Volume 29: 14–22 METAMORPHOSIS ISSN 1018–6490 (PRINT) LEPIDOPTERISTS’ SOCIETY OF AFRICA ISSN 2307–5031 (ONLINE) The butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Semuliki National Park, western Uganda Published online: 21 May 2018 Scott Forbes 33 Hope Terrace, Edinburgh, EH9 2AP, Scotland, U.K. E-mail: [email protected] Copyright © Lepidopterists’ Society of Africa Abstract: A checklist of the butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Semuliki National Park, Uganda is provided. The list was compiled from records made by the author as well as from historical records and the records of a number of field workers. A total of 448 species are listed for the Park. Key words: Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea, butterflies, Semuliki National Park, Uganda. Citation: Forbes, S. (2018). The butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) of Semuliki National Park, western Uganda. Metamorphosis 29: 14–22. INTRODUCTION Semuliki National Park (SNP), with an area of 219 km2, and lying at Lat. -1.455, Long. 31.152 (DD), is Uganda’s only remaining lowland forest. The conservation status of the Park includes being located within the Eastern Afromontane hotspot region within the Albertine Rift, the western arm of the Rift Valley. (Fig. 1). It has also been ranked in a global irreplaceability list (LeSaout et al., 2013) and as a Key Biodiversity Area (IUCN, 2015). Much of the park is flat, lying at an altitude of 670 m in the east, rising to undulating sections of 760 m. Only 10 km2 lies above 750 m, at its western boundary. The Park is situated within the Semliki Valley and is bounded to the north-northwest by the steep escarpment of the Rwenzori Mountain Range, which isolates the Park from the rest of East Africa. To the east is a demarcated boundary where the rainforest is supplanted by the open grasslands of the Semliki Valley, which stretches down to the shores of Lake Albert. The northern boundary is the Semliki River, the international boundary between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and to the west the Lamia River borders the Park. The Ituri Forest of the DRC lies along the eastern margin of the Congo Basin, and SNP is the easternmost extension of this typical Guineo-Congolean forest habitat. It makes up one of a few of the eastern forest fragments of the Figure 1 - The Albertine Rift (pale shading), with Semuliki Congo Basin forest system, which totals 54% of National Park (red; arrowed). Map from Protected Area Watch Africa’s tropical forests (Mayaux et al., 2013). for the Albertine Rift Project (PAWAR), 2016. This lowland forest is classified as moist, semi- identified as the Cynometra-Celtis zone, one of four deciduous (Langdale-Brown et al., 1964) and, being different types of lowland forest types described by Hamilton (1981) (Table 1). An area of approximately 30% is dominated by a single leguminous tree, Received: 28 February 2018 Published: 21 May 2018 Cynometra alexandri. Much of the Park overlies grey alluvial clay soils that tend to be saline, have reduced Copyright: This work is licensed under the Creative Commons fertility, and are poorly drained (Howard, 1991). Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, send a letter to Creative These give rise to swamp communities, which Commons, Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA, or visit: http://creative commons.org/licenses/by- contribute to around 7% of the total area. It is probably nc-nd/3.0/ Forbes/ Metamorphosis 29: 14–22 15 Table 1 – Summary of salient characteristics of Semuliki represented by large differences in tree species-area National Park. relationships at sites within close proximity (Howard, 1991). Characteristic Description Co-ordinates Lat. -1.455, Long. 31.152 (DD) MATERIALS AND METHODS Designation Gazetted as National Park in 1993; full status in 1994 Biogeography Afrotropical region, Uganda zone Sampling Forest Single-dominant, moist-evergreen and semi- Classification evergreen Guineo-Congolian lowland rainforest Due to permit restrictions implemented for Ugandan Location Semliki Valley, north-northwest of the Rwenzori National Parks, it is difficult to remove material for mountains in the Albertine Rift. Sharing a 1 km external identification, which is sometimes necessary for boundary with the North Rwenzori Forest Reserve and contiguous with a 10 km boundary these insects. The fruit-feeding butterfly assemblage, of the Parc National des Virunga in the DRC. which includes the Nymphalidae genera Bebearia, Bordered by the Lamia and Semliki Rivers to the Euphaedra, Cymothoe, Bicyclus and Charaxes have been west and north; by the Fort Portal to Bundibugyo sampled consistently over a period of years (2012 to road to the south and community agricultural land to the east 2017), but predominantly in only two transects 500 m in Biodiversity Eastern Afromontane Division length around 7 kms apart (Kirumya and Sempaya trails). Hotspot Genitalic dissections were retained in glycerol vials Elevation Medium altitude, 670 to 760 m; <10 km2 >750 pinned under the corresponding specimens. m Soils Rift valley sediments, grey halomorphic alluvial Source of other