Butterfly diversity and distribution of threatened species at ten most species rich lo - calities in northern Dalmatia. 

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... between the two known distribution regions. This non-native butterfly species only recently invaded the Croatian coast (Verovnik & Kosmač, 2009) and has been recorded also from several islands (Kučinić et al., 2013; Koren et al ., 2014; Koren et al ., 2015a). In northern Dalmatia it was first observed in Privlaka on geraniums in gardens in 2011. In 2014 a single specimen was found in maqu - is bordering Punta Skala resort near Petrčani. Despite the general trend of expansion in Croatia the species is by no means widespread or common in northern Dalmatia. According to historical records the species was known from northern Dalmatia in Zadar and Biograd (Mladinov, 1973), Pakoštane (Habeler, 1976) and also further north at Starigrad (Lorković, 2009). We confirm the latter record, as several adults have been observed along the trail in Mala Paklenica Valley in August 2007 and 2010. In northern Dalmatia the species is confined to limestone areas and it flies in sheltered rocky gullies. In Bijelina Valley near Karin the species can be numerous in August, whereas in other localities (Karišnica Valley, Miljašića Valley, Novigrad) only single specimens were obser - ved. The species was recently found also in the neighbouring Zrmanja River region (Koren et al ., 2011). The species is rare in Croatia (Mihoci & Šašić, 2006) with few records also from the Dalmatian hinterland (Hafner, 1994, Tvrtković et al ., 2012) and in the Zrmanja valley (Koren et al ., 2011). So far only two males were observed in the Bijelina Valley near Karin in June 2010, comprising the only records for the species in Northern Dalmatia. This is the only Habitats Directive species (Anon., 1992) present in the surveyed re - gion. It has been known from Zadar from the material in the collection of the Croatian national zoological museum in Zagreb (Mladinov, 1973), the record confirmed also by Habeler (1976). Recently there are several records from the surroundings of Benkovac, and the area is included in the Natura 2000 site Benkovac (HR2001218) (Šašić-Kljajo & Mihoci, 2009). The adults from this region are large and brightly coloured possibly be - longing to f. provincialis (Stauder, 1922). Although we found the species in large numbers in wet meadows and neighbouring dry grasslands with rich flowering in Miljašića Valley, no specimens were seen after 2008. The evident decline was possibly caused by aban - donment and overgrowth of the meadows. Since it is still common and abundant at localities near Ljubač, Vrsi and Žerava, this part of northern Dalmatia could qualify as a Natura 2000 site for the species. The species was found also on Vir Island just across the bridge from the mainland locality (Koren et al ., 2015). Due to its similarity with the more widespread Hyponephele lycaon Rottemburg, 1775 this species was commonly overlooked in the past surveys. However, both species are rare in Croatia with H. lycaon more widely distributed at higher altitudes (Mihoci et al ., 2007; Lorković, 2009; Tvrtković et al ., 2012). Only single females of the species were observed, on two occasions in August 2007 in Karišnica Valley, relatively close to the known localities in the Zrmanja Valley (Koren et al. , 2011). Because the valley was alre - ady considerably overgrown at that time there is hardly any chance the species has survived at that locality. This is an emblematic species for the Dalmatian butterfly fauna which has been well studied in the last decade (Mihoci & Šašić, 2007; Koren et al ., 2010). The species is much more widespread than was previously known and is reported to be common also from the Zrmanja Valley (Koren et al ., 2011). We found it on slopes above the Novigrad Sea near Posedarje and at Jovići village which geographically closes the gap between the localities known in the Zrmanja River region and those from Pag Island (Zakšek, 2005). It was recorded also in the Karišnica and the Bijelina Valley near Karin, but in low den - sities. On 25.4.2015 we found the species at two additional sites north of Posedarje: 1. Posedarje, at the NW edge of the town near the highway exit; 44°13’13.88“N, 15°27’12.36“E. 2. Gronja Slivnica, rocky pastures N of the village; 44°14’42.78“N, 15°26’14.39“E. The species