rssN 0121-812 Vol XXVI 2009.2010

The Journalof WILDLIFE ANdPARKS Joarnal ofll/ildlife and Parks (2009-2010)26 : 2t-32

BUTTERFLY FAUNA (: RHOPALOCERA) oF THE SUNGAI SEDIM FOREST RESERVE IN KEDAH, MALAYSIA

Norela Sulaiman, Saidah Md Said, Maimon Abdullah & Ahmad Adnan Mohamed

School ofEnvironmental and Natural ResourceSctences, Faculty ofScience and Technology, Unh,ersiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor Malaysia

ABSTRACT samplings ofbutterflies in the vicinity of sungai sedim Forest Reservein Kedah, Malaysia were conductedfrom lTthto l9'h August and from 7'hto 9'hDecember 2007. The objective ofthe study is to determine the diversity and abundanceofbutterfly speciesin the study area. samples were manually collected using the sweeping net and food-baited traps set from 0900-1700 hours. A total of 171 individuals representing 59 speciesin 12 subfamilies and 5 families were collectedduring six daysofsampling. isthe most dominant family recordedhere with a total catch of32 ,followed by (13 species), (9 species),papilionidae (4 species),and Hesperiidae(2 species).Five speciesare categorizedas common species,namely ledq (Linnaeus), tr[ycalesis horsfeldi mucianis (Fruhstorfer), Myialesis mineis macromalayana (Fruhstorfer), Elymnias hypermnesta tincloria (Moore) and sari sodalis (Moore), while 33 speciesare categorized as rare speciesand two speciesas abundant,namely Elymnias hlpermnesta tinctoria (Moorc) and.Melanitis leda lecla (Lrntaeus). The species zroldes amphrysus rufcollis (Butler) (Papilionidae: Papilioninae) is listed as a protected speciesunder the wildlife Protection Act 1972.The shannon speciesdiversity index (H)) is highesi on the sixth : day of sampling (H> 2.87), while there are also significant differences (p< 0.05) between the results ofthe sixth day sampling and those of other days. The highest value of shannon Evenness index (E>)is also on the sixth day of sampling (E> : 0.97). The results show that the diversity of in this study site is very high and the speciesare evenly distributed. Resultswere also comparedwith others areasin PeninsularMalaysia, and other parts ofthe world.

INTRODUCTION

Butterflies belong to the order Lepidoptera, in the class Insecta and phylum Arthropoda. These are divided into two main groups, or superfamilies: the Hesperioidea (skippers) and the Papilionidea (true butterflies or scudders),which are collectively known as Rhopalocera. Generally they can be differentiated from the closely related moths by their colorful wing patterns, a pair of clubbed antennae,and vertically folded wings upon resting. Adult butterflies are important pollinating agents of flowering plants, however the larvae of many species such as the Cabbageworms(Pieris rapae), Sulphur (Cotias sp.), Checkered white (ponfi; protodice) and other members of Pieridae and Nymphalidae are also among the main pests of commercial crops and timber species.Being sensitiveto a wide range of environmental changesand habitat degradations,butterflies have also been widely studied as one ol the potential bioindicators of global climate change(Vickery 2008).

The suryey of butterfly fauna was conductedat the Sungai Sedim Forest Reserve,in the district of Kulim, Kedah. This forest is classified as a dipterocarp forest covering an area of about 100 Norela Sulainan, Saidah Md Said, MamonAbdullah & Ahnad Adnan Mohaned km'?.Sungai Sedim is a recreationalforest about 30 km northeastofKulim town. The areais b€ing privately developedinto an extremesports recreational centre, particularly for watersportactivities such as whitewater rafting and canoeing.This forest reserveis also a popular recreational site for nature lovers and those seeking solitude, peace and tranquility of the natural outdoors. Among th€ basic recreationalfacilities provided by the authoritiesis a canopy walk that offers visitors the opportunity to study and appreciatethe tree canopy ofour tropical forest at closerange.

