About

The ongoing cooperation of the Brazilian ecologist Dr. Rosamary Vieira with the German scientist and curator of arachnids Dr. Hubert Höfer traces back to the 1990s, when both worked together in the Amazonian rainforest near Manaus. They found a strong impact of two army ant species (Eciton burchelli and Labidus praedator) on the abundant wandering spiders of the genus Ctenus. Since then, both have continued to study the diversity and biology of arthropods under the continuous pressure of deforestation and forest fragmentation.

In 2001 Dr. Vieira began an inventory of butterflies of the family Hesperiidae (Skippers) in the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (DBFFP), north of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Her research focused on butterfly species associated with army ants (Eciton burchelli). She then coordinated a team of technicians inventorying and monitoring frugivorous butterflies as part of the TEAM Project  (www.teaminitiative.org). As part of her activities, she developed curatorial work in a butterfly collection and managed an extensive butterfly database. She also participated in other survey projects in Central Amazon.

Dr. Vieira currently works at the Natural History Museum in Karlsruhe, supported by a special fund "International Museum Fellowship" from the German Federal Cultural Foundation. During 18 monthsshe works together with the curators and scientist of the museum on modern curatory workflows, mobilization of scientific data and public education in the project Amazon Spiders and Butterflies.

These pages are a result of the cooperative work and a first step towards a field guide for Amazonian butterflies, which will serve as the basis for a future print version.