Lepidopterofauna of diurnal butterflies in the Sierras de Guasayan, Province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea)

A checklist is presented for the 76 species of butterflies recorded by the authors between 2008 and 2012 in the Sierras de Guasayan, Province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, including a few found by colleagues. The area surveyed represents an ecotone between three different phytogeographical regions: dry chaco forest, chaco serrano and tucumano-bolivian forest. The Lepidoptera of the area are of special interest, six Argentine endemics having been recorded in it, in addition to some species from the tucumano- bolivian forest, whose southern or eastern limit of distribution appears to be in this region. We discuss some cases. Being a protected area at the provincial level, and its Lepidoptera not having been surveyed previously, we discuss the conservation status of the area and the role of rainfall scarcity or abundance in the dynamics and diversity of its lepidopterofauna.