954 Butterflies of Amgaon Tehsil of Gondia District (Maharashtra)

IJRBAT, Special Issue (2), Vol-V, July 2017 ISSN No. 2347-517X (Online) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCHES IN BIOSCIENCES, AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY © VISHWASHANTI MULTIPURPOSE SOCIETY (Global Peace Multipurpose Society) R. No. MH-659/13(N) www.vmsindia.org Butterflies of Amgaon Tehsil of Gondia District (Maharashtra), A Preliminary Survey of Their Community Structure, Taxonomic Diversity and Their Ecology Dezling Danta* and Ashish Kumar Jha De partment Of Zoology, Hislop College, Nagpur- 440001, India *Corresponding author:[email protected] ABSTRACT: Butterflies are among the most beautiful of nature’s creation and are members of order Lepidoptera, the literal me aning of which is ‘scaled winged’, and included with them are the moths. It is the wing scales which give the butterflies their beautiful colours and patterns and make them one of the most familiar of all insect groups. During present investigation 28 species belonging to 19 genera and 4 families were collected and identified of which 08 species belonged to family Papilionidae, 02 species to Pieridae, 12 to family Nymphalidae and 06 species to Lycaenidae. Relative diversity composition of each family revealed Nymphalidae (32.71%) was the most dominant while family Lycaenidae (30.26%) ranked second, followed by family Pieridae (22.19%) and Papilionidae (14.84%). Species diversity, evenness and species richness was calculated by Shannon-Weiner index, Evenness index and Margalef’s index. Analysis of species diversity of butterfly fauna revealed that the family Nymphalidae (2.412) was the highest followed by the family Papilionidae (2.040), Lycaneidae (1.763) and lowest in Pieridae (0.666). The calculated values of species richness ranged from 0.199 (Pieridae) to 2.028 (Nymphalidae) and Evenness Index ranged from 0.964 (Pieridae) to 0.984 (Lycaneidae). Based on percentage composition on 28 species of butterflies, about 25% we re Frequent, 21.43% were common,17.86% were Abundant and Occasional, 10.71% were rare and 7.14 % were reported Very Common Thus the present investigation is the first attempt to study butterfly diversity and distribution from the selected study area. Keywords : Butterflies, Shannon-Weine r index, Evenness index and Margalef’s index Introduction butterflies (Lewis, 1973; Stokoe , 1974; Mani, Butterflies are among the most be autiful 1986; Goodden, 1997; Green and Huang, 1998; of nature’s creation. The ir many hues and shapes Barua et al., 2004; Ambrose and Raj , 2005; have been a delight and inspiration to artists and Alphonsa, 2006; Chandra et al., 2007; Parag and nature love rs for gene ration. They are me mbers Omkar 2009) and also due to ongoing of order Lepidoptera, the literal meaning of which disagreements between taxonomists ove r the is ‘scaled winged’, and included with them are the status of many species. About 1502 species have moths. It is the wing scales which give the been described in India which includes 100 butterflies their beautiful colours and patterns ende mics and at least 26 taxa are today globally and make them one of the most familiar of all threatened as pe r the IUCN (1990) Red List of insect groups. In addition, the scientific threaten animals and insects (Singh and Pandey, importance of the Lepidoptera (butterflies and 2004). In central India the butterfly spe cies moths) has been recognized by entomologists diversity was reported earlie r by D’Abreu (1931) because of the ir diverse be havior and habitats. and documented total 177 species occurring in This diversity is made possible, without the risk the erstwhile Central Provinces (now Madhya of unbridled wasteful compe tition; by the large Pradesh and Vidarbha). number of ecological niches available within the It is essential that we document the complex jigsaw of the forest and variety of butterfly fauna of ce rtain regions so that steps potential host-plant species typically present may be taken to ensure the survival of these (Preston-Mafham and Preston-Mafham, 2004). fascinating creatures for future gene rations. Today seve ral species of butterflies are used by There is little that can be done to save our conse rvation biologists as indicator species to butterflies once their habitats are destroyed. identify habitats that are critical and need to be Thus, it is important to environment and avoids protected (Chakravarthy et al., 1997). Butterflie s further damaging the already fragile balance of are also monitored to indicate climate change and nature (Whalle y, 1988, 1992; Verma, 2009). environment degradation (Preston-Mafham and Keeping this in view the present study was Preston-Mafham, 2004). conducted to study the diversity, abundance and Butterflies have been studied distribution of butterfly fauna from Mahadev systematically since the early 18 th ce ntury and Hills of Amgaon Tehsil of Maharashtra and is the 19,238 species had been documented worldwide first attempt to study butterfly diversity and (Heppner, 1998).This figure is not constant distribution from the selected study area. because of the continuous discovery of new SHRI SHIVAJI SCIENCE COLLEGE, NAGPUR 954 ICRTS-2017 IJRBAT, Special Issue (2), Vol-V, July 2017 ISSN No. 2347-517X (Online) Material and Methods The relative diversity (RDi) of families was Study sites calculated by using following formula (Koli, Mahadev Hills at Amgaon in Gondia district is 2014): situated in eastern region of Maharashtra state RDi = (No. of butterfly species in the family at the geographical coordinate of 20°39′0″N /Total no. of species)*100 latitude and 79°57′0″E longitude at an elevation Results and Discussion of 211 m (Fig. 1). A total of 694 butterflies in 28 species Butterfly Survey were recorded in Mahadev Hill at Amgaon in Butterfly surve ys were carried out in Mahadev Gondia district during the study period. The Hill from January 2013 to Decembe r 2013 on a species be long to 19 genera and 4 families. Out monthly basis covering a complete wet season of 28 species recorded 12 species belonged to (June to Se ptember) and dry season (March to family Nymphalidae, 10 species from family June); rainy days were avoided because rain Papilionidae , 6 species from Lycaenidae and 2 interfere with visibility (Ralph et al ., 1993). species from Pieridae (Table 1). As far as relative Butterflies were identified by sight using diversity is concerned family Nymphalidae binocular (Olympus 10×50) and digital camera (32.71%) was the most dominant while family (Nikon D 7200). Observations were made through Lycaenidae (27.27%) ranked second, followed by walking transects (Pollard, 1993; Caldas and family Pieridae (22.19%) and Papilionidae Robbins, 2003) of 0.5 km to 0.7 km length with 2 (14.84%) (Fig. 2). This agreed with the finding of m to 5 m on either side. The present study is Kumar et al., (2016), who reported that, based on 4 line transects to study the butterfly Nymphalidae to be the most dominant family in population. The sites we re visited in morning and Chansal valley in Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) and evening hours to note maximum possible species Nair et al., (2014) according to them Nymphalidae of butterflie s and record its activities. During field to be the most dominant family followed by studies, guidebooks we re used to identify the Lycane idae, Pieridae, Papilionidae and butterflies (Marshall and De Niceville , 1890, Hesperiidae in Sarojini Naidu College campus, Evans, 1932, Wynter-Blyth, 1957 and Kehimkar, Kolkatta, West Be ngal. 2008). Analysis of species dive rsity of butterfly Sampling Butterflies fauna revealed that the family Nymphalidae Based on relative abundance estimates, the (2.412) was the highest followed by the family butterflies were categorized according to Papilionidae (2.040), Lycane idae (1.763) and (Rajasekhar, 1991, 95) in five categories: - lowest in Pieridae (0.666)(Table -2). The species Abundant (>30%), Ve ry Common (20-30%), diversity pattern of Nymphalidae family agreed Common (10-20%), Frequent (5-10%), with the findings of Sreekumar and Occasional (1-5%), and Rare (<1%). Balakrishanan (2001), Raut and Pandharkar Statistical Analyses (2010), Hussian et al ., (2011). Similar pattern Diversity Index: was also recorded for species richness were Shannon-Wiener diversity Index Nymphalidae was most dominant family (2.028) The species diversity will be calculated following followed by Papilionidae (1.510), Lycane idae Shannon Wiener dive rsity Index (H) (Shannon (0.935) and lowest in Pieridae (0.199) (Table-2). and Wie ner, 1949). Such a richness of Nymphalidae family suggested H= - Σ (Ni/N) log 2 (Ni/N) the ir attribute to the polyphagous habit which Whe re Ni = Numbe r of individuals of species i and helps the m survive on varied food plants N= Total number of individuals of all the species. (Sreekumar and Balakrishanan, 2001). The Evenness index second family in species richness was Evenness Index was calculated as per Hill (1973). Papilionidae . Papilionidae are known to prefer E = H/ log 2 S tall trees providing moderate sunlight (Mathews Whe re S= Total number of species, N= Total and Anto, 2007) and Mahadev Hill vegetation is number of individuals of all the species, H = Index dominated by trees. The mode rate richness of of diversity. Lycaenidae can be attributed to regular presence Margalef’s Index of some of the species that were very common in Margalef’s index was used as a simple measure the area. Pierids species richness was of species richness Margalef (1970). comparative ly low in study area as they are sun Margalef’s index = (S-1) / log 2 N lovers seen basking in sun with wings partially S = Total numbe r of spe cies N = Total number of open and majority of them are seen in open individual in sample ln = Natural logarithm country (Ke himkar, 2008). Species eve nness showed a uniform range (0.960) in family Pieridae SHRI SHIVAJI SCIENCE COLLEGE, NAGPUR 955 ICRTS-2017 IJRBAT, Special Issue (2), Vol-V, July 2017 ISSN No.

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