Download Diversity of butterflies in Alagarhills, Tamil Nadu

Current Biotica 6(4): 473-479, 2013
ISSN 0973-4031
Diversity of butterflies in Alagarhills, Tamil Nadu, South India
E. Joy Sharmila* and A. Joesph Thatheyus
Post Graduate and Research Department of Zoology, The American College,
Madurai, T. N., India
*E-mail:[email protected]
ABSTRACT
The diversity of butterflies in Alagarhills situated in Tamil Nadu, India was studied
for two years using transect method. There was prevalence of one hundred and one species,
representing five families. Nymphalidae was the most prevalent family and the least
represented family was Hesperiidae.
KEY WORDS: Algarhills, butterfly diversity, Nymphalidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae,
Lycaenidae, Hesperiidae
INTRODUCTION
Butterflies receive reasonable
amount of attention throughout the world,
not only by the entomologists but also by
laymen. In India, pioneering work in
butterfly studies dates back to the 19 th
century (Goankar, 1996). The number of
Indian butterflies amount to one-fifth of
the world species (Kunte, 2000). There are
16,823 species recorded from all over the
world and among them 1501 species of
butterflies are recorded from India
(Goankar, 1996). Butterflies polinate more
than fifty economically important crops
(Borges et al., 2003). There are a number
of records of butterflies in various places
in India. Biological diversity is
increasingly recognized as a vital
parameter
to
assess
global
and
environmental changes in spite of many
reports on butterflies, there are no studies
carried out on butterfly diversity of
Alagarhills, Madurai. Hence an attempt
was made to fill the lacuna through the
investigations on the diversity of
butterflies at the Alagarhills in Madurai.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study site:
Madurai is one of the largest
districts of Tamil Nadu. The reserve forest
of the Alagarhills is 20 km North-East of
Madurai city and the elevation reaches 830
mts. The area of the hill is 6813 hectares
and
there
are
two
springs,
Garudatheertham a seasonal one and the
perenial Nupuragangai, a pilgrim spot.
There is a motorable road from the foot of
the hills. Nupuragangai, beyond that there
is a flat plateau, Thalaianaiparai. Periyaaruvi and bison valley branch towards the
North-East of the peak, and they are
parallel to each other. The Silambar valley
is towards the south-west of the peak. The
sampling was carried out at eight sites in
the Alagarhills as given in table 1.
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Table 1: Sampling sites selected at Algarhills
S.NO
STUDY SITE
1.
Walkers path
Path used by pilgrims
2.
Garudatheertham
Place with a seasonal spring
3.
Murugan Temple
Temple of Muruga is situated
4.
Theerthathoti
Place with a perennial spring
5.
Thalaianaiparai
A flat plateau
6.
Bison valley
Located on the North East of Thalaianaiparai
7.
Periya- aruvi valley
Place parallel to Bison valley
8.
Vathipatti
Path used by villagers
The survey on butterflies was
carried out at the eight sites on sunny days
every month continuously for two years
from November 2009 to October 2011.
The abundance and seasonality was
observed from 9 to 15 hrs by transect
counting. Collection of specimen was
avoided and photographic documentation
was done. Butterflies were identified by
various field guides (Kunte, 2000, Antram,
2002).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The Alagarhills surveyed
for two years had representatives of 101
species, which included the five families
(Tables 2-6). Nymphalidae was the
dominant family with 32 species followed
by lycaenidae (25 species), Pieridae (23
species), Papilionidae (12 species) and
Hesperiidae
(9
species)
(Fig.1).
Predominance of Nymphalidae had been
reported by earlier workers also (Kunte et
al., 1999, Dolio et al., 2008). The
Nymphalids are a large group of robust
bodied butterflies that come in every shape
and colour. Highest number of butterfly
species belong to this family. Few species
are distributed throughout the year.
