RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION OF NEOTROPICAL BUTTERFLIES IN URBAN FORESTFRAGMENTS

Three remnants of native semideciduous forest in southeastern Brazil w ithin the urban area of Campinas (100 km north of Sao Paulo, nearly 90 0 000 inhabitants) were censused weekly for butterflies and their adul t and larval food-plants. Seventy-eight species were recorded in the l arger (12 ha) peripheral area while 47 and 46 species were found in tw o small (1-2 ha) woods in the residential zone of the city. At least 1 6 species reproduce in the small woods, which may aid the survival of some scarce butterfly species in the urban area. Limitation of adult f ood resources in the woods had a great influence on populations of two different butterfly guilds (nectar- and fruit/sap-eating species).