Butterflies

Butterflies

The goal of research on butterflies lies in surveying and documenting the species diversity. Even though one would expect that everything is already known about this centuries long popular insect species, nevertheless, during the time of surveying, several hundred species were additionally confirmed for the state by the zoological curators. Several species were even completely new for science, and even now there is an unexplained, cryptic diversity in this animal family in Carinthia.

Besides the documentation of the characteristic fauna of Carinthia, the species pool is supplemented by populations in extreme locations. Currently, in the time of climate change, special attention is given to newcomers and to non-indigenous animals brought in by humans. Every year, a number of southern, and even exotic species appear in Central Europe.

It is much more difficult to make a well-grounded statement about species that quietly become victims of change. Butterflies die quietly…..

Weiterführende Literatur

Huemer P. (2000): Elachista wieseriella sp.n., eine neue Schmetterlingsart aus Kärnten (Lepidoptera, Elachistidae). — Carinthia II (190/110): 127-134.