Diversity of tiger moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Arctiinae) along a tropical elevational gradient

Tiger Moths were sampled and identified from an elevational transect (60-2000m) on the Atlantic Slope of Costa Rica. Four hundred and sixty-three arctiine species were represented among the 3300 sampled adults. Abundance and biomass increased with elevation to 1500m, while species diversity peaked at low to mid elevations. Arctiines accounted for one-third of the biomass in blacklight samples from 1500m, a result that contrasts sharply with their relative (ecological) importance in temperate ecosystems. Rarefaction estimates indicate that low- to mid-elevation sites in Costa Rica support more than 300 arctiine species and thus exceed in richness the entirety of the North American tiger moth fauna.