High Altitude Papilionoidea (Lepidoptera) of Tsaghkunyatc mountains in Armenia and Their Diversity Along the Altitudinal Gradient

Authors

  • Noushig Zarikian Center of Zoology and Hydroecology, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Republic of Armenia
  • Hasmik G. Khachatryan Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. P. Sevak Street 7, 0014, Yerevan, Armenia
  • Mark Yu. Kalashyan Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. P. Sevak Street 7, 0014, Yerevan, Armenia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53555/ans.v5i9.1132

Keywords:

Abundance, Armenia, even¬ness, Diversity, Papilionoidea, Species richness

Abstract

This study tries to link the butterfly species diveristy along the altitudinal span of Tsaghkunyatc mountain in Armenia. Butterflies were collected from March to October 2015-2017. A checklist of 129 species is given and their abundances/diversity was calculated for 10 altitudinal zones. This revealed that the relationship between the observed numbers and abundance of butterfly species and and altitude follows hump-shaped curve  – i.e the highest diversity in the mid elevation. A significant relationship was recorded between the altitude and the species richness and abundance and the relation followed the usual hump-shaped curve. However, the diversity and evenness indexes did not follow the hump-shaped pattern, but yielded a semi-constant relation with altitude. This could be explained by the existence of several species that typicaly found only on the highest altitudes. These results could be applied for habitat management in general and especially for planning of Protected Areas in this region.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Baloyan, S.A. (1987). Seasonal dynamics of alpine plant communities in the Mt. Aragats. VINITI 3639-B87, Moscow: 7-38.
Bozano, G.C. (1999). Satyridae part I. Lethini Subfamily Elymniinae, Tribe Lethini (Lasiommata, Pararge, Lopinga, Kirinia, Chonale, Tatinga, Rhaphicera, Ninguta, Neope, Lethe, Neorina). In: G.C. Bozano (ed.) Guide to the butterflies of the palearctic region - Omnes Artes, Milano, 58 pp.
Bozano, G.C. (ed.). (2001). Lycaenidae I: Lycaeninae. Lycaena, Hycranana, Athamanthia, Phoenicurusia, Heliophorus. Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Omnes Artes, Milano, 62 pp.
Bozano, G.C. (ed.). (2002). Satyridae II: Satyrini. 2. ed. Argestina, Boeberia, Callerebia, Grumia, Hemadara, Loxerebia, Paralasa, Proterebia. Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Omnes Artes, Milano, 59 pp.
Bozano GC (ed.). (2002). Satyridae III: Melanargiina and Coenonymphina Melanargia, Coenonympha, Sinonympha, Triphysa. Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Omnes Artes, Milano, 71 pp.
Bozano GC (ed.).( 2003). Nymphalidae I. Argynnini. Argynnis, Issoria, Brenthis, Argyreus. Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Omnes Artes, Milano, 86 pp.
Bozano GC (ed.). (2006). Nymphalidae 2. Boloria, Proclossiana, Clossiana. Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Omnes Artes, Milano. 86 pp.
Bozano GC (ed.). (2007). Lycaenidae III: Theclinae: Tomarini, Aphnaeini, Theclini. partim). Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Omnes Artes, Milano. 97 pp.
Bozano GC (ed.). (2008). Nymphalidae III: Limenitidinae: Neptini. Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Omnes Artes, Milano. 90 pp.
Bozano GC (ed.). (2009). Papilionidae I: Leptocircini and Teinopalpini. Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Omnes Artes, Milano. 69 pp.
Bozano GC (ed.). (2010). Papilionidae II. Troidini. pp. 86. It includes a full revision of the genus Byasa. Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Omnes Artes, Milano.
Bozano GC (ed.). (2011a). Satyrinae IV. Maniola, Pyronia, Aphantopus, Hyponephele. Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Omnes Artes, Milano. 102 pp.
Bozano GC (ed.). (2011b). Nymphalidae 4: Apaturinae. Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Omnes Artes, Milano. 90 pp.
Bozano GC (ed.). (2012). Nymphalidae 5: Nymphalini, Kallimini, Junoniini. Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Omnes Artes, Milano. 90 pp.
Colwell, R.K., & Lees DC. (2000). The mid-domain effect: geometric constraints on the geography of species richness. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 15: 70-76.
Despland, E., Humire, R., & San Martin, S. (2012). Species richness and phenology of butterflies along an altitude gradient in the desert of Northern Chile. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 44 423-431 10.1657/19384246-44.4.423
Fiedler, K., & Beck E. (2008). Investigating gradients in ecosystem analysis. In: Beck E, Bendix J, Kottke I, Makeschin F, Mosamdl R (eds.). Gradients in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem of Ecuador. Springer, Berlin. Guliashvili VZ, Mahatadze LB, Prilipko LI. 1975. Rastitelnost Kavkaza. Nauka, Moscow.
Haslett, J.R. (1997). Insect communities and the spatial complexity of mountain habitats. Global Ecology and Biogeography 6: 49-56.
Hesselbarth, G., Van Oorschot, H., & Wagner, S. (1995). Die Tagfalter der Turkei unter berücksichtigung der angrenzenden länder, Bocholt (Selbstverlag), 3 Bande. 847pp. [Germany]
Hodkinson, I.D. (2005). Terrestrial insects along elevation gradients: species and community responses to altitude. Biological Reviews 80: 489-513.
Holubec, V., & Křivka, P. (2006). The Caucasus and its Flowers. LOXIA, Prague. 390 pp.
Kawahara, A.Y. & Breinholt, J.W. (2014). Phylogenomics provides strong evidence for relationships of butterflies and moths. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 281 (1788): 20140970:1-8.
Korb, S.K. (1994). A Vertical distribution of Ropalocera (Lepidoptera) within the Kirghiz mountain ridge. Zoologicheskii zhurnal. 73(7–8): 123–129. [Russian].
Korb, S.K., & Bolshakov, L.V. (2016). A systematic catalogue of butterflies of the former Soviet Union (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lituania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan) with special account to their type specimens (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea, Papilionoidea). Zootaxa 4160 (1): 1-324.
Lomolino, M.V. (2001). Elevation gradients of species-density: historical and prospective views. Global Ecology and Biogeography 10: 3-13.
Magurran, A.E. (2003). Measuring Biological Diversity. Blackwell, Malden, M.A. 260 pp.
Mani, M.S. (1968). Ecology and Biogeography of High Altitude Insects. Dr. W. Junk, The Hague , xiv + 527 pp.
Nazarian Kh. (1974). Aragats. Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia, Volume I: 677–678. [Armenian].
Pyrcz, T., Wojtusiak, J., & Garlacz, R. (2009). Diversity and distribution patterns of Pronophilina butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) along an altitudinal transect in north-western Ecuador Neotropical Entomology 38: 716-726.
Rahbek, C. (2005). The role of spatial scale and the perception of large-scale species-richness patterns. Ecology Letters 8: 224-239.
SPSS INC. (2006): SPSS for Windows. Ver. 14.0. SPSS Inc.
Tembotova, F.A., & Tsepkova, N.L. (2009). On the problem of steppe ecosystem conservation in the Central Caucasus. Russian Journal of Ecology 40: 65-67.
Tshikolovets, V., Nekrutenko, Y. (2012). The butterflies of Caucasus and Transcaucasia. Tshikolovets Publications, Pardubice. 423 pp.
Tuzov, V.K. (1993). The synonymic List of Butterflies from the ex- USSR. Rosagroservice, Moscow. 74 pp.