is locally distributed along most of the Croatian coast from Rijeka to Gruž, but with large gaps (Stauder, 1922; Lorković, 2009). The species is rarely mentioned in recent reports (Tvrtković et al ., 2012; Koren et al ., 2015b) and has not been recorded from the Velebit Mts in a recent study (Mihoci et al ., 2007). It is however widespread on Krk Island further north (Habeler, 2003). We found it on rocky and grassy slopes along the Bijelina Valley in low densities. The species is not listed for the Zrmanja River region (Koren et al ., 2011), but we did record it there at the Krupa spring in August 2015. Although northern Dalmatia is not particularly important for butterfly conservation, there are some sites that host a large variety of species (Fig. 2), including several species listed in the national red list (Šašić et al ., 2013). Such sites, suitable for butterfly micro-re - serves, are the Bijelina and Karišnica valleys. These valleys and the majority of other visi - ted localities are in urgent need of management, as abandonment resulting in the over - growing of open grasslands is already reducing the butterfly diversity and is in particu - larly threatening to rare and local habitat specialist species. Another threat, more evident in coastal areas, is the destruction of habitats due to the building of infrastructure and the extension of urban areas. The only large stretch of maquis left in northern Dalmatia at Petrčani that has been recently reduced due to thed building of a tourist resort is a good example. We hope that our contribution will generate further studies in the region and provide additional background information for conservation of butterflies in Dalmatia. We wish to express our gratitude to Stoyan Beshkov for providing additional litera - ture regarding the butterfly fauna of ...

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... the species listed several could be considered common and widespread in northern Dalmatia (observed at 75% of the sites): Colias croceus , Polyommatus icarus , La- siommata megera , and Coenonympha pamphilus . On the other hand several species were observed only at a single location and could be considered extremely rare in the region: Euchloe ausonia , Scolitantides orion , Polyommatus dorylas , Polyommatus thersites , Polyomma- tus daphnis , Polygonia c-album , Melitaea phoebe , Pyronia tithonus , Hyponephele lupina , and Melanargia larissa . It is important to note that the majority of these species were observed on limestone outcrops neighbouring the Karin and Novigrad Sea where several small gullies and valleys represent the most butterfly-rich habitats in the region. According to the Red Data List of Croatian Butterflies (Šašić et al ., 2013) eight species among those observed are considered near threatened (NT): Papilio machaon , Zerynthia polyxena , Glaucopsyche alexis , Polyommatus thersites , Pseudophilotes vicrama , Scolitantides orion , Euphydryas aurinia , and Proterebia afra . Thymelicus acteon and Pieris brassicae are considered data deficient (DD). On the European level there are five species considered near threatened (NT) in the region: Carcharodus floccifera , Thymelicus acteon , Polyommatus dorylas , Pseudophilotes vicrama , and Chazara briseis . Only Euphydryas aurinia is listed on the Habitats Directive Annexes II and IV (Anonymus, 1992). The highest diversity was recorded in the Bijelina Valley (64 species) and in nearby Karišnica Valley (53). The Batalaža Peninsula at Privlaka has the third largest recorded diversity (46 species), but has been oversampled compared to other localities as it is the summer residence of the first and the last author. In terms of presence of threatened species Bijelina Valley stands out with 11 recorded species ( Fig. 2). Compared to neighbouring regions, in particularly Zrmanja River (104 species) and Velebit Mts. (137 species), northern Dalmatia has a more depauperate butterfly fauna (Mihoci et al., 2007; Koren et al ., 2011). However, the fauna is still richer than on the neighbouring large islands: Pag (54 species), Pašman (50 species), Ugljan (43 species), and Dugi otok (47 spe - cies) (Withrington & Verovnik, 2008; Verovnik, 2011). Due to a lack of historical records it is hard to say whether some speci - es have become extinct in the surveyed region. Habeler (1976) lists the following species for the region that were not