The Temporal Occurrence of Morpho helenor achillides and M. menelaus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): The Influence of Weather and Food Resources

The seasonality of fruit-feeding butterflies is very well known. However, few studies have analyzed the influence of climatic variables and resource availability on butterfly temporal distributions. Morpho helenor achillides(C. Felder & R. Felder, 1867) and M. menelaus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Nymphalidae) were used as models to investigate the influence of climatic factors and food resources on the temporal distribution of these Morphinae butterflies. These butterflies were collected weekly, from January 2005 to December 2006, in the Parque Nacional de Brasília (PNB). In all, 274 M. helenor achillides and 134 M. menelaus were collected, a total of 408 individuals. The relative abundance of the two species was similar in 2005 (n = 220) and 2006 (n = 188). Of the variables considered, only the relative humidity and the resource availability measured in terms of the phenology of the zoochorous fruits of herbaceous plants explained a large proportion of the variation in the abundance of these butterflies. Both of the explanatory variables were positively associated with the total abundance of individuals and with the abundances of M. helenor achillides and M. menelaus considered separately. The phenology of anemochorus fruits was negatively associated with butterfly abundance. The temporal distribution of the butterflies was better predicted by the phenology of the zoochorous fruits of herbaceous plants than by the climatic predictors.