Arthropod communities of island vs. mainland coastal grasslands: São Miguel Island (Azores) and Mainland Portugal

The present work provides an inventory of the arthropods recorded in two distinct coastal grasslands ecosystems: São Miguel Island (Azores Archipelago), and Setúbal district on Portugal mainland (Sesimbra and Sines regions). Thirthy-one plots were selected (13 on São Miguel island, 13 across Sesimbra region, and 6 on Sines region). The plots were visited four times, between spring and summer 2022. A total of 13,515 arthropod specimens were collected (Azores = 7,861; Mainland = 5,654), belonging to 534 species and morphospecies. In the Azores, 210 species and morphospecies belonging to three classes were collected: Arachnida (22), Diplopoda (1), and Insecta (187). On the mainland a total of 391 species and morphospecies were collected, belonging to two classes: Arachnida (55), and Insecta (336). In total, 67 species were common between the two studied areas.