Family lycaenidae has blue
upper sides and they are the prettiest and
smallest butterflies, which include 25
species. The family Pieridae has the most
familiar butterflies. Over 35 species are
represented in this family in peninsular
India, out of which 33 species are found in
Western Ghats and 24 species in
Alagarhills. Among them, common
Jezeebel is endemic to peninsular India
and Sri Lanka. Common grass yellow of
this family is abundant. Even though
family
Lycaenidae,
Pieridae
and
Nymphalidae exhibited maximum species
diversity, the reason for the abundance of
Nymphalidae in the study area may be due
to the dominance of larval food plants in
the region (Balasubramaniam et al., 2001).
About 105 species of
swallowtails (papilios), of the world’s 700
are found in India, among them 19 species
are present in the peninsular India, of
which 12 species are reported from
Alagarhills. India’s largest butterfly
Southern Bird wing endemic to the
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Current Biotica 6(4): 473-479, 2013
western Ghats was also seen in Eastern
Ghats of Alagarhills. The Papilionidae also
includes Crimson rose and Blue mormon
endemic to India and Sri Lanka.
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Among the 101 species
recorded only two species crimson rose
and Danaid Egg Fly are in schedule-I and
common baron on Schedule-II, as per the
Indian Wildlife Protection Act (1972). The
study area also has five species Crimson
rose, Blue mormon, Southern Bird wing
and Common Jezeebel endemic to
peninsular India and Sri Lanka. The
present study has thrown light on the
biodiversity of the butterflies in the
Alagarhills.
Most browns are less seen
due to their retiring habits. They keep to
shady undergrowth and they are usually
sighted inside the forests and bushes. This
might be the reason for the prevalence of 9
species of Hesperiids. Butterfly diversity
studies carried out at various places
showed a varied pattern the Lakkavalli
range of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary,
Karnataka with 54 species, west
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Singhbhum in Jharkand revealed 71
The authors are grateful to the
species
(Arun,
2010).
Nymphalid
University Grants Commission for the
butterflies in Rani-Garbhanga reserve
financial support.
forest, Assam had 109 species (Saikia et
al., 2010). The diversity in tropical forest
research institute, Jabalpur, had 66 species
(Tiple, 2012).
Table 2: Nymphalid butterflies of Alagarhills
S.NO
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
COMMON NAME
ZOOLOGICAL NAME
ANGLED CASTOR
BARONET
BLACK RAJA
BLUE PANSY
BLUE SPOTTED CROW
COMMON BARON
CHOCOLATE PANSY
CLUB BEAK
COMMANDER
COMMON FOUR RING
COMMON INDIAN CROW
COMMON LASCAR
COMMON LEOPARD
COMMON NAWAB
DANAID EGGFLY
DARK BLUE TIGER
EVENING BROWN
GLADEYE BUSH BROWN
GREAT EGG FLY
GREY PANSY
Ariadne ariadne
Euthalia nais
Charaxes solon
Junonia orithiya
Euploea midamus
Euthalia aconthea
Junonia iphita
Libythea lepita
Moduza procris
Ypthima huebneri
Euploea core
Neptis hordonia
Phalanta phalanta
Polyura athamas
Hypolimnas misippus
Tirumala septentrionis
Melanitis leda
Mycalesis patnia
Hypolimnas bolina
Junonia atlites
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21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
JUNGLE GLORY
LEMON PANSY
LONG BRAND BUSH BROWN
PEACOCK PANSY
PLAIN TIGER
SAILER
STRIPED TIGER
TAWNY COSTER
WHITE FIVE RING
WHITE FOUR RING
YELLOW PANSY
YELLOW SAILER
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Thaumantis diores
Junonia lemonias
Mycalesis visala
Junonia almana
Danaus chrysippus
Neptis hylas
Danaus genuita
Acraea violae
Ypthima baldus
Ypthima ceylonica
Junonia hierta
Neptis ananta
Table 3: Papilionid butterflies of Alagarhills
Sl.No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
COMMON NAME
BLUE BOTTLE JAY
BLUE MORMON
COMMON BANDED PEACOCK
COMMON JAY
COMMON MORMON
COMMON ROSE
CRIMSON ROSE
GLASSY BLUE BOTTLE
LIME BUTTERFLY
SOUTHERN BIRDWING
SPOT SWORD TAIL
TAILED JAY
ZOOLOGICAL NAME
Graphium sarpedon
Papilio polymnestor
Papilio crino
Graphium doson
Papilio polytes
Atrophaneura aristolochiae
Atrophaneura hector
Graphium cloanthus
Papilio demoleus
Troides minos
Graphium nomius
Graphium agamemnon
Table 4: Pierid butterflies of Alagarhills
COMMON NAME
CHOCOLATE ALBATROSS
2. COMMON ALBATROSS
3. COMMON EMIGRANT
4. COMMON GRASS YELLOW
5. COMMON GULL
6. COMMON JEZEEBEL
7. COMMON WANDERER
8. CRIMSON TIP
9. DARK WANDERER
10. GREAT ORANGE TIP
11. LARGE SALMON ARAB
12. LESSER GULL
Sl.No.
