The Beats of Natural Sciences Issue 2 (June) Vol. 2 (2015)

Butterfly Diversity of Berhampore Girls’ College Campus, Murshidabad, , : A preliminary Assessment Meghna Sahaa, Indra Sarkarb, Labani Barikb, Rudra Prasad Dasc and Santi Ranjan Deyd*

a Department of Biological Science, Presidency University, Kolkata bDepartment of Zoology, Berhampore Girls’ College, Murshidabad cWest Bengal Biodiversity Board, Kolkata dDepartment of Zoology, Rammohan College, Kolkata

Date of Submission: 15th June, 2015 Date of Acceptance: 19th June, 2015

Abstract

India has one of the richest and most diverse faunas of the world. The relative ease of observation, an existing knowledge of their natural history, and the high sensitivity of toward changes in the environment are the factors that make them so-called bio-indicators of the area. Institutional campuses with undisturbed natural vegetation and seasonal flowering plantation provide potential habitat for butterfly population as they are usually devoid of any developmental activities and pollution. If the landscaping and maintenance of campus gardens are carefully planned, the diversity of butterflies may increase in the college campus providing a rich ground for butterfly conservation as well as for research. Berhampore Girls’ College of Mursidabad district, West Bengal, India has a lush green campus in the heart of the city, Berhampore. In the present survey, preliminary assessment and documentation of the butterflies in the college campus was carried out. Keywords: Butterfly diversity, Berhampore Girls’ College, Murshidabad, West Bengal

1. Introduction

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Butterflies are most charismatic group among the diverse communities. Their size varies from the tiny jewels like blues, to the gorgeous bird like wings with a wing span as great as 8 inches. Their glowing colours and delicate flickering movements catch and charm the eyes. There are about 17,200 species of butterflies in the world.1 India has one of the richest and most diverse butterfly faunas of the world with 1501 species of which 107 are Papilionids (swallowtails), 109 Pierids (whites and yellows), 521 Nymphalids (brush-footed butterflies), 443 Lycaenids (blues) and 321 are Hesperids (skippers).2,3 The diversity of species depends on factors like the climate and topography of the region.4,5,6

Butterflies are important element of ecosystem mainly because of their pollination activities.7,8 Moreover, they are considered as good ecological indicators because of their sensitivity toward the environmental and climatic changes.9,10 The relative ease of observation, an existing knowledge of their natural history, and the high sensitivity of these organisms toward changes in the environment are the factors that make them so-called bio- indicators of the area.

Increased urban features, including roads, buildings and lawns, correspond with decreases in butterfly species richness, diversity and abundance.11-14 The reductions in amount and quality of natural habitat associate with urban development negatively affect nature biodiversity.15 Urban development is expected to have a deleterious impact on butterfly populations because the construction of buildings and concrete structures replaces or reduces the area of natural and semi-natural habitats. Moreover the quality of residual habitats is also expected to be adversely affected by various forms of pollution.16 Apart from the habitat loss the widespread use of insecticides has drastically reduced the numbers of butterflies. The clouds of butterflies that used to fly past as one walked through wild places can no longer be taken for granted.

Biological diversity is now increasingly recognized as a vital parameter to assess global and local environmental changes and sustainability of developmental activities. However, a systematic study of invertebrates particularly butterflies has not been carried out from most urban areas of West Bengal. It helps as a decision making tool for conservation and management of butterflies. So, it is now important to prepare a zone-wise database/checklist of the butterfly diversity of our country and in particular our state, West Bengal.17,18,19

Institutional campuses with undisturbed natural vegetation and seasonal flowering plantation provide potential habitat for butterfly population as they are usually devoid of any developmental activities and pollution.20,21 The Berhampore Girls’ College campus in Mursidabad district, West Bengal, India is large, with a size of 523560.20 sq. ft. located in the heart of the Berhampore city. In the present survey, preliminary assessment and documentation of the butterfly diversity of Berhampore Girls’College was carried out.

2. Materials and Methods

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The survey has been carried out for a period of two years (2013-2014). The roads inside the college campus were used as fixed transects. Weekly observations were carried out during morning hours (08:00 hrs to 10:00 hrs) and butterflies were recorded based on direct sighting. Some small butterflies were caught using butterfly net and were observed closely after placing them in clear glass container. Then they were released to the same habitat from where they were captured. Photographs of butterfly species in natural habitats were also taken for further references. Later the butterflies were identified from photographs by using standard literatures.22-25 Butterflies were broadly categorized into four groups namely – abundant, common, uncommon and rare based on their sighting records and relative abundance.26

3. Results

The common butterflies found in Berhampore Girls’ College campus are listed below with their relative abundance.

Relative Species Common Name Abundance

I. Family: Papilionidae a. Sub-family: Papilioninae

1 Graphium doson (C.&R. Felder) Common Jay Uncommon

2 Graphium agamemnon (Linnaeus) Tailed Jay Uncommon

3 Chilasa clytia (Linnaeus) Common Mime Rare

4 Papilio polytes Linnaeus Common Mormon Abundant

5 Papilio demoleus Linnaeus Lime Butterfly Uncommon

6 Atrophaneura aristolochiae (Fabricius) Common Rose Common

II. Family: Pieridae a. Sub-family: Coliadinae

7 Eurema hecabe (Linnaeus) Common Grass Yellow Common

8 Catopsilia pomona (Fabricius) Common Emigrant Common

9 Catopsilia pyranthe (Linnaeus) Mottled Emigrant Common b. Sub-family: Pierinae

10 Pareronia valeria (Cramer) Common Wanderer Uncommon

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11 Cepora nerissa (Fabricius) Common Gull Uncommon