Downloads

Published

2019-10-31

How to Cite

Zarikian, N., Khachatryan, H. G., & Kalashyan, M. Y. (2019). High Altitude Papilionoidea (Lepidoptera) of Tsaghkunyatc mountains in Armenia and Their Diversity Along the Altitudinal Gradient. International Journal For Research In Applied And Natural Science, 5(9), 15–26. https://doi.org/10.53555/ans.v5i9.1132

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 9 (2019): International Journal For Research In Applied And Natural Science (ISSN: 2208-2085)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2019 International Journal For Research In Applied And Natural Science (ISSN: 2208-2085)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In consideration of the journal, Green Publication taking action in reviewing and editing our manuscript, the authors undersigned hereby transfer, assign, or otherwise convey all copyright ownership to the Editorial Office of the Green Publication in the event that such work is published in the journal. Such conveyance covers any product that may derive from the published journal, whether print or electronic. Green Publication shall have the right to register copyright to the Article in its name as claimant, whether separately
or as part of the journal issue or other medium in which the Article is included.

By signing this Agreement, the author(s), and in the case of a Work Made For Hire, the employer, jointly and severally represent and warrant that the Article is original with the author(s) and does not infringe any copyright or violate any other right of any third parties, and that the Article has not been published elsewhere, and is not being considered for publication elsewhere in any form, except as provided herein. Each author’s signature should appear below. The signing author(s) (and, in