Whittleia retiella (Newman, 1847) is a threatened salt marsh species of the bagworm moth family Psychidae. For its preservation it is necessary to develop efficient tools to survey its distribution and habitat requirements in order to use appropriate conservation methods. Such tools may be pheromone-based monitoring systems, which have documented efficacy in establishing the occurrence of cryptic insect species in nature. By using gas chromatography combined with electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD), we found two compounds in female W. retiella headspace samples and whole-body extracts that elicited electrophysiological activity in male antennae. Gas chromatograpy coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) operating in electron impact (EI) mode and comparison of the analytical data with those of synthetic reference compounds showed the chemical structures of these putative pheromone components to be (1S)-1-methylpropyl (5Z)-dec-5-enoate and 1-methylethyl (5Z)-dec-5-enoate. Field assays using baits loaded with synthetic compounds revealed that conspecific males were attracted to (1S)-1-methylpropyl (5Z)-dec-5-enoate alone or in combination with 1-methylethyl (5Z)-dec-5-enoate, whereas 1-methylethyl (5Z)-dec-5-enoate neither attracted nor repelled males in the field assays when tested alone. This study shows the potential of using (1S)-1-methylpropyl (5Z)-dec-5-enoate for monitoring W. retiella to gather more detailed information about the geographic distribution and habitat needs of this rare moth.

In this study, we examined the evolutionary outcome of and interplay between historic isolation and current selection pressures on traits more or less closely connected to fitness in the Pearly Heath butterfly (Coenonympha arcania) across its range in Europe. We hypothesized that a trait mean is more related to historic events if it has low connection to fitness, while a trait more closely connected with fitness is expected to have a mean that relates more to current selection pressures. In order to test this, we collected 322 butterflies from across the species range in Europe and measured five wing traits relating to size and color patterns. To infer a phylogeographic history for each individual, we sequenced a 594 bp fragment of the COI gene. The morphological data were then analyzed in relation to selected climatic variables and the history of individuals to disentangle which factors best correlated with morphological variation. The results supported our hypothesis in that wing sizes correlated with summer precipitation but not with its inferred location during the last glaciation. Eyespot position, on the other hand, correlated with the history of individuals but not with the analyzed climatic indicators. The sizes of the black spot and the white band, two traits that were expected to have intermediate selection pressure, were associated with both history and current conditions. Thus, this study illustrates the fascinating interplay between events and processes that lead to a specific evolutionary outcome.

Burnet moths (Zygaena spp.) are day-flying Lepidoptera considered indicative of species-rich grasslands. In the present study, our aim was to clarify whether clear-cuts are habitat, supporting habitat or matrix for three species of Zygaena. We did so by sampling these species with sex pheromones on 48 clear-cuts, varying in amount of host and nectar plants, in southern Sweden. To compare the efficiency of such sampling, we also conducted transect walks on these clearcuts. Overall, host-plants on clear-cuts best explained the abundance of Zygaena spp. recorded, better than nectar-plants or connectivity with nearby grasslands. These results indicate that clear-cuts with an abundance of host plants are used as a fully functional habitat, and not a supporting habitat in the sense of only providing nectar. There is no support in these results for considering clear-cuts as an inert matrix. With about half the work-effort, pheromone traps recorded 100 times more Zygaena spp. as transect walks. The poor correspondence between observations during transects walks and pheromone trap catches suggest Zygaena spp. being difficult to monitor by transect walks. In contrast to grasslands, clear-cuts are short-term in nature requiring repeated recolonization, indicating the importance of permanent grasslands. However, clear-cuts are important temporary insect habitats due to their great acreage, and suitable management can increase the time they remain a habitat.

I denna nya fältguide till svenska dagfjärilar beskrivs drygt 180 arter, underarter, former och tillfälliga besökare. Boken är rikt illustrerad och fjärilarna åtföljs av fotografier på hane, hona och undersida jämte grafiska bilder över utbredningar och flygtider. Boken är den tredje i Naturcentrums serie om växter och djur i Sverige. Tidigare har "Lavar - en fältguide" och "Mossor en fältguide" utgivits.

Ett kort inledande avsnitt beskriver bokens tillkomst, hur den är uppbyggd, terminologi, litteratur samt lite om fjärilsskådning. Därefter följer bokens huvuddel som utgörs av artbeskrivningarna och ca 1.000 illustrationer ledsagar läsaren. Boken, som omfattar 200 sidor, är framtagen av Sven Birkedal, naturälskare och fotograf från Åhus. Fjärilsforskaren Nils Ryrholm har stått för kompletterade texter och beskrivningar, vetenskaplig granskning, utbredningskartor, flygtider, m. m.

