BUTTERFLIES ON MADEIRA 29 BUTTERFLIES ON MADEIRA IN APRIL 1985 By D. F. Owen * T. G. Shreeve and A. G. SMITH The uutteifly fauna of Madeira remarkable in several ways. is There are only 14 species but of these one, Pararge xiphia, is en- demic and three,...
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BUTTERFLIES ON MADEIRA 29 BUTTERFLIES ON MADEIRA IN APRIL 1985 By D. F. Owen * T. G. Shreeve and A. G. SMITH The uutteifly fauna of Madeira remarkable in several ways. is There are only 14 species but of these one, Pararge xiphia, is en- demic and three, Gonepteryx cleopatra, Pieris brassicae and Hip- parchia aristaeus, have evolved endemic subspecies. Three species, Danaus plexippus, Artogeia rapae and Pararge aegeria, have colonised the island in relatively recent times; the most recent,/^, aegeria, was first seen in 1976 (Higgins 1977), making Madeira the only place in the world with two sympatric species of speckled woods. There are also two symphatic red admirals, Vanessa atalanta and V. indica, both of which occur on the Canary Islands. Several vagrants have been recorded including Hypolimnas misippus (from tropical Africa), Colias hyale and Issoria lathonia (both presumably from the Mediterranean region), the latter once a common resident (Baker 1891), but not seen in recent yea
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