This study was conductedto determine the speciesdiversity and abundanceofthe butterfly fauna in the Sungai Sedim ForestReserve as an elfort to preparea preliminary checklist ofthe butterfly fauna in this forest reserve.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

Samplingsofbutterflies in the study areawere conductedduring two sampling visits, from 17ftto 19thAugust 2007 and from 7'hto 9'hDecember 2007. Butterflies were collected manually between 0900-1700hours daily, using butterfly nets and also by meansoffood-baited rope traps.

Each butterfly specimenwas killed by pressing its thorax between the thumb and forefinger, and each was kept separatelyin a transparent-paperenvelope. The usual procedures of softening, pinning, setting, drying, labelling and storing of specimenswere conductedin the laboratory of the C€ntre for Systematics,Universiti KebangsaanMalaysia (CIS-UKM). Identification and classificationofthe specimenswere basedon standardreferences such as Cotbet et al. (1992). The specimensare cuffently kept at the repository ofthe CIS-UKM. The diversity and evenness indices ofthe butterfly specieswere determined using ECOSIM software (2009)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Butterfly Fauna

A total of 171individuals representing59 speciesin 12 subfamilies and five families were collected during six days ofsampling in the Sungai Sedim Forest Reserve(Table 1 & 2). Nymphalidae is the most dominant family recordedhere, comprising 32 speciesor 53.33%of the total catch, followed by Pieridae (13 speciesor 21.6'Tyd,Lycaefidae(9 speciesor 15.00%), Papilionidae (4 speciesor 6.6770),and Hesperiidae(2 speciesor 3.337o).The total number of speciesconstitutes approximately 5.82% of the total known speciesin PeninsularMalaysia (Table l), and representsa new record for this forest reserve,since there has been no previously publishedreport ofbutterfly fauna for this area. Buttetfy Faa a (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) OJ The Sungai Sedim Forest Resene In Kedah, Matapia

TableI : Totalindividuals of eachbutterfly species recorded at SungaiSedim, Kulim, Kedahover the samplingoccasion.

Samplingdays No. Taxa August2007 December2007 2 3 4 5 o PAPILIONIDAE Subfamili: Papilioninae I P.trides nox erebus (Wallace) 0 0 I 0 0 2 Troidesamphrysus rufcollis (Btt\er) # 0 I 0 0 0 3 Patb)sq antiphates itamputi (Blrtlet) 0 0 0 0 I 0 4 Papilio polytes romulus Cramer 0 0 0 0 2 0 NYMPHALIDAE Subfamili: Nymphalinae 5 Euthqlia evelina compla (Frushstorfer) 0 I 0 0 0 0 6 Cupha erymanthis lolis (Sulzer) 0 I I 0 0 0 7 Lasippa tiga siaka (Moore\ 0 2 1 0 0 0 8 Pantoporia sandaka sqndakq (Blutler) 0 I 0 0 0 0 9 Cyestis themire themire (Honrath) 0 I 0 0 0 0 10 milora (Frushtorfer) 0 0 I 0 0 0 ll Cirrochroq orissa orissa C.& R. Felder 0 I 0 0 0 0 12 Tanaeciafora f ora M.R. Butler 0 0 0 3 0 0 l3 Tqnaeciaaruna aruna (C. & R. Felder) 0 0 0 2 0 14 Hyp o I imn as b o I i n a j a c i n t h a (Linnaets) 0 0 I 0 I l5 penthesilea methypsea Btstler 0 0 0 0 1 0 Subfamili: Satyrina€ t6 orseis nautilus Butler 0 0 0 3 0 t7 Melanitis leda leda (Linnaeus) 4 l6 l9 0 0 yptima l8 sayqra tonklniana Frushstorfel 0 0 0 0 0 l9 Ypt h ima pandac us cor ticoria Bstler 3 0 0 0 I 0 20 marcomalayqnq Fnrhstorfer 1 3 0 I 0 2l Ors ot r i aenq medus ci nerea lButler) 0 0 0 0 0 yptima 22 fasciata toroze (Fruhstorfer) 0 0 0 0 0 Neorina iowii neopiyte (Fruhstorfer) 0 0 3 0 0 0 Mycalesis horsfeldi hermanq Fruhstorfer 0 0 1 0 0 0 25 Mycalesis i n termeclia dis tant i lMoorel 0 0 5 I I I 26 Mycalesis visala phczis Talbot & Corbet 0 0 0 0 I 0 27 Elymnias hypermnes ta t inctoria Moorc 0 0 0 0 l1 I 28 Mycalesisfusca fusca (C. & R. Felder) 0 0 0 0 0 I 29 Mycalesis maianeas maianeqs Hewitson 0 0 0 0 0 I Norela Sulaiman, Ssidah Md Said, Moimon Abdullah & Ahnad Adnan Mohaned

