Abundance and richness of Arctiinae moths throughout the night in a Cerrado area

Arctiinae moths exhibit peak abundance and species richness in the early hours of the night, with most species active for only one or two hours. A study conducted in Emas National Park, Brazil, found that 70.5% of the 17 species sampled were highly time-specific in their activity, with the highest abundance recorded at 8 p.m. (44 individuals) and significant declines thereafter. Temperature was the sole environmental variable positively correlated with moth abundance, while relative humidity did not influence species richness. These findings suggest that sampling Arctiinae moths throughout the night is necessary to capture a representative sample of species, challenging the assumption that brief sampling periods suffice for comprehensive biodiversity assessments.

Moreno, C., Barbosa, Â. S., & Ferro, V. G. (2021). Abundance and richness of Arctiinae moths throughout the night in a Cerrado area. Biota Neotropica, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2020-1041