records and data clay soils Recent History Western sections of the Park were used for Records from Davenport & Howard (1996) have been cultivation in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Encroachers removed in the late 1980’s. merged with records by Forbes for the period from 2013 Roughly 25% is now considered undisturbed to 2017. The latter records were gathered during research Climate Two seasons. Dry from December to February for a completed PhD entitled ‘The ecology and and a long diffuse wet season with two peaks, conservation of a fruit-feeding butterfly assemblage in a from April to May and October to November Ugandan lowland rainforest’, together with other records Rivers Drained by Ntotoro, Rugo, Mampongi and Kirumya rivers provided by D. Bernaud, R. Ducarme, J-P. Lequeux, and Precipitation Approximately 1350 mm – 1500 mm annually H. Selb. A maximum of two citations per species record Temperature 15°C to 25°C are given even though, in some instances, more records Current Forest Monthly firewood collection by women from the exist. As further records are identified or recorded in the Use surrounding communities – can be as many as field, updated versions of this checklist will be uploaded 700 individuals. Unrestricted access for the Batwa, the local indigenous community, for to the SNP butterflies Facebook page, with images being firewood collection, medicinal plant harvesting uploaded to the SNP butterflies Instagram page. and beehive access. Regular security patrols. Small outpost constructed by fishermen by the Museum collections consulted were: Museum of Central Semliki River Africa, Tervuren, Belgium; National Museum of Management Periodic debarking of invasive and exotic trees. Scotland, Edinburgh (NMS) and Glasgow University Continual maintenance of KR trail specifically used for birders, quarterly maintenance of RM Museum, Glasgow, Scotland. National Museums of trail. Biannual grassland burning in December Kenya (NMK) citations were provided by Mr Steve and January at the start of the dry season Collins of the African Butterfly Research Institute Threats Community encroachment on the western (ABRI), Nairobi, Kenya. border. Poaching for bush meat and illegal fishing. River pollution from banana beer production runoff entering the water course Taxonomy running into the Park Afrotropical butterfly taxonomy, to generic level, follows Williams (2015), Dhungel & Wahlberg (2018) and part of the major Pleistocene (2 500 000 – 12 000 yrs BP) Espeland et al. (2018). forest refugium from the eastern DRC (Hamilton, 1981), which has resulted in large species diversity of many RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS communities characterised by typical Guineo-Congolian fauna, with many species at the eastern limit of their A total of 448 species have been recorded from SNP to ranges. In addition to differences in forest type associated date (Table 2). This is an increase of 142 species since with altitudinal and climatic factors, historical uses of the the last official census by Davenport & Howard (1996), Park have created a mosaic of climax vegetation types. who recorded 309 species. The current total is These were primarily created from the early 1970’s when significantly short of the over 600 species that an African viable forest sections of the Park, to the east of the equatorial lowland forest would be predicted to contain Kirumya River, were destroyed by agricultural (S. Collins, pers. comm.). Using the Davenport (2001) encroachment to provide for community agricultural land figure as a midpoint for total butterfly species in Uganda for subsistence farming. The last of these cultivators were (1 251), the SNP contains just over 36% of Ugandan finally evicted in the mid 1980’s. Thus, considerable butterfly species. local variation related to site factors, such as past management, soil type and drainage conditions are The butterfly families that require further sampling are Forbes/ Metamorphosis 29: 14–22 16 the Lycaenidae and Hesperiidae, which should contribute and dated phylogenomic analysis of butterflies. at least 40% of the total number of species of an Current Biology 28: 1–9. Afrotropical lowland forest (S. Collins, pers. comm.). HAMILTON, A. C. 1981. The quarternary history of Currently, the combined species total of these two African forests: its relevance to conservation. African families contributes just below 30% of the total but the Journal of Ecology 19: 1–6. Lycaenidae and Hesperiidae of the lowland forests in the HOWARD, P. 1991. Nature conservation in Uganda’s DRC (Ducarme, 2018) should also be found in the SNP tropical forest reserves. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. since they share a similar habitat and altitude. IUCN. 2015. Global Standard for the Identification of Key Biodiversity Areas KBA’s. Gland, Switzerland. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LANGDALE-BROWN, I., OSMASTON, H.A. & WILSON, J.G. 1964. The Vegetation of Uganda and I thank Justice Olibokiriho at SNP for continuing to its bearing on land-use. Uganda Government Printer, sample and identify new records, and for his assistance in Entebbe, Uganda.