Based on four years of butterfly monitoring in four contrasting natural habitats on St. Eustatius, we document large and consistent differences in the butterfly species assemblages in the different habitats and compare the butterfly assemblages of the three windward Dutch islands to those of other islands of the Lesser Antilles. Seven new species records were established for St. Eustatius, thereby updating the butterfly list to a total of 32 species. Pieridae were the most numerically abundant group of butterflies (48%), followed by Lycaenidae (26%), Hesperiidae (12%), and smaller numbers of both Heliconiinae (6%) and Charaxinae (5%). Heliconiinae and Charaxinae both showed a significant dependence on the moister, wind-sheltered habitats of the volcanic slopes and crater of the Quill, but this dependence was particularly strong for Heliconiinae. The butterfly faunas of the windward Dutch islands numbered a total of 44 species. The presence of larval host plants needed for local reproduction was confirmed for all but two species. Cluster analysis separated the butterfly faunas of these and the surrounding islands into two groups. The more speciose butterfly assemblages of Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Martin clustered together with the those of the surrounding higher islands of Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis, and St. Kitts, while the poorer faunas of the low-lying islands of Anguilla, St. Bartholomew, and Barbuda formed a separate cluster and had a lower species richness particularly in the Heliconiinae and Charaxinae. Based on consistent effects of elevation on butterfly faunas, at both geographic scales (between areas on St. Eustatius and between islands), our results suggest that island maximum elevation is the overriding factor explaining the distribution of butterfly faunal richness in the northern Lesser Antillean islands studied.

中文翻译：

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圣欧斯达休斯的蝴蝶，在小安的列斯群岛的相邻岛屿之间进行动物区系比较

基于对圣尤斯达修斯四个相对自然栖息地的四年蝴蝶监测，我们记录了不同栖息地蝴蝶物种组合的较大且一致的差异，并将三个上风的荷兰岛屿与其他岛屿的蝴蝶组合进行了比较。小安的列斯群岛。为圣尤斯达休斯建立了7个新物种记录，从而将蝴蝶名录更新为总共32个物种。蝶形科是数量最多的蝴蝶类（48％），其次是蝶形科（26％），蛇形科（12％），螺旋形科（6％）和and科（5％）的数量较少。Heliconiinae和Charaxinae均显示出对火山斜坡和鹅毛crat火山口潮湿，避风生境的栖息地的显着依赖，但这种依赖对Heliconiinae尤为强烈。上风的荷兰群岛的蝴蝶动物共计44种。除两个物种外，所有其他物种均确认存在本地繁殖所需的幼虫寄主植物。聚类分析将这些和周围岛屿的蝴蝶动物区系分为两组。Saba，St。Eustatius和St. Martin的较特殊的蝴蝶组合与周围的安提瓜岛，蒙特塞拉特，尼维斯和圣基茨群岛的较高群岛的动物聚集在一起，而安圭拉低洼岛屿的动物群较差，圣巴塞洛缪和巴布达形成一个单独的集群，并且物种丰富度较低，尤其是在螺旋藻和Char科中。基于海拔对蝴蝶动物群的一致影响，在两个地理尺度上（圣尤斯达蒂斯地区之间和岛屿之间），