Nils Ryrholm

University of Gävle · Department of Electronics, Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Climate change is an important driver of range shifts and community composition changes. Still, little is known about how the responses are influenced by the combination of land use, species interactions and species traits. We integrate climate and distributional data for 131 butterfly species in Sweden and Finland and show that cumulative species...

Ecosystem engineers affect other organisms by creating, maintaining or modifying habitats, potentially supporting species of conservation concern. However, it is important to consider these interactions alongside non-engineering trophic pathways. We investigated the relative importance of trophic and non-trophic effects of an ecosystem engineer, re...

Climate and land use change can alter the incidence and strength of biotic interactions, with important effects on the distribution, abundance and function of species. To assess the importance of these effects and their dynamics, studies quantifying how biotic interactions change in space and time are needed. We studied interactions between nettle‐...

Burnet moths (Zygaena spp.) are day-flying Lepidoptera considered indicative of species-rich grasslands. In the present study, our aim was to clarify whether clear-cuts are habitat, supporting habitat or matrix for three species of Zygaena. We did so by sampling these species with sex pheromones on 48 clear-cuts, varying in amount of host and necta...

Aim Biotic interactions are an important factor structuring ecological communities but data scarcity limits our understanding of the impact of their response to climate and land use changes on communities. We studied the impact of a change in species assemblage on biotic interactions in a community of closely-related butterflies. Specifically, we e...

Whittleia retiella (Newman, 1847) is a threatened salt marsh species of the bagworm moth family Psychidae. For its preservation it is necessary to develop efficient tools to survey its distribution and habitat requirements in order to use appropriate conservation methods. Such tools may be pheromone-based monitoring systems, which have documented e...

In this study, we examined the evolutionary outcome of and interplay between historic isolation and current selection pressures on traits more or less closely connected to fitness in the Pearly Heath butterfly (Coenonympha arcania) across its range in Europe. We hypothesized that a trait mean is more related to historic events if it has low connect...

Red Lists are very valuable tools in nature conservation at global, continental and (sub-) national scales. In an attempt to prioritise conservation actions for European butterflies, we compiled a database with species lists and Red Lists of all European countries, including the Macaronesian archipelagos (Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands). In tot...

Arctic and alpine environments present extreme, but different, challenges to survival. We therefore studied the ecological adaptation of the arctic-alpine fritillary Boloria napaea in northern Sweden and compared these results with the eastern Alps. Using mark-release-recapture, we analysed phenology, mobility, activity patterns, change in wing con...

In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of literature on various approaches to the study of pheromone systems in Insecta. Much of the current research on attractive molecules pays particular attention to their chemical structure, isomerism and biosynthesis (Efetov et al., 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016; Efetov & Gorbunov, 2016; Subchev et al.,...

Biotic interactions structure communities and shape species co-occurrence patterns. Because these processes operate in complex networks, biotic interactions are difficult to study and it is unclear how they affect species response to environmental changes. Over the last two decades, Araschnia levana has substantially expanded its distribution range...

Synanthedon vespiformis L. (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) is considered a rare insect in Sweden, discovered in 1860, with only a few observations recorded until a sex pheromone attractant became available recently. This study details a national survey conducted using pheromones as a sampling method for this species. Through pheromone trapping we captured...

Recent global change has had a substantial influence on the distribution of organisms, and many species are currently expanding their ranges. To evaluate the underlying processes, long-term data with good geographic resolution are essential. One important but generally overlooked data source is offered by the taxon-specific national catalogues of f...

Long-range, seasonal migration is a widespread phenomenon among insects, allowing them to track and exploit abundant but ephemeral resources over vast geographical areas. However, the basic patterns of how species shift across multiple locations and seasons are unknown in most cases, even though migrant species comprise an important component of th...

Twenty-nine butterfly species are listed on the Annexes of the Habitats Directive. To assist everyone who wants or needs to take action for one of these species, we compiled an overview of the habitat requirements and ecology of each species, as well as information on their conservation status in Europe. This was taken from the recent Red List and...

