Stefanescu, Constantí

Biblioteca Digital de les Illes Balears

Butterflies and moths (Insecta, 
Lepidoptera) recorded at sea off Eivissa 
and Barcelona (Western Mediterranean) 
in October 1996 
Constantí STEFANESCU 
SHNB 
SOCIETAT O'HISTORIA 
NATURAL OE LES BALEARS 
Introduction 
Stelanescu, C. 1997, Bunerflies and moths (Insecta, Lepidoptera) recorded at sea 
off Eivissa and Barcelona (Western Mediterranean) in October 1996. BolI. Soco 
Hist. Nat. Balears, 40: 51-56, ISSN 0212-260X. Palma de Mallorca. 
This note reports some observations 01 migrant Lepidoptera recorded at sea during 
a trawling cruise that took place between 16-26 October 1996 off the south 01 
Eivissa and Formentera. Nearly 50 examples belonging to 3 species 01 
Rhopalocera and 11 species 01 Heterocera were identilied. The possible origin 01 
these migrants as well as the meteorological conditions that could have been 
involved in the migration are discussed. Additional comments on the predatory 
behaviour 01 some recorded migratory insectivorous birds are al so provided. 
Keywords: Rhopalocera, Heterocera, Lepidoptera, migration, Western Mediterra-
nean. 
RODALOCERS i HETEROCERS (INSECTA, LEPIDOPTERA) CAPTURATS A LA 
MAR ENTRE EIVISSA I BARCELONA (MEDITERRÁNIA OCCIDENTAL) 
L'OCTUBRE DE 1996. En aquesta nota es comenten una serie d'observacions de 
lepidopters migradors realitzades en alta mar durant una campan ya oceanogralica 
que va tenir 1I0c entre el 16-26 d'octubre de 1996 al sud d'Eivissa i Formentera. 
En total es van identilicar uns 50 exemplars pertanyents a 3 especies de 
Rhopalocera i a 11 especies d'Heterocera. Es discuteix el possible origen 
d'aquests exemplars i les condicions meteorologiques que podrien haver contribu'it 
al procés migratori, així com altres observacions addicionals sobre la predació que 
van patir per part d'alguns ocells insectívors que també es trobaven en migració. 
Paraules e/au: Rhopalocera, Heterocera, Lepidoptera, migració, Mediterrania 
occidental. 
Constantí STEFANESCU, Can Liro, 08458 Sant Pere de Vilamajor, Barcelona. 
Recepció del manuscrit: 24-feb-97; revisió acceptada: 23-jul-97. 
Although the migratory habit in in-
sects, and more particularly in Lepidop-
tera, happens to be a well documented 
phenomenon (e.g. Williams, 1958), many 
aspects of the processes involved are 
still poorly known. Much information has 
been gathered from the European conti-
nent, but up till now the available data 
has remained irregularly distributed. 
Thus, while in the British Isles and sev-
eral countries of northern Europe a fairly 
deep knowledge has been achieved 
(e.g. Bretherton, 1983), there have been 
only a few studies concerning the Medi-
52 BoII. SOCo Hist. Nat. Balears, 40 (1997) 
terranean basin. However, this area is 
particularly interesting from the migratory 
point of view, since it represents the 
connection between the African continent 
and central and northern Europe as well 
as a probable primary source of mi-
grants to northern latitudes. 
The aim of the present note is to 
provide new data on migrant Lepidoptera 
observed off the south of Eivissa (Bal-
earic Islands) in 1996. Despite their frag-
mentary nature, these data are certainly 
interesting owing to the fact that they 
were obtained from a boat quite a dis-
tance off the coast, and during a period 
(16-26 October) generally poorly sam-
pled. 
Material and methods 
The observations were made on 
board the research vessel B/O García 
del Cid, during the trawling cruise 
QUIMERA-I that took place between 16-
26 October 1996. The ship left from 
Barcelona on 16 October and between 
17 -26 October it surveyed the slope off 
the south of Eivissa and Formentera 
(Fig. 1). The exact position, date and 
timing of the different trawls in which 
migrant Lepidoptera were observed are 
detailed in Table 1. 
While the trawls were taking place, 
the boat deck was surveyed in search of 
migrant Lepidoptera. In most cases they 
were found resting on the deck, but in 
some instances (e.g. N. noctuella, P. 
unionalis, C. craceus, V. atalanta, C. 
cardui and M. stellatarum) the examples 
were seen arriving or while flying over 
the sea. 
