New information of the biodiversity of the nymphalid family (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) species collected in Romania’s fauna between 1887–1984

BACKGROUND: This paper complements the data published thus far about species of the nymphalid family with data collected in Romania’s eight regions between 1887 and 1984 and elsewhere in Europe (Austria, Germany, Croația, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia and Switzerland), including the date and the site of original collection. For the first time, this research presents the collecting information of the species held in the entomological collection of the Museum of Natural History in Sibiu. It identifies the species of the nymphalid family in six of the museum’s lepidoptera collections. These collections are of extraordinary interest not least because they are associated with natural scientists of European renown, such as Daniel Czekelius, Eugen Worell, Viktor Weindel, Rolf Weirauch, Heinrich Hann von Hannenheim and Eckbert Schneider. The analysis, cataloguing, centralisation and updating of the nomenclature resulted in a number of 1,865 specimens from 49 species and fifteen genera (of the 90 referenced in Romania’s fauna): Aglais, Apatura, Araschnia, Argynnis, Brenthis, Boloria, Euphydryas, Inachis, Issoria, Libythea, Limenitis, Melitaea, Neptis, Nymphalis and Polygonia. Data published in a previous article add 101 specimens from the Vanessa genus. NEW INFORMATION: Most species originate regionally from the nine counties of Transylvania followed by Oltenia and Moldova (three counties each), Banat and Dobrogea (two counties each), Crișana, Satu Mare and Muntenia (one county each) and the capital of Romania, Bucharest. The species presented in this paper also include the extinct taxon Polygoniaegea (Cramer, 1775), Eugen Worrell collection and three species that are endemic to Romania: Melitaearetyezatica Diöszeghy, 1930, Argynnispandoradacica Hormuzaki, 1892, Daniel Czekelius collection and Boloriapales ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) carpathomeridionalis Crosson et Popescu-Gorj, 1963, both in the Viktor Weindel collection.