Arctiinae moths (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) of the Emas National Park, Goiás, Brazil

Abstract

Arctiinae are a species-rich subfamily of moth, with approximately 1,400 species in Brazil and 723 recorded in the Cerrado biome. A list of species of these moths was compiled during three years of sampling in four vegetation types within the Emas National Park. A total of 5,644 individuals belonging to 149 species were collected. About 67% of these species are new records for the Emas National Park, 31% for the State of Goiás and 9% for the Cerrado biome. Cerrado sensu stricto and semideciduous forests have higher species richness, followed by campo cerrado and campo sujo. The vegetation type with the highest number of exclusive species was the semideciduous forest, followed by cerrado sensu stricto, campo cerrado and campo sujo. The high species richness and the high proportion of new species records for Goiás and Cerrado reinforce the importance of the Emas National Park region as a center of diversity for this group of moths. The conservation of areas not yet cleared around the Park, including the creation of new protected areas, and the establishment of ecological corridors between these areas and the Park would be strategies to preserve the fauna of these moths.