There were also a considerable 
number of migrant birds so me of which 
were observed preying upon different 
moth species. Whenever possible the 
species involved in these encounters 
were identified and are reported in the 
following section. 
Table 1. Sample station data 01 the trawls where migrant Lepidoptera were detected. Time and 
station position is relerred to the beginning 01 the sample. Bottom depth is reported at the start 
lor each sample. 
Taula 1. Dades de les pesques on es van detectar lepidópters migradors. L'hora, la posició 
i la (ondaria corresponen el moment de /'inici de la pesca. 
Station Date Local time Latitude (N) Longitude (E) Depth (m) 
1 17X96 10:37 38°44'70" 01°38'27" 271 
7 19X96 9:17 38°19'75" 01°47'04" 1414 
9 19X96 15:40 38°24'48" 01°47'33" 1221 
10 19X96 17:56 38°23'87" 01°48'42" 1231 
12 20X96 12:15 38°12'81 " 01°47'99" 1590 
13 20X96 15:22 38°07'34" 01°42'98" 1714 
14 20X96 18:35 38°08'09" 01°48'86" 1709 
16 21X96 12:16 38°16'22" 01°47'75" 1509 
17 21X96 15:25 38°19'58" 01°46'77" 1421 
19 22X96 8:52 38°25'93" 01°55'72" 1119 
20 22X96 11 :32 38°30'18" 01 °49'18" 805 
22 22X96 16:10 38°31'47" 01°49'19" 702 
29 24X96 8:36 38°36'59" 01°46'06" 501 
31 24X96 13:15 38°39'43" 01°38'57" 335 
c. Stefanescu, Butterflies and moths recorded at sea off Eivissa and Barcelona 53 
Fig. 1. Location 01 the trawls in which 
migrant Lepidoptera were observed. 
Fig. 1. Situació de les pesques en que es 
van observar lepidópters migradors. 
... EIVISSA 
tt t 
.31 
FORMENTER A ~.1 
I 20km I 
Results 
.19 ·~10 
7 •• 17 
.16 
.12 
Between 16-26 October nearly 50 
examples belonging to 14 different spe-
cies of butterflies (three species) and 
moths (11 species) were detected (Table 
2). Besides the Lepidoptera, moderate 
numbers of unidentified Syrphid flies and 
Odonata were also migrating. Almost all 
the observations were made off the 
south of Eivissa and Formentera, 5-30 
miles away from the coastline (Table 1). 
The only three examples of V. atalanta 
were seen on 16 October at 14-15 h, 
when the ship was leaving Barcelona 
harbour and was not further than one 
mile from the coast. Three examples of 
M. stellatarum were also recorded off 
Barcelona. 
Though the trawls began each day 
around 8 a.m. and continued until 8 
p.m., almost all of the exam-
pies were recorded during 
r
N 
day time. Although the deck 
lights of the ship were al so 
searched for migrant 
Lepidoptera every night, no 
moth nor butterfly was de-
tected at that time. It seems 
therefore that most migration 
took place during the day. 
The following bird spe-
cies were seen in migration 
during the cruise: skylark 
(Alauda arvensis) , swallow 
(Hirundo rustica), white wag-
tail (Motacilla alba), robin 
(Erithacus rubecula) , redstart 
(Phoenicurus ochruros) , 
thrush (Turdus sp.), chiff-
chaff (Phylloscopus collybita) , 
starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 
and chaffinch (Fringilla 
coelebs). White wagtail, 
robin, redstart, chiffchaff and 
chaffinch were the most 
common species and sev-
eral individuals stayed on 
the ship for periods encom-
passing several hours. Predatory behav-
iour was frequently recorded in robin, 
redstart and chiffchaff, but only on one 
occasion (trawl 17) was I able to identify 
the species captured: N. noctuella by 
redstart, and R. sacraria by chiffchaff. 
Most probably the wings of A. segetum 
and M. unipuncta found on the deck 
(Table 2) were al so the result of preda-
tion by some of the aboye mentioned 
birds. Although this predatory impact on 
the number of Lepidoptera was not as-
sessed, there is no doubt that insectivo-
rous birds killed an important proportion 
of the moths that stopped on the ship. 
54 BoII. SOCo Hist. Nat. Balears, 40 (1997) 
Table 2. Butlerflies and molhs recorded al sea off Eivissa and Barcelona between 16-26 October 
1996. (lt recorded, sexes are indicated: m, male; t, temale). 
