An updated checklist of the Serbian butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea Latreille, [1802])
Submitted: 24.x.2025 | Accepted: 28.xi.2025 | Published online: 30.xii.2025.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17594685

Predrag Jakšić
0
Serbia, Čingrijina St. 14/25, Belgrade, Serbia. jaksicpredrag@gmail.com

Abstract
A new checklist of the butterflies of Serbia is presented, including both scientific and vernacular names. The differences between this and previous checklists are discussed, as well as current taxonomic issues. A new Red List is proposed, with supporting justification, and species considered regionally extinct (RE) are identified.

Key words
Butterflies — Checklist — Red List — Serbia.

Introduction
The Republic of Serbia, as a European country, is situated predominantly on the Balkan Peninsula, with a smaller portion extending into the Pannonian Plain. The total area of its territory covers 88,499 km² (Fig. 1).
The first comprehensive checklist of the butterflies of Serbia, then including Macedonia, was published by Gradojević (1930–31). That list contained 168 species, with a note that many of them had been recorded only in Macedonia. After a gap of 65 years, Zečević (1996) published a list referring solely to the territory of present-day Serbia, comprising 189 species. Jakšić & Đurić (2007) produced a new checklist enumerating 193 species. For the first time, vernacular names were presented systematically, following the principle of priority, while new vernacular names were proposed for species previously lacking them. Subsequent faunistic research revealed six additional species, incorporated into the revised list by Jakšić et al. (2013). Popović & Verovnik (2018) later published an updated checklist of the butterflies of Serbia, listing 199 species. Since then, several additional species have been confirmed for the Serbian fauna. Recently, a new European Red List of Butterflies (van Swaay et al. 2025) has been published, introducing revised categories of species threat levels. Considering that the Red Data Book of Serbian Butterflies (Jakšić 2003) appeared more than two decades ago, this moment offers an appropriate opportunity to present the current faunistic status of butterfly species in Serbia, along with their vernacular names and updated conservation categories.

Taxonomic and nomenclatural framework
The systematic order of families and lower taxa, as well as species nomenclature, follows van Nieukerken et al. (2011), Dapporto et al. (2022), Taymans & Cuvelier (2025a) and Taymans & Cuvelier (2025b).
The sequence and nomenclature adopted in the first publication was also followed by van Swaay et al. (2025).
The conservation status of species is likewise presented according to van Swaay et al. (2025):
RE - Regionally Extinct
EN - Endangered
VU - Vulnerable
NT - Near Threatened
LC - Least Concern
NA - Not Applicable.
Serbian vernacular names are based on Jakšić & Đurić (2007), Jakšić et al. (2013), and later publications concerning newly recorded species.
The results are presented in Table 1.

Fig. 1. Republic of Serbia, Relief Map (url).

Table 1. Systematic list of Serbian butterflies with vernacular names and conservation status.

Discussion and conclusion
The occurrence of the taxon Kretania pylaon (Fischer, 1832) in Serbia remains a matter of debate. Kudrna et al. (2015) provided aggregated distribution data for the K. pylaon complex, whereas Popović & Verovnik (2018) listed only the species Kretania sephirus (Frivaldszky, 1835). The first concrete evidence that these are distinct species, Kretania pylaon brethertoni Brown 1976, and K. sephirus, was provided by Coutsis & De Prins (2006), who demonstrated a difference in haploid chromosome number (K. pylaon brethertoni Greece n = 37; K. sephirus Bulgaria n = 19). The current consensus recognises them as two separate species (Dapporto et al. 2022; Taymans & Cuvelier 2025a; van Swaay et al. 2025). Taxonomically, the Kretania pylaon species-group complex (= K. pylaon complex) comprises five European species: K. pylaon, K. sephirus, Kretania trappi (Verity, 1927), Kretania hespericus (Rambur, [1839]), and Kretania brethertoni (Brown, 1976), whose species status is subject to debate. Balint & Fiedler (1992) recorded K. sephirus from Flamunda (Deliblato, Banat Province, Serbia), describing its habitat as calcareous, sandy, or loess-dominated steppe. The larvae of both species feed on plants of the genus Astragalus, of which 17 species occur in Serbia (Diklić 1972). Approximately 30 published studies (Jakšić 2022) deal with K. sephirus in Serbia; however, none provide substantiated evidence for the presence of K. pylaon in the country. Further cytotaxonomic research and DNA barcoding of specimens from Serbian territory could help clarify this unresolved issue.
According to Dincă et al. (2021), Case 14 of shared barcodes, further taxonomical research may be needed.
Lorković (1953; 1954) described Erebia cassioides illyromacedonica on the Macedonian side of Mt. Šar Planina as a distinct subspecies, compared to Erebia cassioides illyrica from Mt. Durmitor in Montenegro. We have found this subspecies at several sites (Mt. Šar Planina: Ljuboten, Piribreg, Vrbeštički jalovarnik) on the Serbian side of Mt. Šar Planina (Fig. 2).
Lopinga achine (Scopoli, 1763) was, until now, known only from a literature record in the vicinity of Majdanpek (“Univerzitetska domena” - Majdanpek District, Eastern Serbia) and, the entire collection, including this specimen, was destroyed during the Second World War (Živojinović, 1950). Remarkably, in June of this year, Mihajlo Vujić and Ivan Tot discovered a population of this species in western Srem, Vojvodina (url).

