More than 15 new species of butterflies are recorded in the Kurilsky Nature Reserve

The press service of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation reported that during the expedition on the territory of the Kurilsky Reserve, scientists of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences recorded new species of butterflies for Kunashir and the fauna of Russia. They also discovered several new species of insects from other orders.

In total, more than 15 new species of butterflies have been recorded, previously not found on Kunashir Island. Scientists conducted research on the territory of the Kuril Reserve in October last year. They noted that the late-settled fauna of Kunashir is extremely poorly studied.
"Scientists are now completing the definition of the material collected in 2023. The results of the work will resolve important issues with the species composition of Lepidoptera and other insect representatives on the territory of the reserve," the message says.

The next time entomologists will come to Kunashir in May this year. They plan to identify the earliest spring butterflies. If the goal of the scientists is achieved, a complete list of lepidoptera that can be found on Kunashir will appear in the inventory of the wildlife of the reserve.

Previously, similar expeditions took place in the summer of 1989 and 2019, as well as in 2022 and 2023. In 2019, scientists managed to prove that the magnolia hawk moth is not an alien species, and in 2022, experts collected almost 50 new species for the island, some of which turned out to be new to the fauna of Russia.