Population biology, natural history and conservation of two endangered high elevation Neotropical butterflies

The southeastern Brazilian highlands harbor a high number of endemic and threatened species of animals and plants, including two species of Pampasatyrus butterflies (Satyrinae: Pronophilina). As for many other threatened Brazilian butterflies, there is virtually no biological information available for these butterflies. A mark-recapture study was carried out for two consecutive years (2017 and 2018) to study population parameters, movement, natural history and threats for the two Pampasatyrus species. The results showed that population parameters of both species are similar to those of satyrine butterfly species from temperate regions, including a single flight season, short adult lifespan and a typical pattern of protandry (adult males flying before females). Moreover, adults were shown to have high habitat fidelity, being restricted to natural grassland, and are mostly sedentary. Both studied species are seriously threatened by human-caused impacts, including urban expansion, presence of non-native large grazing animals, uncontrolled tourism and natural and man-made fires. Although none of these impacts have been directly measured, a fire that consumed more than 70% of the study area in the winter of 2017 did not cause the extinction of the populations of both species, as evidenced by population numbers in 2018. The present study contributes important data on the population biology and ecology of these two threatened butterflies, providing information that can be used for future management plans of these species and their habitats.