Subfamili: 30 Parantica aspdsia qspcsla (Fabricus) 0 0 I 0 0 0 3l Ideopsis similis persinilis (Moore) 0 0 0 0 t 0 32 radamanthus radamanthus (F abrrcus) 0 0 0 I 0 0 33 mulciber (Cramer) 0 0 0 0 I 0 Danauschrysippus chrysippus 1Linnaeus) 0 0 0 0 0 I Subfamili: Charaxinae 35 Agatasa calyclonia calydonia (Hewrtson) 0 0 0 1 0 0 Subfamili:Morphinae 36 Zeuxidia doubledayi doubledayi'Nestwood 0 0 0 0 0 I LYCAENIDAE Subfamili: Lvcaeninae 3'7 Hypolycaena merguia skapane (H.H. Druce) 0 2 0 0 0 0 38 Chliqriq kina celastroides (Corbet) 0 2 0 0 0 0 39 Arhopala acra (Evans) 0 2 0 0 0 0 40 Eooxylides tharis distanri Riley 0 0 2 2 0 0 4l Catochrysopsstrabo strabo (Fabtrous) 0 0 0 0 0 Subfamili: Riodininae /ta Abisarq saturata kausambioidesde NrcEtille 0 I 0 0 0 0 Abisara savitri sqvltrl C. & R. felder 0 0 I 0 0 0 44 Paralaxita orphna laocooz (de Nic€ville) 0 0 I 0 0 I Subfamili: 45 chinensis learchus (C & R felder) 0 0 0 0 0 I PIERIDAE Subfamili : Coliadinae 46 Eurema lacteolq lqcteo la (Drstant) I 0 0 0 0 0 Eurema andersonii andersonii (Moore) 2 2 0 0 0 48 Eurema ada iona Talbot I 0 0 0 0 0 49 contubernalis(Moore) 0 I 0 0 0 2 50a Eurem.l simu latrix lit torea Morishita I 0 0 0 0 0 50b Eurema simulqtrix leczessa (de NicEville) 0 0 0 0 0 5l Eurema sari sodah,!(Moore) I I 2 I 0 3 52 Gandace harina distqnti Moore 0 2 I 0 0 0 Subfamili : Pierinae 53 Hebomola glauc ippe aturia Fruhstofier 0 I 0 0 0 0 54 Ixias pyrene birdi Distarj,I 1 0 I 0 0 55 Appias libythea olferna Swinhoe 0 0 0 2 2 2 56 Pareronia valeria I utesce n s (Blutler) 0 0 0 0 I 0 Battetfy Fauna (Lepidopteru: Rhopalocera) Of me Sungai Sedim Forest Reseme In Kedah, Malaysia

57 Leptosia nina nina Fabricius 0 0 0 0 0 2 IIESPERIIDAE Subfarnili : Hesperiinae 58 Quedarq monteithi monteithi (Wood-Mason& I 0 0 0 0 0 Nic€ville) 59 Koruthqiqlos sindu slzda (C & R felder) 0 0 0 0 0 I Cumulative no. of individuals t6 5'7 104 ll8 149 171 Cumulative no. of species l0 2'7 38 44 5l 60 Total no. ofspecimens t7l Total no. ofspecies 59

