Diversity and Abundance of Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) in Sethu Bhaskara Agricultural College and Research Foundation, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, South India

Butterflies play a vital role in the ecosystem, acting as pollinators, pollution indicators, pests, predators, weed killers, a good source of food and being of aesthetic, economic and ecological importance. World-wide butterfly populations are on the decline due to habitat destruction and deforestation. This study was taken with the prime objective of preparing the checklist of butterflies at Sethu Bhaskara Agricultural College and Research Foundation, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, from April 2023 to July 2023. A total of 976 individuals of 76 species belonging to 5 families have been recorded in the survey. For this study, the college was mapped into four different habitats: botanical garden area, agricultural field area, horticultural field area and grassland area. Results revealed that the family Nymphalidae showed the maximum number of species (22.0 species) from 12 genera (29.0%), followed by Lycaenidae (20.0 species) from17genera (26.5%), Pieridae (18.0 species) from 9 genera (24.0%), Hesperiidae (12.0 species) from 11 genera (16.0%) and the least being Papilionidae (4.0 species) from 2 genera (5.5%). Among the four sites, the botanical garden area ranks first with the highest number of butterflies (140 species, N =280), followed by the horticultural field area (129 species, N = 258), the agricultural field area (115 species, N = 230) and the grassland area (104 species, N = 208). According to the monthly distribution of butterflies, the maximum number of species and abundance were recorded in the months of July (307 species, N = 332), followed by June (141 species, N = 282), April (112 species, N= 224) and least in May (69 species, N = 138). The overall Shannon-Weiner diversity index was H = 1.50, Pielou’s evenness index was E = 0.60 and Margalef’s index was R = 13.30. This study illustrated useful information on butterfly diversity in the study region, which serves as a baseline for future monitoring programs.