We provide a comprehensive overview of those Lepidopteran invasions to Europe that result from increasing globalisation and also review expansion of species within Europe. A total of 97 non-native Lepidoptera species (about 1% of the known fauna), in 20 families and 11 superfamilies have established so far in Europe, of which 30 alone are Pyraloide...

Populations at range margins may be genetically different from more central ones for a number of mutually non-exclusive reasons. Specific selection pressures may operate in environments that are more marginal for the species. Genetic drift may also have a strong effect in these populations if they are small, isolated and/or have experienced signifi...

Depending on their faunal content islands can function as important ‘vehicles’ for conservation. In this study, we examine data on 440 butterfly species over 564 European islands in 10 island groups. To determine the status of the butterfly fauna, we have adopted two approaches, island-focused and species-focused, examined using principal component...

Molecular sequence data from three gene fragments were used to examine critically a provisional phylogenetic classification based on morphological characters of the Geometridae, one of the most species-rich families of moths. The sister group relationship between Geometridae and Drepanidae gained further support from the molecular analysis, which w...

Global warming and the change of butterfly distributions: a new opportunity for species diversity or a severe threat (Lepidoptera)? In order to assess the influence of climatic changes on the distribution of insects, the ranges of nonmigratory European butterfly species have been studied. This study revealed that the northern limits of 32 (64%) of...

Synanthedon polaris (STAUDINGER 1877) (Lepidoptera, Sesiidae) also in South Tyrol, Italy! Among the material left by the late Dr. Ernst Priesner, the second author found a clearwing from a sticky trap set up in the Langtaufers-valley (South Tyrol, Italy) by G. Dobler in 1988. The first author dissected the specimen and confirmed that it was indeed...

Mean global temperatures have risen this century, and further warming is predicted to continue for the next 50-100 years. Some migratory species can respond rapidly to yearly climate variation by altering the timing or destination of migration, but most wildlife is sedentary and so is incapable of such a rapid response. For these species, responses...

This is the fifth report on interesting finds and events from the Swedish mountain range and adjacent areas that are generally not reported in the national lists for Micro- and Macrolepi- doptera. Despite the mostly unfavourable weather, with the exception for a relatively warm period in the very north during the first three weeks of July, a large...

Pheromone compounds so far identified from most geometrid moths consist of all-Z diene, triene, or tetraene hydrocarbons with chain lengths of C17 to C21, and their monoepoxide derivatives biosynthesized from linoleic and linolenic acids. The present study reports the occurrence of olefinic acetates as sex pheromones in three species of Geometridae...

The larva of Autographa buraetica (Staudinger, 1892) is described from materials based on ex ovo rearings carried out in Sweden in the summers 1989 and 1991. Description of mouthparts, chaetotaxy and ornaments are given with drawings and photographs. The larva can be separated from other species of Autographa, also from the sister species A. pulchr...

The noctuid sibling taxaDiachrysia chrysitis s. str. andD. tutti, of yet uncertain taxonomic status, have previously been shown to possess differences in morphology and to be attracted to different mixtures of the two presumed pheromone components (Z)-5-decenyl acetate and (Z)-7-decenyl acetate. TypicalD. tutti males (clearly broken forewing markin...

Thesis (doctoral)--Uppsala University, 1989. Includes bibliographical references (p. 25-27).

The mothIdaea dilutaria Hbn. (Geometridae) has an isolated population on the Kullaberg peninsula in southern Sweden. Investigations of the local and micro-climate on the peninsula showed that the local distribution range of the moth coincided with the areas of warmest climate, supporting the hypothesis that the Kullaberg poppulation is dependent fo...

Pheromone attraction of European clear wing moths (Lepidoptera, Sesiidae). Lists of pheromone attraction of European clear wing moths - including attractive pheromones and time of attraction - to synthetic pheromone lures derived from MPI Seewiesen (Priesner) and IPO Wageningen (Griepink) are provided. The composition of the mentioned pheromones is...