Butterfly diversity and its influencing factors in Daqing City

To understand butterfly diversity and analyze its influencing factors in Daqing City, we investigated butterflies using the line transect method from 2016 to 2019 in different habitats. We recorded 5780 butterfly individuals belonging to 36 species, 29 genera, and 6 families. Lycaenidae, with the most individuals, and Nymphalidae, with the most species, were the dominant families. Papilionidae, with only one species, was regarded as rare. There were 7 dominant, 5 common, 4 unusual, and 20 rare species. In terms of butterfly species composition and number, some differences were observed among the different habitats. The highest number of species was in the Xinhua grassland with less human disturbance and the most diverse plant community, whereas the lowest number was in the Daqing Longfeng Wetland Nature Reserve with strong human disturbance and a single plant community structure. The diversity index of butterflies was highest in the Xinhua grassland and lowest in the Daqing Longfeng Wetland Nature Reserve. Meanwhile, the richness index was highest in the Xinhua grassland and lowest in the Chengfeng Lake shoreline. The monthly changes in species, number of individuals, diversity index, and richness index were similar. There was a significant positive correlation with the mean monthly temperature (P < 0.05) but no correlation with monthly rainfall. In conclusion, butterfly diversity is significantly correlated with vegetation type and temperature. However, under the same meteorological conditions, vegetation type is an important factor influencing butterfly distribution. Therefore, in areas with a single vegetation type, moderately heterogeneous vegetation restoration is beneficial for protecting and enriching butterfly resources.