Almeida, Adriana Monteiro deLima, Samuel Nascimento de2022-12-232022-12-232022-12-08LIMA, Samuel Nascimento. Borboletas Nymphalidae do estado do Rio Grande do Norte: riqueza de espécies e interação lagarta-planta hospedeira. 2022. 72 f. Monografia (Graduação em Ecologia) – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, 2022.https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/50612Butterflies are a very diverse group in the Neotropics. Species of the family Nymphalidae are strongly related to the habitat in which they live and are sensitive to changes in the environment. Like the vast majority of butterflies, in their immature stage they live as herbivorous caterpillars. Plant-animal interactions do not occur randomly in the environment, and can be studied through networks of ecological interactions. Knowledge about the biodiversity of Lepidoptera is still scarce in the northeastern region of Brazil, where Rio Grande do Norte (RN) is located, a state that has two phytogeographic domains: Caatinga and Atlantic Forest. The present study aimed to list the species of Nymphalidae butterflies with occurrence in RN, and investigate their host plants, as well as patterns of interactions. To obtain the butterfly species list, we used data from the Entomological Collection of UFRN and bibliographic material from studies conducted in the state. We extracted the host plants of each species from the literature and built binary networks of potential interactions. We obtained a total of 77 butterfly species and 640 Neotropical hosts with 1025 distinct interactions. The Entomological Collection at UFRN was the richest data source, with 66 species, of which 16 occurrence records are new for the State. The Caatinga matrix was composed of 23 butterfly species, 47 plant species, and 73 distinct interactions. The Atlantic Forest matrix was composed of 51 butterfly species, 109 plant species, and 176 distinct interactions. All interaction matrices showed a modular pattern or a trend towards this pattern. Most of the modules were composed of phylogenetically close species. Our results are a significant contribution to the knowledge of Lepidoptera biodiversity in the State. To better understand our flora, fauna and the ecological interactions in a highly diverse region such as RN, future studies should be conducted in the field and explore the state more thoroughly, with samples from both the Caatinga and the Atlantic Forest.Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Brazilhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/br/Coleção entomológicaRedes de interaçãoConservaçãoCaatingaMata AtlânticaEntomological collectionInteraction networksConservationCaatingaAtlantic ForestbachelorThesisCNPQ::CIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS::ECOLOGIA