SPNL launches new website http://butterflies.spnl.org/. An online guide to the butterflies and moths of Lebanon, butterfly gardening, and butterfly conservation.
Because of its unique location between Asia, Africa, and Europe, Lebanon has a diverse butterfly fauna. There are at least 165 species of butterflies, a number much higher than that of nearly every other country in the Middle East and North Africa, and many countries in Europe. Forty-five of these species are endemics and near-endemics, and 20 are considered threatened or near threatened. Many are isolated alpine species living at high altitudes and mountaintops, a result of Lebanon’s long history of glacial refugia. And an even larger number are eremics, found in drier parts of the country, which is increasing due to global warming and desertification. Lebanon, with its location on the Mediterranean, is also a source, transit stop, and destination of butterfly migration.
Husein Zorkot
I’m a Lebanese lepidopterist and butterfly conservationist, and a member of the Lepidopterists’ Society of Africa and Butterfly Conservation Saving Butterflies, Moths, and Our Environment. I work as a field biologist, scientific researcher, and wildlife artist at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL) and I manage Lebanon’s one and only Butterfly Garden & Pavilion. I also study plants, reptiles and amphibians, and freshwater aquatic ecosystems and I’m currently working on a number of nature field guides and biomonitoring studies.
Please click on each butterfly species to read its individual description and view the images and videos. These field tools will help you identify butterflies in the wild. You want to know more? Please buy the books and visit the butterfly garden.
