Serpentine moths and plants

Survey of Arctiinae moths from two serpentine localities in Western Cuba.

we investigated moth assemblages in two serpentine areas in Western Cuba, and in one of the two, over three consecutive years covering the wet and dry seasons. We surveyed Arctiinae moths by means of light traps and non-invasive identification of morphospecies. We recorded 1369 individuals across 33 species from 37 trapping nights in total, representing 32.7 % of total Arctiinae species in Cuba, among which 27.3% were endemic to Cuba. Species abundance distribution was well described by the log series distribution in both localities and across years, typical of tropical moth assemblages sampled at small spatial scale or in spatially heterogeneous habitat. Moth assemblages differed between the two localities, with a non-significant trend for higher species richness, diversity, and endemism, in the larger and older locality hosting a richer plant community. The low overlap in species composition between both localities could be in part due to the contribution of the species pool from neighboring non-serpentine areas. Arctiinae moth assemblage were stable in richness, composition and diversity across years.