Life Sciences Leaflets FREE DOWNLOAD ISSN 2277-4297(Print)0976–1098(Online) A PRELIMINARY SURVEY ON DIVERSITY OF BUTTERFLIES AROUND THE KUNDAVADA LAKE, DAVANAGERE DISTRICT, KARNATAKA, INDIA M. N. HARISHA Universal Impact DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES AND Factor 0.9285:2012; RESEARCH IN APPLIED ZOOLOGY AND WILDLIFE 1.2210:2013 MANAGEMENT, KUVEMPU UNIVERSITY, JNANA SAHYADRI, Index Copernicus ICV 2011: 5.09 SHANKARAGHATTA-577451, SHIMOGA, KARNATAKA. ICV 2012: 6.42 Corresponding author’se-mail: [email protected] ICV 2013: 15.8 NAAS Rating 2012 : 1.3;2013:2.69 ABSTRACT: Kundavada lake is one of the best site to study the wetland birds especially Received on: 15th December 2014 migratory birds, located in Davanagere district of Karnataka. It spreads over 243.27 acres. A detailed field survey on the diversity of butterflies by using Revised on: 10th January 2015 pollard walk method was conducted during October 2010 to September 2011. The objective of the survey is to determine the presence of butterflies. The Accepted on: 20thJanuary 2015 study revealed a total of 51 species of butterfly belonging to Hesperiidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae and Nymphalidae families. Two species of Published on: 1st March 2015 butterflies recorded from study area possess a protected status under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Presence of these schedule species in the study Volume No. Online & Print area shows that the area is rich in butterfly diversity and there is an urgent need 61 (2015) to adapt conservation policies. Page No. KEY WORDS: Butterfly Diversity, Kundavada Lake, Hypolimnas misippus, 01 to 07 Castalius rosimon and Threatened species. Life Sciences Leaflets is an international INTRODUCTION: open access print & e journal, peer reviewed, More than half of earth’s diversity comprises insects. Among insects, worldwide abstract butterflies play a significant role in both ecological and economical benefits to listed, published every human beings. They enhance aesthetic value due to their diverse color and month with ISSN, RNI Free- membership, actively involved in pollination thus help in seed setting of plants (Harisha and downloads and access. hosetti, 2013). Due to their beauty and ecological significance, butterflies are systematically well studied throughout the world since the early 18th century http://lifesciencesleaflets.ning.com/ PEER-REVIEWED Page | 1 Life Sciences Leaflets FREE DOWNLOAD ISSN 2277-4297(Print)0976–1098(Online) and a total of 19,238 species have been documented (Ghazoul, 2002). The habitat of butterflies is very specific and their occurrence is seasonal (Kunte, 1997). They are also considered as the good indicators of habitat quality including anthropogenic disturbances (Kocher and Williams, 2000). Butterflies always attract the attention of researchers, ecologists and conservationist by their community assemblage and the influencing factors. There are about 1501 species of butterflies in Indian subcontinent (Kunte et. al., 1999) out of which 962 species have been reported from north eastern part (Evans, 1932), 334 species from the western Ghats (Ashish et. al., 2009) and 150 from Eastern Ghats (Gunathilagaraj et al., 1998). As herbivorous insects, the distribution of larval and nectar host plants has a distinct impact on the status of butterfly diversity (Solman Raju et. al., 2004). Recent reports reveal that 100 out of 1500 butterfly species occurring in India are on the verge of extinction (Solman Raju & Rao 2002). A number of colonies of butterflies have been exterminated by human activities, resulting in changes to habitats beyond the tolerance limit of the species. It is important to note that the diversity of butterflies were also adversely affected by grass cutting, exposing butterflies to their natural predators, and unauthorized grazing and cutting of plants or firewood around the study area (Ashish et. al., 2007). Hence an attempt was made to fill the lacuna through the present preliminary investigations on the diversity of butterflies around the Kundavada lake in Davanagere. STUDY AREA: The Kundavada lake is a spectacular site for avifaunal diversity, which spread across 243.27 acres and located between 14º 27' 30'' N latitude and 75º 53' 39'' E longitude. This wetland provides water for drinking to Davanagere city, irrigation to surrounding agricultural lands and for aquaculture practice. The lake is situated just near to the Pune-Bangalore highway. Most importantly the lake has recreational and ecological significance as an attracting sight for many wetland dependent local and migratory birds. The vegetation across the lake includes neem, coconut, Lantana sp, Calotrophis sp, Caesalpinia sp, Bauhinea sp. and grasses. The lake has a water connection from the channel of river Tunga-Bhadra. The lake is free from sewage and agricultural drainage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey on butterfly diversity was conducted once in a month for a period of one year during October 2010 to September 2011 to record their status and abundance. Observations were made along the road on the edge of the Kundavada Lake (approximately 