Fig. 2. Erebia cassioides llyromacedonica. Above: ♂ underside. Serbia, Mt. Šar Planina, Ljuboten, 2300–2490 m, 24.viii.1994. Leg. P. Jakšić. Below: ♀ underside. Serbia, Mt. Šar Planina, Piribeg, Vrbeštički Jalovarnik, 1700 m, 3–4.viii.1987, Leg. P. Jakšić.
Fig. 3. Erebia manto ♂ genitalia. Montenegro, Čakor, 1800 m, 18.viii.1988., Gen. slide no. 1393, Leg. P. Jakšić.
Fig. 4. Polygonia egea ♂ underside. Serbia, Priština, Mt. Grmija, 700 m, 1.viii.1971. Leg. P. Jakšić.

What can be expected in the future?
In their monograph devoted to the Macedonian side of Mt. Šar Planina, Krpač et al. (2021) list two species occurring near the border with Serbia: Muschampia alta (Schwingenschuss, 1942) from Vratnica and Agriades pyrenaica dardanus (Freyer, [1843]) without precise locality data. The authors themselves did not record these species but referred to earlier publications. Unfortunately, no field research has been conducted on the Serbian side of the Mt. Šar Planina to confirm their presence.
A similar situation applies to the species Erebia manto ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) (Fig. 3). It was confirmed in Montenegro at the site Čakor, 1800 m (Jakšić & Pešić 1995). The borderline between Montenegro and Kosovo and Metohija in that sector follows the line Starac (2426 m) - Čakor (1849 m) - Planinica (1963 m). Future fieldwork will almost certainly show that this species also occurs on the Serbian side of Mt. Čakor.
An important issue concerns species known from earlier records but not observed in the past fifty years. Two species belong to this group:
Leptidea morsei (Fenton, 1882), was only known from Mt. Fruška Gora. Specimens are preserved in the collections of Lorković (1930-1931) and the industrialist-collector Miloš Rogulja from Novi Sad (Jakšić 1993). Both records originate from Mt. Fruška Gora. The species has not been found there for the past ninety years.
Colias myrmidone (Esper, [1781]), was last recorded from Eastern Serbia: Sokolovica, Bor, and Mt. Stol, dating to 1970 (Zečević & Radovanović 1974). The species has not been observed in Serbia in the past fifty years.
These two species may therefore be regarded as regionally extinct (RE).
Another group includes species occasionally recorded beyond the limits of their natural range:
Papilio alexanorEsper, [1800], was recently recorded in western Serbia at Mt. Zlatibor, Čajetina, village Stublo (Vukajlović et al. 2025). The nearest known locality is Gacko in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina (Lelo 2008), approximately 100 km in a straight line from Čajetina.
Cacyreus marshalliButler, 1898, was discovered in the city of Niš, represented by a single specimen (Milojković et al. 2021).
Polygonia aegea (Cramer, [1775]), was collected by Jakšić on 1.viii.1971 at Mt. Grmija, near Priština (Fig. 4). During three decades of research on Mt. Grmija (1969–1999), this was the only specimen found. The larval host plant, Parietaria officinalis, is absent from that locality (Krivošej 2013). The species was later observed near Niš, in the Jelašnička Klisura Gorge (Đurić, Popović & Verovnik 2010).
These three species appear to exhibit range fluctuations in response to ongoing climatic changes. As early as 1994, Ocokolić convincingly demonstrated the cyclical alternation of wet and dry periods in Serbia, and the observed range shifts correspond to these climatic oscillations.
Based on the results presented (Table 1), a total of 201 butterfly species have been recorded in the territory of Serbia. Compared with the previous checklist (Popović & Verovnik 2018), the fauna of Serbia has been enriched by three newly recorded species: P. alexanor: W Serbia, Stublo village, Čajetina (Vukajlović et al. 2025), Tarucus balkanica (Freyer, [1843]): SE Serbia, Pčinja Valley, Čivčije locality (Tot et al. 2022) and C. marshalli: Serbia, Niš, Palilula City Park (Milojković et al. 2021).
In conclusion, faunal richness is a dynamic category: over the past century, some species previously present in Serbia have disappeared, while others, until recently unknown, have been newly recorded in its territory. The conservation status of species is presented according to the categories applied in Europe, excluding the 27 EU member states (van Swaay et al., 2025). The categories proposed in that publication were adopted, except for L. morsei and C. myrmidone, which are here classified as regionally extinct species (RE).

Author contribution
Predrag Jakšić: conceptualization, field work, analysis, visualisation, writing - original draft, writing – review and editing.

Acknowledgements
I am sincerely grateful to Djordje Radevski for reviewing the final draft, the attention to detail and thoughtful feedback have been invaluable in refining and strengthening this work. The author also wishes to thank Sylvain Cuvelier for his contribution to the development of the entire manuscript.

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