Notes:# Prctectedspecies under Wildlife ProtectedSpecies Act 76. Norcla Sxlanltn, S,tidah Vd Said. Mamun AbJullah & 4hnod Adnon |'|ohaned

Table2: Someexamples of buttefiy speciescollected at SungaiSedim Reserve Forest, Kulim, Kedah

Cethosiapenthe s ilea met hyps ea Papilio polytes ronulas Cramer Pat hysa antip h ates itamputi Butler PapilionidaeI Papilioninae (Butler) Nymphalidae: Nymphalinae Papilionidae: Papilioninae

Ideopsis sim i Iis pers irrilis Moore Hypolimnabolina jacintha Cirrochroa orissa orissa Nyphalidae: Danainae (Drury) (Felder) Nymphalidae: Nymphalinae Nymphalidae : Nymphalinae

Ypthimd pandocus cort icar ia Danauschrysippus chrysippus f. Eltrema andersonii andersonii (Butler) alcippoides(Linnaeus) (Moore) Nymphalidae: Nymphalidae: Danainae Pieridae: Coliadinae

Wca les is intermedi a distanti Gandaca harina distarli (Moore) Moduza procris milonia (Moore) Pieridae : Pierinae (Corbet) Nymphalidae : Satyrinae Nymphalidae : Nymphalinae Buttetfu Fauna (Lepidoptera:Rhopaloceru) Of TheSungai Sedim Forest ReseneIn Kedah,Mataysia

Eurema sari sodalis Eurema ada iona (Talbot) Eurema he c ab e co n tub er nal i s (Moore) Pieridae : Coliadinae (Moore) Pieridae : Coliadinae Pieridae : Coliadinae

Euploea radamanthus Myc a le sis i nterme dia dis tan t i Par antic a Aspas ia asp a s ia radamanthus(Ftb:rrcits) (Moore) (Fabricius) Nymphalidae : Danainae Nymphalidae: Danainae

Pieridae recorded the highest percentageofthe total individuals collected (28.g9 %) and with the most abundant speciescompared to the total known speciesfor peninsular Malaysia (Table 3). This butterfly family has three types of wing colors including white, yellow and yellow_orange, and some ofthe membersare very prominently visible. Most indiuiduui, ,""." .uoght while nying around in the shrubs and grass fringes of the study area. The abundanceof members from this common family indicates that much ofthe forest area has already been disturbed and developed into an extreme sportsrecreational centre with activities such as whitewater rafting and canoeing. The next most abundant family is Nymphalidae (11.6420)followed by papilionidae (8.897i, LycaenidaeQ.l9Yo) and Hesperiidae(0.78 Zo).

The main environmental parametersthat influenced butterfly abundancewere monthly rainfall, relativ_ehumidity, minimum temperature and vegetation. Intachat et al. (2001) noted that high rainlall andrelative humidity serveto decreasethepopulation abundance,possiblyby encouragiig the spread and activity ofpathogens and thus, affect the survival ofthe early lrre-stagerarvae.-th! river tributaries provide moisture and abundant water supply for the large variety of flowering plants in the sungai sedim Forest Reserve,thus enhancing population abundanceand diversit| by providing suitableniches and host plants for the butterflies (pullin, 1995). Norela Sulainan, SaidahMd Said' Mainon Abdullah & Ahnad Adnan Mohamed

Table 3 : Comparative number and percentageof buttedy speciesfound at the Sungai Sedim Forest Reserye,Kedah and those ofthe PeninsularMalaysia

Family No. of speciesin each No. ofspecies in each Percentageof family in Sungai Sedim family in Peninsular speciesin this study Forest Reserve(present Malaysia comparedto those of study PeninsularMalaysia Papilionidae 4 45 8.89 Nymphalidae 32 2'75 |.64 Lycaenidae 9 4tl 2.t9 Pieridae t2 45 28.89

Total l03l 5.82

Protected species

Out of the 60 speciesrecorded, only one was listed as a protected speciesunder the Wildlife protection Act 1972. The species rs amphrysus rufcollis (Butler\ (Papilionidae: Papilioninae) (Table I &2).

