The butterfly fauna of the Noyau Central, Lama Forest (Republic of Benin),with notes on its ecological composition and geographic distribution

The Noyau Central (c. 4777 ha) in south-central Benin is the largest remain ing natural forest within the Dahomey Gap. Based on field work conducted in 1998, a preliminary list of 83 butterfly species is presented for this lar gely unknown core area of the Lama Forest. Forty butterfly species were doc umented for the first time in Benin. Forty-one are true lowland forest spec ie, not found in savanna. Overall species richness was higher in clearings, than in closed forest. However, a high proportion of forest species, espec ially those with a more restricted geographic range, were exclusively captu red in the forest patches. Because other forest areas in Benin are much sma ller, the Noyau Central is likely to contribute critically to the conservat ion of the country's butterfly fauna.