12 Appias libythea (Fabricius) Striped Albatross Uncommon

13 Delias eucharis (Drury) Common Jezebel Abundant

14 Leptosia nina (Fabricius) Psyche Common

III. Family: a. Sub-family: Danainae

15 Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus) Plain Tiger Abundant

16 Euploea core (Cramer) Common Crow Abundant b. Sub-family:

17 Melanitis leda (Linnaeus) Common Evening Brown Abundant

18 Mycalesis perseus (Fabricius) Common Bushbrown Common

19 huebneri Kirby Common Four-ring Abundant c. Sub-family: Heliconiinae

19 phalantha (Drury) Common Leopard Uncommon d. Sub-family: Limenitae

21 procris (Cramer) Commander Common

22 Neptis hylas (Linnaeus) Common Sailer Uncommon

23 Euthalia aconthea (Cramer) Common Baron Uncommon e. Sub-family: Biblidinae

24 ariadne (Linnaeus) Angled Castor Common

25 (Cramer) Common Castor Abundant f. Sub-family: Nymphalinae

26 Junonia atlites (Linnaeus) Grey Pansy Uncommon

27 Junonia almana (Linnaeus) Peacock Pansy Common

28 Junonia lemonias (Linnaeus) Lemon Pansy Common

29 Hypolimnas bolina (Linnaeus) Great Eggfly Uncommon

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IV. Family: a. Sub-family: Theclinae

30 Rathinda amor (Fabricius) Monkey Puzzle Uncommon b. Sub-family:

31 rosimon (Fabricius) Common Pierrot Common

32 nara Kollar Rounded Pierrot Uncommon

33 karsandra (Moore) Dark Grass Blue Common

34 maha (Kollar) Pale Grass Blue Uncommon

35 Zizula hylax (Fabricius) Tiny Grass Blue Uncommon

36 cnejus (Fabricius) Gram Blue Uncommon

37 pandava (Horsfield) Plains Cupid Common

38 (Stoll) Lime Blue Uncommon

V. Family: Hesperiidae a. Sub-family: Hesperiinae

39 Borbo cinnara (Wallace) Rice Swift Rare

Graphium doson (C.&R. Felder) Graphium agamemnon (Linnaeus)

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Chilasa clytia (Linnaeus) Papilio polytes Linnaeus

Papilio demoleus Linnaeus Atrophaneura aristolochiae (Fabricius)

Eurema hecabe (Linnaeus) Catopsilia pomona (Fabricius)

Catopsilia pyranthe (Linnaeus) Pareronia valeria (Cramer)

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Cepora nerissa (Fabricius) Appias libythea (Fabricius)

Delias eucharis (Drury) Leptosia nina (Fabricius)

Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus) Euploea core (Cramer)

Melanitis leda (Linnaeus) Mycalesis perseus (Fabricius)

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Ypthima huebneri Kirby Phalanta phalantha (Drury)

Moduza procris (Cramer) Neptis hylas (Linnaeus)

Euthalia aconthea (Cramer) Ariadne ariadne (Linnaeus)

Ariadne merione (Cramer) Junonia atlites (Linnaeus)

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Junonia almana (Linnaeus) Junonia lemonias (Linnaeus)

Hypolimnas bolina (Linnaeus) - female Hypolimnas bolina (Linnaeus) - male

Rathinda amor (Fabricius) Castalius rosimon (Fabricius)

Tarucus nara Kollar Zizeeria karsandra (Moore)

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Pseudozizeeria maha (Kollar) Zizula hylax (Fabricius)

Euchrysops cnejus (Fabricius) Chilades pandava (Horsfield)

Chilades lajus (Stoll) Borbo cinnara (Wallace)

4. Discussion

Recent studies have highlighted the importance of institutional campuses as a preferred habitat for butterflies.27 Among the , butterflies occupy a vital position in the ecosystem and their occurrence and diversity are considered as good indicators of the health of any given terrestrial biotope.28,29 In Berhampore Girls’ College campus 39 species of butterflies belonging to five families were found more or less throughout the year. They reflect a healthy ecosystem patch in the heart of the city. If the landscaping and maintenance of campus gardens are carefully planned, the diversity of butterflies may increase in the college campus

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providing a rich ground for butterfly conservation as well as for research.20,30 Creating habitats for butterflies would help in conserving not only butterflies but also other insects, birds and small mammals. From the conservation point of view, some butterflies play a very important role as an ecological indicator and vital role of plant propagation as vectors of cross-pollination. Therefore, further research on the biodiversity of butterflies with special reference to their host plants and other factor(s) that contribute to their distribution, diversity and abundance may be investigated in future. Acknowledgment: This study was supported by a grant from the West Bengal Biodiversity Board (Deptt. of Environment, Govt. of West Bengal) to the corresponding author. The author is also thankful to the Principal and subsequent Teacher-in-Charge, Berhampore Girls’ College, Murshidabad for providing necessary facilities for conducting the present research.

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22. W.H. Evans. The Identification of Indian Butterflies, Bombay Natural History Society (1932). 23. M.A. Wynter-Blyth. Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society (1957). 24. A.B. Roy, R.P. Das and P. Mukherjee. A Pictorial Guide: Common Butterflies of Bengal Plains, Yapanchitra Books (2007). 25. I. Kehimkar. The Book of Indian Butterflies, Bombay Natural History Society (2008). 26. B. Rajasekhar, J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 92, 275 (1995). 27. P. Kurve and M. Pejavar, Insect Environment, 10(3), 104 (2004). 28. J.S.R. Aluri and S.P. Rao, J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 99(1), 59 (2002). 29. J.A. Thomas, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 360, 339 (2005). 30. N. Dasgupta and R.J. Rao, Bugs R All, 21, 16 (2014).

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