recorded during our survey: Carcharodus lavatherae (Esper, [1783]), Pyrgus sidae (Esper, [1784]), Cupido alce- tas (Hoffmannsegg, 1804), Nymp- halis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758), Argynnis adippe ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775). The ma - jority of these species were observed further south from Vrana Lake and Pirovac, beyond the surveyed region. The latter two species are likely to be observed in the more wooded Karin region, while Pyrgus sidae is extremely rare in Croatia with recent records only from the mountains in the Dalmatian hinterland (Tvrtković et al ., 2012; Koren & Lauš, 2013; Koren et al ., 2015b) and the Mt Biokovo (Mihoci et al ., 2011). Cupido alcetas is con- sidered widespread in Dalmatia, however no exact observation localities exist (Lorković, 2009), and it has not been observed in any recent studies in the region. Among the species observed, several are rare in Croatia or reach their northern limit of distribution in the surveyed region and require further comments: Due to its similarity to Carcharodus floccifera , not much is known about its distribution in Croatia. Differences in male genitalia and the distinctive tuft of dark hair on the fo - rewing underside are useful for identification (Lafranchis, 2004; Tolman & Lewington, 2008). It was first mentioned for Croatia by Stauder (1923) for the surroundings of Split as Carcharodus baeticus (Rambur, 1842). Although listed as present in Croatia (Lorković, 2009; Šašić et al ., 2011) recent records of this species in Croatia are very scarce, with only a single recent record, from the island Vis (Withrington & Verovnik, 2008). We have observed the species repeatedly in Karišnica and Bijelina Valley near Karin where it possibly flies in three generations with fresh males observed also in September. We found the species once also at a strong spring E of the Vrana village on wet sands along the stream. The butterflies seem to prefer hot rocky sheltered places and males are typically territorial, perching on dry stems along dry riverbeds or paths. At Bijelina valley the species co-occurs with its close relative C. floccifera . It is difficult to judge if these records represent the northern limit of C. orientalis distribution along the Adriatic coast, as hi - storical records also exist from the northernmost Adriatic, from Trieste (Stauder, 1923). Another rare species in Dalmatia with only a handful of published records (Lorković, 1971; Verovnik, 2011; Koren et al ., 2015a). Until Lorković’s study all Gegenes records were automatically assigned to the closely related G. nostrodamus (Fabricius, 1793) (Sta - uder, 1923; Burgermeister, 1964) including the record form Pag Island (Mladinov, 1965); however, this species is extremely rare in Dalmatia and possibly limited to the souther - nmost part of Croatia (Lorković, 1971). Our observations are in line with records from the neighbouring islands of Vir (Koren et al ., 2015a) and Pašman (Verovnik, 2011) whe - re the species was recorded at singular sites. The species was common in the middle part of the Karišnica valley in August 2007, but otherwise only single specimens were obser - ved at Vrana, Petrčani and Privlaka. This implies that the species is only an occasional vagrant in northern Dalmatia with no permanent colonies. The currently known nort - hern limit of the species is at Mala Paklenica Valley at Starigrad where we found it in August 2007. It is possible that the record of G. nostrodamus from Pag Island (Mladinov, 1967) also refers to G. pumilio , as it was recorded at the time when G. pumilio was not considered present in Dalmatia (Lorković, 1971). The species reaches its northern limit of distribution on Pag Island (Zakšek, 2005). It has also been recorded at two sites along the Zrmanja River (Koren et al ., 2011), so the new locality at Posedarje on the shores of Novigrad Sea provides a link between the two known distribution regions. This non-native butterfly species only recently invaded the Croatian coast (Verovnik & Kosmač, 2009) and has been recorded also from several islands (Kučinić et al., 2013; Koren et al ., 2014; Koren et al ., 2015a). In northern Dalmatia it was first observed in Privlaka on geraniums in gardens in 2011. In 2014 a single specimen was found in maqu - is bordering Punta Skala resort near Petrčani. Despite the general trend of expansion in ...