FIELD REPORT ZOOS' PRINT JOURNAL 20(8): 1939-1942 STRUCTURE OF BUTTERFLY COMMUNITY OF ANAIKATTY HILLS, WESTERN GHATS R. Eswaran 1 and P. Pramod 2 Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641108, India Email: 1 [email protected]; 2 [email protected] (corresponding author) ABSTRACT Goankar (1996) that classify the butterflies into five major The community structure of butterflies was studied in the families. dry deciduous, thorny forest of Anaikatty hills, Western Ghats. Pierid butterflies showed greater abundance, which may be due to the relatively greater abundance of Four separate transect paths were laid in the four Capparaceae and Caesalpinaceae plants in the area. More physiognomically different natural vegetation of the landscape. species of Nymphalid butterflies were recorded from the Transects were surveyed twice in a month. One-kilometer area than any other family. Six endemic species and eight distance was covered in one-hour duration during the sampling. protected species listed under the Wildlife (Protection) Act Thus eight-hour observation was required for getting one were recorded from the area. The butterfly community did not show much variation between the sampling locations. month’s data. The study period was between March 2002 and The conservation value of the whole area is highlighted. February 2003. The butterfly diversity data of the study area was compared with the Western Ghats butterfly fauna to know KEYWORDS the efficiency of the sample and the representation of the Anaikatty, Butterflies, community, Dry deciduous, Western Ghats butterflies from the study area. Nymphalidae, Pieridae, Western Ghats The mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum and The Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot harbours 331 species coefficient of variation of butterfly abundance in four transects of butterflies. Most of the previous studies on butterflies in were analysed to know the butterfly abundance similarity and Western Ghats were on the diversity and seasonal pattern variation in different sampling locations. The relative (Ugarte & Rodricks, 1960; Larsen, 1987a,b,c, 1988; Asaithambi, abundance of the butterflies in the samples was also calculated. 1994). Butterflies are known to follow seasonal pattern of distribution (Kunte, 1997; Arun, 2000). The present study was RESULTS conducted to record the butterfly community structure in the Seventy-five species of butterflies were recorded during the thorny dry deciduous habitat of Anaikatty hills and understand study period (Table 1). Nymphalidae was the most species- the representation of the Western Ghats butterfly fauna. rich family where as Pieridae formed the most abundant family (Table 2). The number of butterfly species observed fluctuated STUDY AREA between 14 and 48 per month, and number of butterflies Anaikatty Hills (76039'-79047'E & 1105'-11031'N), which falls under observed fluctuated between 136 and 3686 per month. The the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, is located in the Anaikatty Reserve monthly mean abundance of butterflies did not vary much Forest in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India (Fig. 1). The among transects (Table 3). The Common Gull (Cepora nerissa) area receives an average rainfall of 668mm per year recorded (Relative abundance (RA) = 0.13) was the most dominant over the last 10 years. Maximum temperature varies from 29 to butterfly encountered in one year. Yellow Orange Tip (Ixias 37 degrees. Trees, such as Albizia amara, Albizia lebbeck, pyrine) (RA = 0.10), White Orange Tip (Ixias maurianne) (RA = Acacia leucophloea, Acacia polyacantha, Ziziphus 0.09) and Mottled Emigrant (Catopsilia pyranthe) (RA = 0.08) mauritiana, Chloroxylon swietenia and Tamarindus indica were the next three dominants. Pieridae was the most common are the dominant trees in this area. Dominant shrubs are Cassia family throughout the year followed by Nymphalidae and auriculata, Cassia fistula, Capparis grandis, C. roxburghii, Papilionidae. All these three families showed an extraordinary C. grandiflora, C. sepiaria, Flacourtia indica, Elaeodendron peak between October and December. glaucam, Clausina heptaphylla, Randia dumetorum, Premna tomentosa and Pavetta indica. Lantana camara, Chromolaena The species recorded in Anaikatty hills formed 23% of the odorata and Parthenium hysterophorus are the prominent Western Ghats butterfly fauna with better representation for weeds in the open areas of the landscape. Papilionidae (63%) and Pieridae (42%) compared the other families. Anaikatty harbours six endemic species of butterflies. METHODOLOGY The endemism level varies from southern India to the Indian The method adopted for sampling butterflies was transect count Subcontinent (Table 1). Two