Common, Abundant and Rare SPecies

From the 60 species recorded, five were noted as common species (i.e. found during all the sampling occasions),rl mely Melanitis leda leclaLinnaeus (Nymphatidae I satyfinae), Mycalesis horiTetdi mucianus Fruhstorfer (Nymphalidae : Satyrinae), Mycalesis mineus marcomalayana Fruhstorfer (Nymphaliclae : Satyrinae), Elymnias hypermnest.ttinctoria Moore (Nymphalidae : Satyrinae) andEurema sari sodalis Moore (Lycaenidae : Coliadinae) (Table 1)'

Two specieswere found to be abundant (i.e. with the highest number of specimens collected). These are Melanitis lede leda (Linnaeus) (Nymphalidae : Satyrinae), with a record of 40 individuals and Ef, mnias hypermnestatinctoriq (Moorc) (Nymphalidae : Satyrinae)with a record of 12 individuals. Ackery (1984)noted that almost 1500species from this subfamily were recorded worldwide, mainly in areas containing members of Arecaceae, CyPeraceae,and Poaceae'The abundantspecies Melanitis leda ledq (Linnaeus) or well-known as th€ common Evening Brown (Otsuka 2001),are often encounteredclose to the forest floor becausetheir wing shapeand colour can be camouflagedeasily among the tall grassesand bamboo thickets abundantly found in the study area.According to Holloway et al. (1992),this speciesis a very fast flyer and glidel whereas the smaller Satyrinae are less agile and more erratic in flight

A total of 33 speciesor 55% ofthe total speciesrecorded in the study areaappeared as rare, each with only a single specimenbeing caught during the sampling period. These included 20 species ofNymphalidae (comprising five sub-species),six speciesofPieridae, four speciesofLycaenidae, two speciesofHesperidae and only one speciesofPapilionidae (Table l). Butterfu Fauna (Lepidoptera:Rhopaloceru) Of 29 TheSungai Sedim Forest Resene In Kedah,Malaysia

Comparison with Butterfly Speciesin Other Areas of Malaysia

The total number of butterfly speciesrecorded in this study area (59 species)is higher than that ofthe Belum Forest Reserve (57 species)(Table 4). The probablereason ror this is tiat the Sungai Sedim Forest Reserve is a disturbed forest that has been converted into a recreationararea and provided with basic infrastructure for a rarge number of visitors. some parts of the forest have been planted with introduced ornamentarand landscapespecies, thus providing host attraction to many butterfly speciesin this areaas comparedto the relatived untou&ed tselum Forest Reserve. Table4.: Comparativenumber and percentage.ofspecies recorded at SungaiSedim Forest Reserve (SDFR), Sungkai Wildlife Reserve(SWCC) Hutan Simpan UKM, Bangi(UKMJ, Belum Forest neserve (HSt), HutanLipur Jeram L'.".r ,"t"raJ;rilil#buk Tapah(HLB), and Taman Negara

Family Number ofspecies in each family

Papilionidae 3 r'7 7 5 t) Nymphalidae 40 9l 26 29 36 Lycaenidae 9 18 37 I2 13 l) 22 Pieridae t2 l9 22 t1 l8 t6 Hesperiidae 2 6 l6 I 3 I 2

r'75 61 % of PeninsularMalaysia 5.82 8.34 10.70 5.53 5.92 10.28 8.63 % of the World 034 0.48 0. 98 0.32 0.34 0.59 0.49 Sources: Norelaet al. 2005(SWCC); Norelaet at. 1986_2003(UKM); Teoh2004 (HSB); Saidi 2003 (HIJL): Nor Ajzan 2003(HLT); Zaidi er al. 2002(TNE), p.esentsrudy (SDFR)*

However,the total numberofbutterfly speciesat sungaiSedim Forest Reserve is relativerylower comparedto those of otherforest bed areas such as the Sungkaiwildrife Reserve(g6 speciesor 8.3470), Simpan _Hutan UKM (175species or 10.70%o),Hutin Lipur JeramLinang (61 species, 5..9^2yo),H:irtan Lubuk Tapah(106 species or l0.2gTl andTaman Negara Endau Rompin, Johor (89species or 8.63%o)(Table4). These differences could be a reflectionofdifferences in sampring effortsand duration rather than actual variations in diversityand abundance.

