Butterflies
Surprisingly, urbanisation had no effect on the abundance, richness, or diversity of butterfly species on Lipsi Island (Figure 2). Habitat connectivity may be amplified due to the small spatial extent of the island, enabling butterflies to utilise both rural and urban habitats. The low building density and development of ecological corridors on Lipsi may also increase movement between urban and rural areas (Hennig and Ghazoul., 2011). Nonetheless, there was a significant change in butterfly community composition between urban and rural habitats (Figure 5a), as found in several other locations (Numa et al., 2016, Stefanescu et al., 2004, Tzortzakaki et al., 2019). Butterfly species respond differently to the environmental constraints encountered along an urbanisation gradient due to variation in tolerance levels associated with life history and distribution (Pignataro et al., 2020). For example, a study in Patras city, Greece, showed that specialist butterfly species with specific feeding requirements were often absent from urban environments, whereas generalists exhibited a greater abundance in urban areas (Tzortzakaki et al. 2019). Habitat fragmentation and reduced connectivity due to urbanisation may lead to a decline in specialist species within these areas (Kuussaari et al., 2021; Brückmann et al., 2010), however, the Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli ) and Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae ) were more abundant in urban areas on Lipsi, despite being specialists. Geranium Bronze is highly associated with cultivated geranium plants (Pelargonium ) found in gardens and parks, whilst the Mallow Skipper caterpillar feeds on mallow plants (Malvaceae) which are weeds found in urban waste ground, roadsides, and gardens (Tzortzakaki et al., 2019). Therefore, the presence of cultivated plants within urban locations could mitigate the loss of natural vegetation and support certain specialist species (Chong et al., 2014), whilst generalist or opportunistic butterflies may be able to exploit the resources found in both urban and rural locations (Pignataro et al., 2020).