Schedule I species of Wildlife popularly known as ‘Pollard walk’ following Moore (1975), Protection Act, 1972 were recorded from the Anaikatty hills. Pollard et al. (1975), and, Walpole and Sheldon (1999). All the Five Schedule II species and one Schedule IV species were butterflies observed on either side of the transect path up to also recorded from the study area. The butterfly community 5m wide were counted, although some lycaenids and some did not show significant variation in different transects (Table hesperids were difficult to be identified in the field. These were 3). caught by hand net and identified up to the species and released. We followed classification by Ackery (1984) and © Zoo Outreach Organisation; www.zoosprint.org Manuscript 1330; Received 04 February 2005; Revised received 27 April 2005; Finally accepted 20 June 2005; Date of publication 21 July 2005 August 2005 | ISSN 0971-6378 1939 Butterfly community of Anaikatty hills, Western Ghats R. Eswaran & P. Pramod Figure 1. Location of the study area 1940 August 2005 Zoos' Print Journal 20(8): 1939-1942 Butterfly community of Anaikatty hills, Western Ghats R. Eswaran & P. Pramod Table 1. Checklist of butterflies in Anaikatty hills, Western Ghats Common Name Scientific Name Endemic WPA, Common Name Scientific Name Endemic WPA, to 1972 to 1972 Papilionidae 49 Baronet Euthalia nais Forster 1 Southern Bird Wing Troides minos Cramer SI, WG 50 Common Beak Libythea lepita Moore Sch II 2 Common Rose Pachliopta aristolochiae 51 Peacock Pansy Junonia almana Linnaeus Fabricius LYCAENIDAE 3 Crimson Rose Pachliopta hector SI, SL Sch I 52 Zebra Blue Leptotes plinius Fabricius Linnaeus 53 Tiny Grass Blue Zizula hylax Fabricius 4 Common Bluebottle Graphium sarpedon 54 Gram Blue Euchrysops cnejus Sch II Linnaeus Fabricius 5 Tailed Jay Graphium agamemnon 55 Pea Blue Lampides boeticus Linnaeus Linnaeus 56 Common Cerulean Jamides celeno Cramer 6 Spot Sword tail Graphium nomius Esper 57 Common Silverline Spindasis vulcanus IS 7 Lime Butterfly Papilio demoleus Fabricius Linnaeus 58 Pale Grass Blue Pseudozizeeria maha Kollar 8 Common Mormon Papilio polytes Linnaeus 59 Lesser Grass Blue Zizinia otis Fabricius 9 Common Banded Papilio crino Fabricius PI, SL 60 Grass Jewel Freyeria trochylus Freyer Peacock 61 Plains Cupid Chilades pandava Horsfield 10 Malabar Banded Papilio buddha Westwood WG Sch II 62 Metallic Cerulean Jamides alecto Felder Peacock 63 Dark Cerulean Jamides bochus Cramer 11 Blue Mormon Papilio polymnestor SL, PI 64 Common Pierrot Castalius rosimon Fabricius Cramer 65 Lime blue Chilades laius Stoll 12 Red Helen Papilio helenus Linnaeus 66 Banded Blue Pierrot Discolampa ethion Hewitson 67 Rounded Pierrot Tarucus nara Kollar Pieridae 68 Red Pierrot Telicada nyseus 13 Common Emigrant Catopsilia pomona Guerin-Meneville Fabricius 69 Dark Grass Blue Zizeeria karsandra Moore 14 Mottled Emigrant Catopsilia pyranthe 70 Yam fly Loxura atymnus Fruhstorfer Linnaeus 15 Common Grass Eurema hecabe Linnaeus Hesperiidae Yellow 71 Fulvous Pied Flat Pseudocoladenia dan Fabricius 16 Common Jezebel Delias eucharis Drury 72 Indian Skipper Spialia galba Fabricius 17 Psyche Leposia nina Fabricius 73 Brown Awl Badamia exclamationis Fabricius 18 Common Gull Cepora nerissa Fabricius Sch II 19 Common Albatross Appias albina Boisduval 74 Common Banded Awl Hasora chromus Cramer 20 White Orange Tip Ixias marianne Cramer 75 White Banded Awl Hasora taminatus Hubner 21 Common Wanderer Pareronia valeria Cramer 22 Yellow Orange Tip Ixias pyrene Linnaeus SI - South India; WG - Western Ghats; PI - Peninsular India; IS - Indian 23 Small Orange Tip Calotis etrida Boisduval Sub continet; SL - Sri Lanka; WPA - Wild Life Protection Act, 1972; Sch - 24 Great Orange Tip Hebomoea glaucippe Schedule Linnaeus 25 Three-spot Grass Eurema blanda Boisduval Yellow Table 2. Butterfly diversity in Anaikatty Hills 26 Crimson Tip Colotis danae Fabricius Family Species richness Abundance Nymphalidae 27 Tawny Coster Acraea violae Fabricius 1 Pieridae 14 (33) 6170 28 Common Leopard Phalanta phalantha Drury 2 Nymphalidae 25 (96) 4046 29 Common Sailer Neptis hylas Moore 3 Papilionidae 12 (19) 1365 30 Common castor Ariadne merione Cramer 4 Lycaenidae 19 (102) 333 31 Lemon Pansy Junonia lemonias Linnaeus 5 Hesperiidae 5 (81) 32 32 Danaid Eggfly Hypolimnas misippus Sch I Parentheses indicate species richness of the family within Western Ghats. Linnaeus & II 33 Plain Tiger Danaus chrysippus Linnaeus Table 3. The mean abundance of butterflies per month in 34 Striped Tiger Danaus genutia Cramer different transects 35 Common Indian Euploea core Cramer Sch IV Crow Transect Mean/ SD Min Max CV 36 Tamil Yeoman Cirrochora thais Fabricius Number Month 37 Chocolate Pansy Precis iphita Cramer 1 222 256 24 992 1.15 38 Blue Pansy Junonia orithya