The speciesnumber at the sungaisedim ForestReserve is closelysimilar to that ofHutan Lipur JeramLinang (i.e. 61 speciesor 5.92yoof the total recordfor iteninsularMalaysia), whereby both areas haveexactly the sametopography and manykinds of introduceOo.nu_"ntut ptunt, as food sources for the butterflies.In concrusion,the diversityof butterfly speciesin this study was consideredmoderate, taking into accountthe limited samplingperiod and areacovered as comparedto similarstudies from otherparts of Malavsia. Norcla Sulainan, Saidah Md Said' Maimon Abdu ah & Ahmatl Adnan Mohamed

Table 5 : comparative numberand percentageofbutterfly speciesflom vaxiousfamilies in the sungai SedimForest Reserve, Bomeo, Peninsular Malaysia, Taiwan and world records'

Nurnberofspecies in eachfamilY Family Malay SungaiSedim Peninsula ForestReserve

(4, (b) (cl (d) (eJ Papilionidae 550 2l 45 52 4 Nymphalidae 8200 6'7 25'1 2',73 32 Lycaenidae 4000 18 4lt 4ll 9 Pieridae 2000 l6 45 12 Hesperiidae 3100 25s 222 2 Totalspecies 17,850 133 1031 1003 59 Percentage 100% 0;15% 5;7',lyo 5.62% 034% r.roiT,(")rrolo.uv"t"t.0992),(b)DeIFung(2003),(c)CorbetetaI.(1992),(d)otsuka(2001),(e)thisstudy.

To date,a total of 17,850butterfly species has been recorded worldwide (Holloway et a1 2000)' with 133species in Taiwan(Der Fung et al. 2003),1031 species in PeninsularMalaysia (corbet et al. 1992)and 1003species in (otsuka 2001) comprising 0.75%, 5:7'70/. and 5.62%o of world species,respectively(Table 5). The 60 speciesfound inthe sungaisedim Forest Reselve comprising O.3a%ofthe world species(Table 5) is considereda goodcontribution. However, the total species recofdedhere is somewhatlimited by the brief sampling duration and lack of manpower Three speciesof butterfliesfrom Taiwanwere noted to be similar to thosefound at the sungai sedim ForestReserve, namely Danaus chrysippuschrysippus f. alcippoides (Linnaeus)(Nymphalidae: Danainae)"Eurema hecabe contubernalir (Moore) (Lycaenidae: coliadinae) and ldeopsis sitnilis persimilii (Moore)(Lycanidae: Coliadinae). This resemblancecould be due to the existenceof similartypes offood plants,especially in the disturbedforests and the capabilityof somebutterfly speciesto adaptto a broaderrange of habitatsand microclimatic conditions. Lovejoy et al. (1983) suggestedthai the adaptabilityand resilience ofbutterflies that enable them to thrive in marginal habitatsare largely due to the complexlife cycleolthese beautiful insects'

Cumulative SpeciesDiYersity

Table6 showsthe valuesof shannon-wienerdiversity index (H'), Shannon-wienerevenness index(E') andtotal cumulativespecies (S') for six samplingdays'

Table6: shannon-wienerdiversity lndex (H'), shannon-wienerEvenness index (E') andTotal cumulative species(S') according to samplingdays'