Taule 2. Papallones diürnes i nocturnes trobades en alta mar a la zona d'Eivissa i Barcelona 
els dies 16-26 d'octubre de 1996. (Sempre que ha estat possible, s'indiquen els sexes: m, 
mascle; t, temella). 
Family Species Trawl Individuals 
(subfamily) 
Pyralidae 
(Pyraustinae) Udea terrugalis (Hb.) 16 1f 
Nomophila noctuella ([0.&8.)) 7,9,17,31 1,>5, 3, 1 
Palpita unionalis (Hb.) 7,12,13 1m, 1f, 1 
Pieridae 
(Coliadinae) Colias croceus (Geoff.) 1,29 1, 1f 
Nymphalidae 
(Nymphalinae) Vanessa atalanta (Unn.) off Barcelona 3 
Cynthia cardui (Unn.) 13,29 1,2m 
Geometridae 
(Sterrhinae) Rhodometra sacraria (Unn.) 9,14,16,17 1f,1,2,3 
19, 22, 29,31 1, 1, 1, 1 
Sphingidae 
(Macroglossinae) Macroglossum stellatarum (Unn.) off Barcelona 3 
Noctuidae 
(Nocluinae) Agrotis segetum ([0.& S.)] 
Noctua pronuba (Unn.) 
(Hadeninae) Discestra tritolii (Htn.) 
Mythimna vitellina (Hb.) 
Mythimna unipuncta (Hw.) 
(Amphipyrinae) Spodoptera exigua (Hb.) 
Discussion 
AII the species reported display a 
well-known migratory behaviour. Follow-
ing the classification of Eitschberger et 
al. (1991), u. ferrugalis, N. noctuella, P. 
unionalis, V. atalanta and C. cardui are 
seasonal migrants of first order, and late 
in the season the offspring of the early 
migrants are involved in return flights to 
the southern areas from where their 
parents originated. With the exception of 
A. segetum and D. trifolii, the rest of the 
species of Table 2 are classified by 
these authors as emigrants, that is, spe-
cies that migrate northward within their 
area of occurrence and do not return to 
the original areas from which they carne. 
13, 14,22 1, 1, 1 
10, 20 1f, 1 (wings) 
7 1 
7 1m 
13 1 
20 1 (wings) 
31 1f 
A. segetum is classified as dismigrant 
(species suspected as being migratory); 
D. trifolii is not included among the Eu-
ropean migrants by Eitschberger et al. 
(1991) but Bretherton (1983) and Emmet 
(1992) mention its migratory behaviour in 
the British Isles. 
The flight direction could only be 
determined inequivocally in the three 
individuals of V. atalanta, which were 
moving SW in a straight line parallel to 
the coast. A southward autumn flight to 
the overwintering sites has consistently 
been reported for this species by several 
authors (e.g. Williams, 1951; Benvenuti 
et al., 1994). In central Italy, for exam-
c. Stefanescu, Butterflies and moths recorded at sea off Eívissa and Barcelona 55 
pie, this southward flight is especially 
remarkable in October in areas close to 
the sea coast (Benvenuti et al., 1994). 
The other two butterflies seen, C. 
craceus and C. cardui, and the single 
hawkmoth species detected, M. 
stellatarum, were also probably moving 
southward, but this assumption could not 
be confirmed. The southward autumn 
flight of C. croceus seems to be well 
established in the British Isles (Williams, 
1951), and there is some circumstancial 
evidence that it is quite a common fea-
ture in the Iberian Peninsula (Lack & 
Lack, 1951; Templado, 1977; C. 
Stefanescu, unpubl. data). The same is 
true for M. stellatarum, a species that 
has repeatedly been observed travelling 
south in autumn (Pittaway, 1993). On 
the other hand, though some southward 
migrations have been reported, the au-
tumn movements of C. cardui remain 
quite unclear (Stefanescu, in press.). 