600 mt in length) carried out between 7:00 h and 10:00 h. The species were recorded directly in the field or by following capture or photography and identified by using various field guides (Gay et. al., 1992; Antram, 2002; Wynter-Blynth, 1957, Kunte, 2000; Sharma et. al., 2005). The line transect method developed by the Institution of Terrestrial Ecology (Pollard, 1979) was followed to monitor the diversity. The presence-absence scoring method was made during the entire http://lifesciencesleaflets.ning.com/ PEER-REVIEWED Page | 2 Life Sciences Leaflets FREE DOWNLOAD ISSN 2277-4297(Print)0976–1098(Online) study period. On the basis of percentage of occurrence, the status of butterflies were determined and categorized into three groups, 1-6% as rare (R), 7-18% as Common (C) and >18% as very common (VC). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The study revealed the presence of 51 species of butterflies, belonging to five families. The most dominant family was Nymphalidae with 17 species, which contributed 33%, followed by the Pieridae with 14 species, contributed 27%; Lycaenidae with 11 species, contributed 22%; Papilionidae with 6 species, contributed 12% and Hesperidae by three species, contributed 6% of total family wise frequency of occurrence of butterfly fauna in the study area (Fig.1). The checklists of all the species observed with their status are given in Table 1. Analysis on the status of butterflies shows that 14 were rare, 21 were common and 16 were very common, which contributed 28%, 41% and 31% of species wise frequency of occurrence of butterfly fauna of the study area (Fig.2). Similar pattern was reported in the Tiger-Lion Safari, Thyavarekoppa of Shimoga (Pramod et al., 2007); Jogimatti state forest of Chitradurga district (Harish et. al., 2009) and in Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary of Bellary district, Karnataka (Harisha and Hosetti. 2013). The Nymphalids, a largest group of strong bodied butterflies, which comes in every shape and color. Highest number of butterfly species (17 species) belongs to the same family was recorded from the study area and few of them are distributed throughout the year. A similar pattern of predominance of Nymphalids was also reported by different researchers (Kunte, 1997; Kunte et. al., 1999; Pramod et. al., 2007; Mamata Chandraker et. al., 2007; Harish et. al., 2009; Harisha and Hosetti. 2013) from Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and Deccan plateau. The representation of maximum number of species in the family Nymphalidae could be the consequence of high availability of food plants in the study area. The Pieridae which includes the most familiar butterflies. About 35 species of butterflies belongs to this family are found in Peninsular India, out of which 33 species are found in Western Ghats and 14 species in the study area. Among them, common Jezebel is endemic to Peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Three species viz., Catopsilia Pomona, Delias eucharis and Anaphaeis aurota of the respective family are very common and abundant. The family Lycaenidae, a group of smallest butterflies, which include 11 species. The Papilionidae, which include over 105 species of swallowtails or Papilios recorded in India, among them 19 species are found in Peninsular India, of which 6 species were recorded from the study area, which also includes two important species like, Papilio polymnestor and Pachliopta hector endemic to India and Sri Lanka. The representation from the families Hesperidae was very less when compared to the other families. It may be partly due to the sampling bias or since they exhibits crepuscular habit, i.e. they are active in the early morning and to a less in the evening (Kunte, 2000). Among the 51 butterflies, three species viz, - Pachliopta hector, Hypolimnas misippus and Castalius rosimon recorded in the study area have a protected status under the schedule I part IV of Indian Wildlife Protection http://lifesciencesleaflets.ning.com/ PEER-REVIEWED Page | 3 Life Sciences Leaflets FREE DOWNLOAD ISSN 2277-4297(Print)0976–1098(Online) Act, 1972 (Arora, 2003) and Lampides boeticus and Euthalia aconthea under Schedule II part IV (Gupta et al., 2005), and Euploea core under Schedule IV. Similar pattern has been reported from Melghat region of Maharashtra and Ankua Reserve Forest of Jharkhand (Mamata Chandraker et. al., 2007) and Jogimatti state forest of Chitradurga (Harish et al., 2009). Presence of these schedule species in the study area showing that the area is rich in butterfly diversity and there is an urgent need to adapt conservation policies. The study also revealed the presence of four species viz., Crimson rose, Blue mormon, Common Jezebel and Danaid Eggfly endemic to Peninsular India and Sri Lanka. The present study has thrown light on the biodiversity of the butterflies in the Kundavada Lake. Butterflies are susceptible to changes in the habitat and climate, which influence their distribution and abundance (Wynter-Blyth, 1957). The habitat fragmentation, grazing pressure and change in land use pattern are mainly accountable for loss of diversity of both butterflies and plants.