben za metulje, je na tem območju še vedno omejen, po drugi strani pa se nekatera območja velikih travniških površin pospešeno zaraščajo.