On the contrary to butterflies and 
hawkmoths, which that appear to exert 
some control over their direction of di s-
placement by flying largely within their 
flight boundary layer, long-distance moth 
migrants are transported on the winds 
(Pedgley et al., 1995). On the European 
continent, such windborne movements 
allow some African and Mediterranean 
species to reach northern areas where 
their populations cannot establish perma-
nently. Although the weather in the 
Mediterranean area is highly irregular, 
some atmospheric situations do prevail 
throughout the season and are usually 
reflected in a certain pattern of succes-
sive migratory waves into the northern 
temperate zone. Thus, in the British 
Isles, where Lepidoptera migration has 
been carefully monitored for many years, 
immigrations may take place at any time 
between late January and the middle of 
November but usually peak between the 
middle of August and the middle of 
October (Bretherton, 1983). Interestingly, 
it should be noted that the greatest 
abundance of common migrants su eh as 
U. ferrugalis, P. unionalís, R. sacraria, 
M. vitellina, M. unipuncta and sometimes 
N. noctuella and S. exigua is normally 
reached in the British Isles during Octo-
ber (e.g. Bretherton & Chalmers-Hunt, 
1979, 1990; Foster, 1989). According to 
Bretherton (1983) and Pedgley et al. 
(1995) most of these migrants arrive 
mainly across the south of the North 
Atlantic, from northern Spain, Morocco, 
Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Is-
lands, but in some cases they may 
come from the south of the Mediterra-
nean. 
The observations reported here be-
gan just after a cold and very active 
front coming from the east Atlantic to-
gether with another one located on 
North Africa crossed the Iberian Penin-
sula and the western Mediterranean 
between 12 and 15 October. The next 
10 days or so an area of high pressure 
was centred on the Iberian Peninsula 
and North Africa, the weather was very 
stable and the winds were very weak 
both at the sea level and at the 850-
hPa level. Under these conditions it is 
difficult to envisage windborne long-dis-
tance migrations, because airflows suit-
able for carrying migrants were virtually 
nonexistent. One possibility that cannot 
be ruled out, however, is that the re-
ported moths were first transported into 
the south-easterly airflow following the 
passage of the above mentioned fronts 
but became apparentiy stranded when 
the anticyclone was subsequently estab-
lished over the area. If so, their origin 
would probably be found in North Africa, 
more especifically in Argelia or Tunissia. 
Once in the Balearic Islands, their trans-
port to northern (e.g. Bretherton & 
Chalmers-Hunt, 1979, 1990) or southern 
latitudes (e.g. Johnson, 1995) would 
depend on the arrival of new fronts on 
the following days. 
56 BoII. Soc. Hist. Nat. Balears, 40 (1997) 
Acknowledgements 
I thank D. L10ris (Institut de 
Ciencies del Mar-CSIC, Barcelona) for 
the elaboration of the figure and all the 
people who helped with the field obser-
vations. Meteorological data were kindly 
provided by the "Direcció General de 
Qualitat Ambiental" (Departament de 
Medi Ambient, Generalitat de Catalunya). 
Discussion with Miquel Messeguer on 
the synoptic weather maps was also 
very helpful. This paper is a result of 
the Project Fair CT95-0655 "Deep-Sea 
Fisheries". 
References 
Benvenuti, S., O a 11' Antonia, P. & loale, 
P. 1994. Migration pattern of the red 
admiral, Vanessa atalanta L. 
(Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae), in Italy. 
BoII. Zool., 61: 343-351. 
Bretherton, R.F. 1983. The incidence of 
migrant Lepidoptera in the British 
Isles. In: Heath, J. & Emmet, A.M. 
eds. The moths and butterflies of 
Great Britain and Ire/and. Volume 10. 
Noctuidae (Part 11) and Agaristidae: 
9-34. Harley Books. Colchester. 
Bretherton, R.F. & Chalmers-Hunt, J.M. 
1979. The immigration of Lepidoptera 
to the British Isles in 1978. 
Entomologist's Rec. J. Var., 91 (4): 
81-91. 
Bretherton, R.F. & Chalmers-Hunt, J.M. 
1990. The immigration of Lepidoptera 
to the British Isles in 1989. 
Entomologist's Rec. J. Var., 102(7-8): 
153-159, 102(9-10): 215-224. 
Eitschberger, U., Reinhardt, R. & 
Steiniger, H. 1991. Wanderfalter in 
Europa (Lepidoptera). Appeal for in-
ternational cooperation in the re-
search of the migration of insects. 
Atalanta, 22( 1): 1-67. 
Emmet, A.M. 1992. Chart showing the 
life history and habits of the British 
Lepidoptera. In: Emmet, A.M. & 
Heath, J. eds. The moths and butter-
flies of Great Britain and Ireland. 
Volume 7, Part 2: 61-303. Harley 
Books. Colchester. 
Foster, A.P. 1989. Immigrant Lepidoptera 
recorded in Norfolk during October 
1988. Entomologist's Rec. J. Var., 
101(5-6): 135-136. 
