An Open Access database for DNA barcodes, occurrences, behavioural and ecological traits of European butterflies

Menchetti, Mattia et al.-- Trabajo presentado en el XXV Congresso Nazionale Italiano de Entomologia, celebrado en Padua del 20 al 24 de junio de 2016.Understanding butterfly diversity, evolution and resulting biogeographic patterns is a fundamental step in establishing conservation actions. Macroecology have a fundamental role in this challenging disciplines but large scale assessments require data with high taxonomic and spatial resolution paralleled by a high quality and reliability. Some databases summarizing different information on European butterflies exist, but all of them included only few (if not a single) aspects, and all of them have not updated taxonomy and regards to natural boundaries. We present our open access source containing more than 15,000 cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences as well as occurrence data and eco-ethological traits of the European species of butterflies. All these data are provided for all European butterfly species occurring within a North African and European window (11°00’W, 32°00’E longitude and 23°26’N, 72°00’N latitude). Taxonomy and functional traits were compiled through recent published works and personal expertise of a large group of researchers. Traits include: wingspan, dispersal ability, flight period, range size in Europe and host-plants assessed at genus level. We compiled occurrences and assessed their quality from many published works, reliable internet sources (e.g. GBIF and Citizen Science platforms) and the authors’ experiences. We showed how our database offers a new tool to investigate the biology of butterflies considering their genetics and their ecological requirements not based on political borders, but rather on geographical constraints. This will allow researchers to make much more precise phylogeographic assessments, species distribution modelling and future distribution projections and phylogenetic regressions to understand the link between genetic structure and species trait. We believe that this tool will allow the scientific community to understand and possibly prevent the negative effects of habitat alterations on butterfly fauna during the current biodiversity crisis.N