Information about the geographical and ecological distribution of the butterflies protected in the province of Cuenca, Spain (Insecta: Lepidoptera)

A study of protected butterflies from the Regional Catalogue of Threatened Species in the Province of Cuenca has been conducted. Information about the biogeographical distribution of the species Pieris ergane (Hubner, 1813), Plebejus hespericus (Rambur, 1839), Iolana iolas (Ochsenheimer, 1816), Agrodiaetus fabressei (Oberthur, 1910), Lysandra caelestissima (Verity, 1921), Euphydryas aurinia (Rottemburg, 1775.), Erebia epistygne (Hubner, 1824) and Erebia zapateri (Oberthur, 1875) has been increased, whereas information about Maculinea arion (Linnaeus, 1758), Pyrgus cinarae (Rambur, 1839) and Pamassius apollo (Linnaeus, 1758) has not been extended added to. For the first time A Nymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758) has been found and mentioned within a locality of this territory. Moreover, an analysis of the distribution of protected butterflies in the Protected Natural Spaces in Cuenca province has been done, with the result that all threatened species, except for Chazara prieuri, seem to enjoy a good level of protection in this area. A geographical distribution map has been analysed with the Geographical Information Systems available, analyzing different ecological patterns of the habitat, such as current vegetation, potential vegetation, climatic characterization, geological preferences and altitude distribution.