Johnson, S.J. 1995. Insect migration in 
North America: synoptic-scale trans-
port in a highly seasonal environ-
ment. In: Drake, VA & Gatehouse, 
A.G. eds. /nsect migration. Tracking 
resources through space and time: 
31-66. Cambridge University Press. 
Cambridge. 
Lack, D. & Lack, E. 1951. Migration of 
insects and birds through a Pyrenean 
pass. J. Anim. Ecol., 20: 63-67. 
Pedgley, D.E., Reynolds, D.R. & 
Tatchell, G.M. 1995. Long-range in-
sect migration in relation to climate 
and weather: Africa and Europe. In: 
Drake, VA & Gatehouse, A.G. eds. 
Insect migration. Tracking resources 
through space and time: 3-29. Cam-
bridge University Press. Cambridge. 
Pittaway, A.R. 1993. The hawkmoths of 
the western Pa/aearctic. Harley 
Books. Colchester. 240 pp. 
Stefanescu, C. in press. Migration pat-
terns and feeding resources of the 
Painted Lady butterfly, Cynthia cardui 
(L.) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) in the 
northeast of the Iberian peninsula. 
Misc. Zoo/., 20. 
Templado, J. 1977. Una migración 
otoñal de Cofias crocea Geof. en 
Mandayona, Guadalajara. Graellsia, 
32: 167-169. 
Williams, C.B. 1951. Seasonal changes 
in flight direction of migrant butterflies 
in the British isles. J. Anim. Eco/., 
20: 180-190. 
Williams, C.B. 1958. /nsect migration. 
Collins. London. 237 pp. 


Butterflies and moths (Insecta, Lepidoptera) recorded at sea off Eivissa and Barcelona (Western Mediterranean) in October 1996

Stefanescu, C.

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

Butterflies and moths (Insecta, 
Lepidoptera) recorded at sea off Eivissa 
and Barcelona (Western Mediterranean) 
in October 1996 
Constantí STEFANESCU 
SHNB 
SOCIETAT O'HISTORIA 
NATURAL OE LES BALEARS 
Introduction 
Stelanescu, C. 1997, Bunerflies and moths (Insecta, Lepidoptera) recorded at sea 
off Eivissa and Barcelona (Western Mediterranean) in October 1996. BolI. Soco 
Hist. Nat. Balears, 40: 51-56, ISSN 0212-260X. Palma de Mallorca. 
This note reports some observations 01 migrant Lepidoptera recorded at sea during 
a trawling cruise that took place between 16-26 October 1996 off the south 01 
Eivissa and Formentera. Nearly 50 examples belonging to 3 species 01 
Rhopalocera and 11 species 01 Heterocera were identilied. The possible origin 01 
these migrants as well as the meteorological conditions that could have been 
involved in the migration are discussed. Additional comments on the predatory 
behaviour 01 some recorded migratory insectivorous birds are al so provided. 
Keywords: Rhopalocera, Heterocera, Lepidoptera, migration, Western Mediterra-
nean. 
RODALOCERS i HETEROCERS (INSECTA, LEPIDOPTERA) CAPTURATS A LA 
MAR ENTRE EIVISSA I BARCELONA (MEDITERRÁNIA OCCIDENTAL) 
L'OCTUBRE DE 1996. En aquesta nota es comenten una serie d'observacions de 
lepidopters migradors realitzades en alta mar durant una campan ya oceanogralica 
que va tenir 1I0c entre el 16-26 d'octubre de 1996 al sud d'Eivissa i Formentera. 
En total es van identilicar uns 50 exemplars pertanyents a 3 especies de 
Rhopalocera i a 11 especies d'Heterocera. Es discuteix el possible origen 
d'aquests exemplars i les condicions meteorologiques que podrien haver contribu'it 
al procés migratori, així com altres observacions addicionals sobre la predació que 
van patir per part d'alguns ocells insectívors que també es trobaven en migració. 
Paraules e/au: Rhopalocera, Heterocera, Lepidoptera, migració, Mediterrania 
occidental. 
Constantí STEFANESCU, Can Liro, 08458 Sant Pere de Vilamajor, Barcelona. 
Recepció del manuscrit: 24-feb-97; revisió acceptada: 23-jul-97. 
Although the migratory habit in in-
sects, and more particularly in Lepidop-
tera, happens to be a well documented 
phenomenon (e.g. Williams, 1958), many 
aspects of the processes involved are 
still poorly known. Much information has 
been gathered from the European conti-
nent, but up till now the available data 
has remained irregularly distributed. 
