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Butterfly Diversity of Berhampore Girls’ College

Campus, Murshidabad, West Bengal, India: A

preliminary Assessment

Meghna Sahaa, Indra Sarkar

b, Labani Barik

b, Rudra Prasad Das

c

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: 15

th June, 2015 Date of Acceptance: 19

th June, 2015

Abstract

India has one of the richest and most diverse butterfly faunas of the world.

The relative ease of observation, an existing knowledge of their natural

history, and the high sensitivity of butterflies 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 insect 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.

Species Common Name Relative

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: Nymphalidae

a. Sub-family: Danainae

15 Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus) Plain Tiger Abundant

16 Euploea core (Cramer) Common Crow Abundant

b. Sub-family: Satyrinae

17 Melanitis leda (Linnaeus) Common Evening Brown Abundant

18 Mycalesis perseus (Fabricius) Common Bushbrown Common

19 Ypthima huebneri Kirby Common Four-ring Abundant

c. Sub-family: Heliconiinae

19 Phalanta phalantha (Drury) Common Leopard Uncommon

d. Sub-family: Limenitae

21 Moduza procris (Cramer) Commander Common

22 Neptis hylas (Linnaeus) Common Sailer Uncommon

23 Euthalia aconthea (Cramer) Common Baron Uncommon

e. Sub-family: Biblidinae

24 Ariadne ariadne (Linnaeus) Angled Castor Common

25 Ariadne merione (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: Lycaenidae

a. Sub-family: Theclinae

30 Rathinda amor (Fabricius) Monkey Puzzle Uncommon

b. Sub-family: Polyommatinae

31 Castalius rosimon (Fabricius) Common Pierrot Common

32 Tarucus nara Kollar Rounded Pierrot Uncommon

33 Zizeeria karsandra (Moore) Dark Grass Blue Common

34 Pseudozizeeria maha (Kollar) Pale Grass Blue Uncommon

35 Zizula hylax (Fabricius) Tiny Grass Blue Uncommon

36 Euchrysops cnejus (Fabricius) Gram Blue Uncommon

37 Chilades pandava (Horsfield) Plains Cupid Common

38 Chilades lajus (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 insects, 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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