1.
ZOOLOGICAL NAME
Appias lyncida
Appias albino
Catopsila crocale
Eurema hecabe
Cepora nerissa
Delias eucharis
Pareronia valeria
Colotis danae
Pareronia ceylanica
Hebomia glaucippe
Colotis fausta
Ceprora nadina
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13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
MOTTLED EMIGRANT
ONE SPOT GRASS YELLOW
PIONEER
PSYCHE
SMALL GRASS YELLOW
SMALL SALMON ARAB
STRIPED ALBATROSS
THREE SPOTTED GRASS
YELLOW
WHITE ARAB
WHITE ORANGE TIP
YELLOW ORANGE TIP
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Catopsila pyranthe
Eurema andersoni
Belonis aurota
Leptosia nina
Eurema brigitta
Colotis amata
Appias libythea
Eurema blanda
Colotis vestalis
Ixias marianne
Ixias pyrene
Table 5: Lycaenid butterflies of Alagarhills
Sl.No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
COMMON NAME
AFRICAN BABUL BLUE
BANDED BLUE PIERROT
CENTRAUR OAK BLUE
COMMON CERULEAN
COMMON PIERRROT
COMMON SILVER LINE
ELBOWED PIERROT
FORGET ME NOT
INDIAN SUN BEAM
LARGE GUAVA BLUE
LESSER GRASS BLUE
LIME BLUE
MALAYAN
MONKEY PUZZLE
PALE GRASS BLUE
PLUM JUDY BROWN
POINT CILIATED BLUE
RED PIERROT
ROUNDED-6-LINE BLUE
SILVER LINE BLUE
STRIPED PIERROT
TAILED LINE BLUE
TAILlESS LINE BLUE
TRANSPARENT 6 LINE BLUE
ZEBRA BLUE
ZOOLOGICAL NAME
Azanus jesous
Discolampa ethion
Arhopala pseudocentaurus
Jamides celeno
Castalius rosimon
Spindasis vulcanus
Caleta elna
Catochrysops strabo
Curetis thetis
Deuodrix perse
Zizina otis
Chilades lajus
Megisba malaya
Rathinda amor
Pseudozizeeria maha
Abisara echerius
Anthene lycaenina
Talicada nyseus
Nacaduba berenice
Spindasis lohita
Tarucus nara
Prosotas felderi
Prosotas dubiosa
Nacaduba kurava
Leptotes plinius
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Table 6: Hesperiid butterflies of Alagarhills
Sl.No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
COMMON NAME
CHESTNUT BOB
COMMON BANDED AWL
COMMON SNOW FLAT
DARK PALM DART
GOLDEN ANGLE
PALE PALM DART
SOUTHERN SPOTTED ACE
SPOTTED ANGLE
WHITE BANDED AWL
ZOOLOGICAL NAME
Lambrix salsala
Hasora chromus
Tagiades japetus
Telicota ancilla
Caprona ransonnetti
Telicota colon
Thoressa astigmata
Caprona agama
Hasora taminatus
Fig 1: Butterfly diversity (family wise) in Algarhills
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[MS received 01March 2013;
MS accepted 22 March 2013]
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