Thus, while in the British Isles and sev-
eral countries of northern Europe a fairly 
deep knowledge has been achieved 
(e.g. Bretherton, 1983), there have been 
only a few studies concerning the Medi-
52 BoII. SOCo Hist. Nat. Balears, 40 (1997) 
terranean basin. However, this area is 
particularly interesting from the migratory 
point of view, since it represents the 
connection between the African continent 
and central and northern Europe as well 
as a probable primary source of mi-
grants to northern latitudes. 
The aim of the present note is to 
provide new data on migrant Lepidoptera 
observed off the south of Eivissa (Bal-
earic Islands) in 1996. Despite their frag-
mentary nature, these data are certainly 
interesting owing to the fact that they 
were obtained from a boat quite a dis-
tance off the coast, and during a period 
(16-26 October) generally poorly sam-
pled. 
Material and methods 
The observations were made on 
board the research vessel B/O García 
del Cid, during the trawling cruise 
QUIMERA-I that took place between 16-
26 October 1996. The ship left from 
Barcelona on 16 October and between 
17 -26 October it surveyed the slope off 
the south of Eivissa and Formentera 
(Fig. 1). The exact position, date and 
timing of the different trawls in which 
migrant Lepidoptera were observed are 
detailed in Table 1. 
While the trawls were taking place, 
the boat deck was surveyed in search of 
migrant Lepidoptera. In most cases they 
were found resting on the deck, but in 
some instances (e.g. N. noctuella, P. 
unionalis, C. craceus, V. atalanta, C. 
cardui and M. stellatarum) the examples 
were seen arriving or while flying over 
the sea. 
There were also a considerable 
number of migrant birds so me of which 
were observed preying upon different 
moth species. Whenever possible the 
species involved in these encounters 
were identified and are reported in the 
following section. 
Table 1. Sample station data 01 the trawls where migrant Lepidoptera were detected. Time and 
station position is relerred to the beginning 01 the sample. Bottom depth is reported at the start 
lor each sample. 
Taula 1. Dades de les pesques on es van detectar lepidópters migradors. L'hora, la posició 
i la (ondaria corresponen el moment de /'inici de la pesca. 
Station Date Local time Latitude (N) Longitude (E) Depth (m) 
1 17X96 10:37 38°44'70" 01°38'27" 271 
7 19X96 9:17 38°19'75" 01°47'04" 1414 
9 19X96 15:40 38°24'48" 01°47'33" 1221 
10 19X96 17:56 38°23'87" 01°48'42" 1231 
12 20X96 12:15 38°12'81 " 01°47'99" 1590 
13 20X96 15:22 38°07'34" 01°42'98" 1714 
14 20X96 18:35 38°08'09" 01°48'86" 1709 
16 21X96 12:16 38°16'22" 01°47'75" 1509 
17 21X96 15:25 38°19'58" 01°46'77" 1421 
19 22X96 8:52 38°25'93" 01°55'72" 1119 
20 22X96 11 :32 38°30'18" 01 °49'18" 805 
22 22X96 16:10 38°31'47" 01°49'19" 702 
29 24X96 8:36 38°36'59" 01°46'06" 501 
31 24X96 13:15 38°39'43" 01°38'57" 335 
c. Stefanescu, Butterflies and moths recorded at sea off Eivissa and Barcelona 53 
Fig. 1. Location 01 the trawls in which 
migrant Lepidoptera were observed. 
Fig. 1. Situació de les pesques en que es 
van observar lepidópters migradors. 
... EIVISSA 
tt t 
FORMENTER A ~.1 
I 20km I 
Results 
.19 .~1O 
7 •• 17 
.16 
.12 
Between 16-26 October nearly 50 
examples belonging to 14 different spe-
cies of butterflies (three species) and 
moths (11 species) were detected (Table 
2). Besides the Lepidoptera, moderate 
numbers of unidentified Syrphid flies and 
Odonata were also migrating. Almost all 
the observations were made off the 
south of Eivissa and Formentera, 5-30 
miles away from the coastline (Table 1). 
The only three examples of V. atalanta 
were seen on 16 October at 14-15 h, 
when the ship was leaving Barcelona 
harbour and was not further than one 
mile from the coast. Three examples of 
M. stellatarum were also recorded off 
Barcelona. 
