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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. __________________________________________________________________________________________ www.currentbiotica.com 473 Current Biotica 6(4): 473-479, 2013 ISSN 0973-4031 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 __________________________________________________________________________________________ www.currentbiotica.com 474 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. ISSN 0973-4031 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 __________________________________________________________________________________________ www.currentbiotica.com 475 Current Biotica 6(4): 473-479, 2013 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 ISSN 0973-4031 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 __________________________________________________________________________________________ www.currentbiotica.com 476 Current Biotica 6(4): 473-479, 2013 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 ISSN 0973-4031 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 __________________________________________________________________________________________ www.currentbiotica.com 477 Current Biotica 6(4): 473-479, 2013 ISSN 0973-4031 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 __________________________________________________________________________________________ www.currentbiotica.com 478 Current Biotica 6(4): 473-479, 2013 ISSN 0973-4031 REFERENCES Antram, C.B. 2002 .Butterflies of India, Mittal Publication, New Delhi, 226 pp. Arun, P.S. 2010. Butterfly diversity in tropical moist deciduous sal forest of Ankur reserve forest, Jharkand India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 2 (9): 1130 – 1139. Balasubramanian.P, Mahendramani, P. and Padmapriya, K. 2001. Comparison of plant diversity pattern of various disturbed habitats of Moongilpallam area in the Western Ghats report,Salim Ali Centre for ornithology and natural history, Coimbatore, 56-70 p. Borges, R.M., Gowda, V. and Zacharias, M. 2003. Butterfly pollination and high contrast visual signals in a low density distylous plant. Oceologia, 136: 571-573 . Dolio, J., Devy, M.S., Aravind, N.A and Kumar, A. 2008. Adult butterfly communities in coffee plantations around a protected area in the western Ghats, India. Animal Conservation, 11:26-34. Gaonkar, H. 1996. Butterflies of Western Ghats, India including Sri Lanka; A biodiversity assessment of threatened mountain system. A report submitted to Center for Ecological Sciences IISc, Bangalore 86pp. Kunte,K., Joglekar, A., Utkarsh, G. and Pramod, P. 1999. Patterns of butterfly, bird and tree diversity in Western Ghats. Current Science India, 29:1-14. Kunte, K.J 2000. Butterflies of Peninsular India. Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore and university press, Hyderabad. Ragavendra, G., Vijaya Kumara, H.T., Pramod, A.F. and Hosetti, B.B. 2011. Butterfly diversity, seasonality and status in Lakhavalli range of Bhadra wildlife sanctuary, Karnataka. World Journal of Science & Techology, 11: 67-72. Saikia, K.M., Jatin,k. and Prasanta, K.S 2010. Seasonality of Nymphalid butterflies in Rani-Garbhanga reserve forest, Assam, India. NeBio, 1(4): 10-21. Tiple, A.D 2012. Butterfly species diversity, relative abundance and status in Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Central India. Journal of threatened Taxa, 7: 2713-2717. [MS received 01March 2013; MS accepted 22 March 2013] Disclaimer: Statements, information, scientific names, spellings, inferences, products, style, etc. mentioned in Current Biotica are attributed to the authors and do in no way imply endorsement/concurrence by Current Biotica. Queries related to articles should be directed to authors and not to editorial board. __________________________________________________________________________________________ www.currentbiotica.com 479