Index Day of sampling

E', 0.93 0.82 0;77 0.96 0.84 0.9'7 .) H' 2.13' 2.48h 2.23b', )fc ') )1c 2.87d s' 10 27 38 44 51 60 B tteib Fauna (Lepidoptera: Rhopatocera) O.f 3l The &ngai Sedim Forest Resene In Kedah, Malq,sia

cumulative analysisis usedto determinethe sufficiencyof samplingefforts; whether more samplings or otherwise are neededto depict the true speciesdiversity and richnessof the study area. Tile cumulativeshannon-weiner diversity index (H') for the first samplingday was 2.13(Tabre 6) and it had increasedfor the secondsampling day to 2.48,but thendecreaied slightly for the third ani fourth samplingdays (2.23 and 2.21, respectivery). However, the differenceswere not statisticallysigniflcant (p>0.05) betweenthe first and secondsampring clay, between the secondand third day,and between the third and fourth day. The H' then rose slightly to 2.27 on the fif\h day and evenhigher to 2.g7 on the sixth day (Table 6). The dilferencesin H' valuesare statistically significant (p-.O.OS)orrty betweenthe sixth day and those ofthe earliersampring days. The reason for thesedifferences couli -to_recapture be due of the samespecies in the subsequentsampling days. Thus, it can be generally concludedthat six daysof samplingare quite sufacientto representthe butterfly speciesdiiersity at the sungai SedimForest Reserve as shownin the cumulativecurve ofFigure l. The Evennessindex, E' fluctuatedfrom the first to sixth samplingdays, ranging from 0.77to 097 (Table6), thusindicatini that the relativeabundance was comparableamongst the variousbutterfly speciesin this area.

1

E2 a l_5

I

o5

0

Figurel: The cumulativecurve of Shannon_Weinerdiversity Index (H,)

Futher sampling efforts at the Sungai sedim Forest Reservecould extend the specieschecklist, wherebya longersampling period coveringa wider areawourd likely proviclea betterrepresentation ofthe buttedy faunarichness ofthis area.Such efforts courdinclude data on varrousparameters such as speciescomposition, diversity and evenness,richness, updates on common,abundant, rare and protectedspecies ofthis potentiallyrich bio-reserve.

CONCLUSION

A total of l7l individualsrepresenting 60 species(in 12subfamilies, and 5 fam ies)were recorded in this study.Nymphalidae is themost dominant family herewith 32 speciesor 53.33%ofthe total catch'followed by Pieridae(13 or 2r.67yo),Lycaenidae(9 species or 15.ti02"),papilionidae (4 species or 6.67T),and Hesperiidae (2 speciesor 3.33%e.Five species are categorized as commonspecies, namely Melanitis leda leda (Linnaeus),Mycaresis horsfierdi muciaiis (Fruhstorfer),Mycalesis mineus macromalayara Fruhstorfer,Elymnias hypennnestatinctoriq (Moore) and Euremq sari (Moore), sodalrs while 33 speciesare categorized as rare species and two speciesas abundant, namely Elymnias hypermnestqtinctoria (Moorc) danMeranitis leda reda(Linnaeus). The beautiful soecies 32 No,ela Sulainan, Sai.lah Md Said, Mainon Abdullah & Ahnad Adnan Mohaned

Troides amphrysus rufcoltis (B$ler) (Papilionidae: Papilioninae) is listed as a protected species under the Wildlife ProtectionAct 1972.Both the Shannon-Weiner species diversity index (H>:2.87) = and Shannon-Weiner evennessindex (E> : 0.97) were highest on the sixth sampling day (Hr 2 87 and E>: 0.97). The results show that the diversity ofbutterfly species in this study area is moderately high and the abundance of the various species is evenly lepresented. It is suggestedthat this forest reserve should be well protected against over-exploitation to sustain the ofits rich fauna, including the butterfl i€s.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to thank Mr Mohd Zabidi Yaakob arld Mr. Zairul Idham Khazal Maidin from the Faculty of science and Technology, UKM for their assistancein field samplings, the Directol of Kedah StateForestry Department for the permissionto use the facilities and the assistanceof th€ support stall This research was funded by the student grant 2007, provided by UKM.

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