Though the trawls began each day 
around 8 a.m. and continued until 8 
p.m., almost all of the exam-
pies were recorded during 
r
N 
day time. Although the deck 
lights of the ship were al so 
searched for migrant 
Lepidoptera every night, no 
moth nor butterfly was de-
tected at that time. It seems 
therefore that most migration 
took place during the day. 
The following bird spe-
cies were seen in migration 
during the cruise: skylark 
(Alauda arvensis) , swallow 
(Hirundo rustica), white wag-
tail (Motacilla alba), robin 
(Erithacus rubecula) , redstart 
(Phoenicurus ochruros) , 
thrush (Turdus sp.), chiff-
chaff (Phylloscopus collybita) , 
starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 
and chaffinch (Fringilla 
coelebs). White wagtail, 
robin, redstart, chiffchaff and 
chaffinch were the most 
common species and sev-
eral individuals stayed on 
the ship for periods encom-
passing several hours. Predatory behav-
iour was frequently recorded in robin, 
redstart and chiffchaff, but only on one 
occasion (trawl 17) was I able to identify 
the species captured: N. noctuella by 
redstart, and R. sacraria by chiffchaff. 
Most probably the wings of A. segetum 
and M. unipuncta found on the deck 
(Table 2) were al so the result of preda-
tion by some of the aboye mentioned 
birds. Although this predatory impact on 
the number of Lepidoptera was not as-
sessed, there is no doubt that insectivo-
rous birds killed an important proportion 
of the moths that stopped on the ship. 
54 BoII. Soco Hist. Nat. Balears, 40 (1997) 
Table 2. Butlerflies and moths recorded at sea off Eivissa and Barcelona between 16·26 October 
1996. (lf recorded, sexes are indicated: m, male; f, female). 
Taule 2. Papallones diürnes i nocturnes trobades en alta mar a la zona d'Eivissa i Barcelona 
els dies 16-26 d'octubre de 1996. (Sempre que ha estat possible, s'indiquen els sexes: m, 
mascle; t, temella). 
Family Species Trawl Individuals 
(subfamily) 
Pyralidae 
(Pyraustinae) Udea terrugalis (Hb.) 16 1f 
Nomophila noctuella ([0.&8.)) 7,9,17,31 1,>5, 3, 1 
Palpita unionalis (Hb.) 7,12,13 1m, 1f, 1 
Pieridae 
(Coliadinae) Colias croceus (Geoff.) 1,29 1, 1f 
Nymphalidae 
(Nymphalinae) Vanessa atalanta (Unn.) off Barcelona 3 
Cynthia cardui (Unn.) 13,29 1,2m 
Geometridae 
(Sterrhinae) Rhodometra sacraria (Unn.) 9,14,16,17 1f,1,2,3 
19, 22, 29,31 1, 1, 1, 1 
Sphingidae 
(Macroglossinae) Macroglossum stellatarum (Unn.) off Barcelona 3 
Noctuidae 
(Noctuinae) Agrotis segetum ([0.& S.)] 
Noctua pronuba (Unn.) 
(Hadeninae) Discestra tritolii (Hfn.) 
Mythimna vitellina (Hb.) 
Mythimna unipuncta (Hw.) 
(Amphipyrinae) Spodoptera exigua (Hb.) 
Discussion 
AII the species reported display a 
well-known migratory behaviour. Follow-
ing the classification of Eitschberger et 
al. (1991), U. ferrugalis, N. noctuella, P. 
unionalis, V. atalanta and C. cardui are 
seasonal migrants of first order, and late 
in the season the offspring of the early 
migrants are involved in return flights to 
the southern areas from where their 
parents originated. With the exception of 
A. segetum and D. trifolii, the rest of the 
species of Table 2 are classified by 
these authors as emigrants, that is, spe-
cies that migrate northward within their 
area of occurrence and do not return to 
the original areas from which they carne. 
13, 14,22 1, 1, 1 
10, 20 1f, 1 (wings) 
7 1 
7 1m 
13 1 
20 1 (wings) 
31 1f 
A. segetum is classified as dismigrant 
(species suspected as being migratory); 
D. trifolii is not included among the Eu-
ropean migrants by Eitschberger et al. 
(1991) but Bretherton (1983) and Emmet 
(1992) mention its migratory behaviour in 
the British Isles. 
