A Faunistic Study of Diurnal and Nocturnal Lepidoptera in Darboğaz, Bolkar Mountains (Niğde, Turkey)

ABSTRACT:  In this study, the fauna of diurnal and nocturnal Lepidoptera from the Darbogaz, Bolkar Mountains in Ulukisla, Nigde province in the south of the Anatolian region of Turkey has been investigated. Field studies were carried out during the years 2008 and 2009. Specimens of butterflies and moths were collected from nine localities for this study. These specimens belong to 63 diurnal and 105 nocturnal species distributed in 15 families. The distribution of species, according to families, is as follows: Hesperidae, 7; Nymphalidae, 18; Papilionidae, 1; Pieridae, 7; Lycaenidae, 30; Crambidae, 17; Pyralidae, 10; Drepanoidae, 2; Lasiocampidae, 3; Sphingidae, 1; Geometridae, 28; Erebidae, 10; Noctuidae, 30; Nolidae, 2 and Notodontidae, 2. The evaluation of literature revealed that forty of 63 butterflies and all of the moths species determined in this study are newly recorded for the Lepidoptera fauna of the Darbogaz, Bolkar Mountains.