Red Lists are very valuable tools in nature conservation at global, continental and (sub-) national scales. In an attempt to prioritise conservation actions for European butterflies, we compiled a database with species lists and Red Lists of all European countries, including the Macaronesian archipelagos (Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands). In total, we compiled national species lists for 42 countries and national Red Lists for 34 of these. The most species-rich countries in Europe are Italy, Russia and France with more than 250 species each. Endemic species are mainly found on the Macaronesian archipelagos and on the Mediterranean islands. By attributing numerical values proportionate to the threat statuses in the different national Red List categories, we calculated a mean Red List value for every country (cRLV) and a weighted Red List value for every species (wsRLV) using the square root of the country’s area as a weighting factor. Countries with the highest cRLV were industrialised (NW) European countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Denmark, whereas large Mediterranean countries such as Spain and Italy had the lowest cRLV. Species for which a Red List assessment was available in at least two European countries and with a relatively high wsRLV (≥ 50) are Colias myrmidone, Pseudochazara orestes, Tomares nogelii, Colias chrysotheme and Coenonympha oedippus. We compared these wsRLVs with the species statuses on the European Red List to identify possible mismatches. We discuss how this complementary method can help to prioritise butterfly conservation on the continental and/or the (sub-)national scale.

Arctic and alpine environments present extreme, but different, challenges to survival. We therefore studied the ecological adaptation of the arctic-alpine fritillary Boloria napaea in northern Sweden and compared these results with the eastern Alps. Using mark-release-recapture, we analysed phenology, mobility, activity patterns, change in wing condition and nectar sources. The phenology showed no protandry, but a longer flight period of the females. Wing conditions revealed a linear decay being quicker in males than females. The mean flight distances were higher for males than females (143 vs 92 m). In general, males were more flight active, while females invested more time in feeding and resting. The shortness of the flight period in the Arctic is apparently a particular adaptation to these harsh conditions, not even allowing protandry, and constraining all individuals to hatch during a short period. These conditions also forced the individuals to concentrate on flight and alimentation. In general, Arctic and Alpine populations of B. napaea show few differences, but the species seems to be even better adapted to the northern environments. Thus, the short temporal separation of these populations seems not to have been sufficient for a divergent adaptation in the southern mountains.

The ichneumonid genus Cidaphus Förster, 1869, and its three known European species Cidapus areolatus (Boie, 1850), C. alarius (Gravenhorst, 1829) and C. atricillus (Haliday, 1839) are reported as new to Sweden based primarily on specimens collected in light traps during projects monitoring nocturnal moths. The available material indicates that C. areolatus is a rather abundant and widespread species throughout most of the southern and central parts of Sweden. The trapping data indicates that it flies in one prolonged generation from July until October. Cidaphus atricillus and C. alarius are both rather rare and their distribution is much less clear, but both species appear to fly earlier in the season than C. areolatus.

Synanthedonvespiformis L. (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) is considered a rare insect in Sweden, discovered in 1860, with only a few observations recorded until a sex pheromone attractant became available recently. This study details a national survey conducted using pheromones as a sampling method for this species. Through pheromone trapping we captured 439 specimens in Southern Sweden at 77 sites, almost tripling the number of previously reported records for this species. The results suggest that S. vespiformis is truly a rare species with a genuinely scattered distribution, but can be locally abundant. Habitat analyses were conducted in order to test the relationship between habitat quality and the number of individuals caught. In Sweden, S. vespiformis is thought to be associated with oak hosts, but our attempts to predict its occurrence by the abundance of oaks yielded no significant relationships. We therefore suggest that sampling bias and limited knowledge on distribution may have led to the assumption that this species is primarily reliant on oaks in the northern part of its range, whereas it may in fact be polyphagous, similar to S. vespiformis found as an agricultural pest in Central and Southern Europe. We conclude that pheromones can massively enhance sampling potential for this and other rare lepidopteran species. Large-scale pheromone-based surveys provide a snapshot of true presences and absences across a considerable part of a species national distribution range, and thus for the first time provide a viable means of systematically assessing changes in distribution over time with high spatiotemporal resolution.