Urban colors: Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Bogotá Region (Colombia)

Abstract

We carried out an inventory of the butterflies occurring in eight green areas of socio-environmental importance for the city of Bogotá and its region (Cundinamarca, Colombia). We found 45 species belonging to four families, Nymphalidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae and Hesperiidae. The greatest richness was provided by the Nymphalidae family with 23 species, most of which are pronophilines, typical of high mountain ecosystems. Colias dimera, Dione glycera and Vanessa virginiensis were the more widely distributed species. It is argued that urbanization, as a modeling factor of the urban-regional landscape, is affecting the diversity and distribution of butterflies of Bogotá-Region.