Acta zoologica cracoviensia, 49B(1-2): 137-180, Kraków, 30 June, 2005 Lepidoptera fauna of Lesotho Grzegorz KOPIJ Received: 7 Dec. 2005 Accepted: 15 Apr. 2006 KOPIJ G. 2006. Lepidoptera fauna of Lesotho. Acta zoologica cracoviensia, 49B(1-2): 137-180. Abstract. By the end of the year 2004, 393 species belonging to 225 genera and 24 familie of Lepidoptera have been recorded from Lesotho, amongst which 115 butterfly and 278 moth species, i.e. 13.03 % and 3.65 % of the southern African butterfly and moth fauna re- spectively. The most species rich families included Noctuidae, Lycaenidae and Geometri- dae. Many species are probably endemic or near-endemic to the Maloti/Drakensberg region. A total of 39 species (9.9 %) are known from the type locality alone. Five Lesotho species: Torynesis pringlei (vulnerable, endemic to Lesotho), Lepidochrysops loewen- steini (rare), L. oosthuizeni (rare), Metisella syrinx (rare, dependent on rare plant – Tham- nocalamnus tesselattus) and Aloeides dentatis maseruna (insufficiently known) are listed in the South African Red Data Book (HENNING &HENNING 1989). In the present paper, 66 species new for Lesotho are listed. For each listed species all records of occurrence in Lesotho are listed, with details on locality and source of information, as well as the global distribution of this species. Key words: Lepidoptera, checklist, South Africa, biodiversity, Lesotho. Grzegorz KOPIJ, Department of Zoology & Ecology, Agricultural University of Wroc³aw, ul. Ko¿uchowska 5b, 51-631 Wroc³aw, Poland. E-mail:
[email protected] I. INTRODUCTION Lepidoptera are one of the most intensively studied insect orders in southern Africa.