Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea) from two forest fragments in northern Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Aiming to contribute to the knowledge concerning diversity of the butterflies in the Atlantic Rainforest of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, a systematic survey was carried out in the city of Frederico Westphalen from November 2006 to June 2007, in two sampling localities. The total sampling efforts was 80 h, in which 1.785 samples were recorded, distributed in 161 species. From the latter, 51.57 % (83) belongs to the Nymphalidae family, Hesperiidae 20.49 % (33), Pieridae 8.69 % (14), Riodinidae 6.83 % (11), Papilionidae 6.21 % (10), Lycaenidae 6.21 % (10). Regarding the sampled species, 79.50 % (128) were recorded at both studied sites.