The flight direction could only be 
determined inequivocally in the three 
individuals of V. atalanta, which were 
moving SW in a straight line parallel to 
the coast. A southward autumn flight to 
the overwintering sites has consistently 
been reported for this species by several 
authors (e.g. Williams, 1951; Benvenuti 
et al., 1994). In central Italy, for exam-
c. Stefanescu, Butterflies and moths recorded at sea off Eívissa and Barcelona 55 
pie, this southward flight is especially 
remarkable in October in areas close to 
the sea coast (Benvenuti et al., 1994). 
The other two butterflies seen, C. 
craceus and C. cardui, and the single 
hawkmoth species detected, M. 
stellatarum, were also probably moving 
southward, but this assumption could not 
be confirmed. The southward autumn 
flight of C. croceus seems to be well 
established in the British Isles (Williams, 
1951), and there is some circumstancial 
evidence that it is quite a common fea-
ture in the Iberian Peninsula (Lack & 
Lack, 1951; Templado, 1977; C. 
Stefanescu, unpubl. data). The same is 
true for M. stellatarum, a species that 
has repeatedly been observed travelling 
south in autumn (Pittaway, 1993). On 
the other hand, though some southward 
migrations have been reported, the au-
tumn movements of C. cardui remain 
quite unclear (Stefanescu, in press.). 
On the contrary to butterflies and 
hawkmoths, which that appear to exert 
some control over their direction of dis-
placement by flying largely within their 
flight boundary layer, long-distance moth 
migrants are transported on the winds 
(Pedgley et al., 1995). On the European 
continent, such windborne movements 
allow some African and Mediterranean 
species to reach northern areas where 
their populations cannot establish perma-
nently. Although the weather in the 
Mediterranean area is highly irregular, 
some atmospheric situations do prevail 
throughout the season and are usually 
reflected in a certain pattern of succes-
sive migratory waves into the northern 
temperate zone. Thus, in the British 
Isles, where Lepidoptera migration has 
been carefully monitored for many years, 
immigrations may take place at any time 
between late January and the middle of 
November but usually peak between the 
middle of August and the middle of 
October (Bretherton, 1983). Interestingly, 
it should be noted that the greatest 
abundance of common migrants su eh as 
U. ferrugalis, P. unionalís, R. sacraria, 
M. vitellina, M. unipuncta and sometimes 
N. noctuella and S. exigua is normally 
reached in the British Isles during Octo-
ber (e.g. Bretherton & Chalmers-Hunt, 
1979, 1990; Foster, 1989). According to 
Bretherton (1983) and Pedgley et al. 
(1995) most of these migrants arrive 
mainly across the south of the North 
Atlantic, from northern Spain, Morocco, 
Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Is-
lands, but in some cases they may 
come from the south of the Mediterra-
nean. 
The observations reported here be-
gan just after a cold and very active 
front coming from the east Atlantic to-
gether with another one located on 
North Africa crossed the Iberian Penin-
sula and the western Mediterranean 
between 12 and 15 October. The next 
10 days or so an area of high pressure 
was centred on the Iberian Peninsula 
and North Africa, the weather was very 
stable and the winds were very weak 
both at the sea level and at the 850-
hPa level. Under these conditions it is 
difficult to envisage windborne long-dis-
tance migrations, because airflows suit-
able for carrying migrants were virtually 
nonexistent. One possibility that cannot 
be ruled out, however, is that the re-
ported moths were first transported into 
the south-easterly airflow following the 
passage of the above mentioned fronts 
but became apparentiy stranded when 
the anticyclone was subsequently estab-
lished over the area. If so, their origin 
would probably be found in North Africa, 
more especifically in Argelia or Tunissia. 
Once in the Balearic Islands, their trans-
port to northern (e.g. Bretherton & 
Chalmers-Hunt, 1979, 1990) or southern 
latitudes (e.g. Johnson, 1995) would 
depend on the arrival of new fronts on 
the following days. 
56 BoII. Soc. Hist. Nat. Balears, 40 (1997) 
Acknowledgements 
I thank D. L10ris (Institut de 
Ciencies del Mar-CSIC, Barcelona) for 
the elaboration of the figure and all the 
people who helped with the field obser-
vations. Meteorological data were kindly 
provided by the "Direcció General de 
Qualitat Ambiental" (Departament de 
Medi Ambient, Generalitat de Catalunya). 
Discussion with Miquel Messeguer on 
the synoptic weather maps was also 
very helpful. This paper is a result of 
the Project Fair CT95-0655 "Deep-Sea 
Fisheries". 
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Butterflies and moths (Insecta, Lepidoptera) recorded at sea off Eivissa and Barcelona (Western Mediterranean) in October 1996

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