DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF BUTTERFLIES IN THATTEKKAD BUTTERFLY PARK.

1. DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF BUTTERFLIES IN
THATTEKKAD BUTTERFLY PARK, ERNAKULAM DIST.

2. INTRODUCTION
 Butterflies are one of the most conspicuous species of Earth’s biodiversity.
 Mainly 5 families:
 Family Hesperiidae
 Family Lycaenidae
 Family Pieridae
 Family Nymphalidae
 Family Papilionidae
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Hexapoda
Class Insecta
Order Lepidoptera
Suborder Rhopalocera

3.  The Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary, covering an area of 25 km2, and located about 12 km from
Kothamangalam (Kerala state, India).
 It was the first bird sanctuary in Kerala.
 Salim Ali, one of the best known ornithologists, described this sanctuary as the richest bird
habitat on peninsular India.
 Butterfly gardens are the leaflets of our ecosystem. They provide an important service for the
conservation of biodiversity.
 The value of butterfly garden is immense.
 Butterfly garden are act as an ideal center for biodiversity conservation and endangered,
threatened and endemic species.
 Butterfly park is another major attraction of Thattekkad bird sanctuary.
 This beautiful garden for butterflies set on 30 cents of land is planted with a variety of host
plants needed for all the different butterfly species found locally.
 The Thattekkad butterfly garden plays and important natural sites for the conservation and
management of biodiversity because it is an important link between nature and culture.

4.  All over the world there is a notable decline in the number of butterflies.
 So they must be conserved and managed.
 Due to the destructive use of the area which led to the loss of the host plant
and many species of butterflies.
 It has been stated that loss of even is single species trigger in a series of
change in the environment.
 The present study has been carried out to monitor the butterfly diversity and
abundance in the ecosystem and also to understand the host plant of
identified butterflies.

5. AIM AND OBJECTIVES
 To study the diversity and abundance of butterflies in Thattekkad butterfly
garden in Thattekkad bird santuary, Ernakulam district, Kerala.
 To prepare a checklist of butterflies of the region
 To analyse the total butterfly diversity
 To understand the host plants of the identified butterflies.

6. MATERIALS AND METHODS
 Study Area
Thattekkad Butterfly Park And Village Garden
 Thattekkad bird sanctuary, located at Ernakulam district was the first bird
sanctuary in Kerala which was introduced by Salim Ali.
 The present study of butterfly was carried out in Thattekkad butterfly
garden.
 It is the major attraction of Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary.
 The butterfly garden is set on 30 cents of land and they are planted with
variety of host plants needed for all different butterfly species.

7. MONITORING OF BUTTERFLIES
 The standard transect counting method was used in this study.
 Three transect each of 50 m × 50 m were identified in different parts of the site
and monitored the butterfly fauna.
 The present study was carry out from December 2022- May 2023.
 The butterfly were recorded for a period of 6 months.
 Data Collection was done in warm but not too hot condition especially in the
morning from 8:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.
 All the butterflies observed were recorded and identification of butterflies was
done on the site itself and was confirmed with the help of field guides.
 Species identification was confirmed by morphological features with the help of
available literature. It made the identification process easy.
 Typical and unique features of the wings, abdomen and pattern of colouration of all
body parts were noted down.

8.  During the survey, the number of species observed was recorded and the data thus
obtained were tabulated.
 The tabulated data was then used to classify the species in their family level, to find
out the dominance of the family and to create relative abundance in the area.
 Butterflies are categorized into three groups based on their sighting records and
abundance as C - Common, O - Occasional and R - Rare.
 Some rare and small butterflies which are difficult to identify were caught by using
insect net and closely observed after placing them in clear glass bottle.
 Then they were released to the same habitat from where they were caught.
 Collecting live specimens wear avoided during the study. Enough precautions were
taken, so that no means of entire procedure can cause any damage to the collected
specimen.
 All sighted species are photo-documented.
 Butterflies were photographed from different angles as often as possible to obtain
sufficient photographs to enable positive identification of species.

9. Community Study Parameters Employed
 DOMINANCE INDEX
 SIMPSON’S INDEX OF DIVERSITY
 SHANNON WEINER INDEX
 SHANNON EVENNESS
 MARGALEF INDEX
 BERGER-PARKER INDEX

10. RESULTS
 The present butterfly survey has been reported that about 565 individuals of butterflies
comprising 76 species belonging to 5 families have been observed.
 Family Nymphalidae (245 individuals), Papilionidae (141 individuals), Pieridae (83
individuals), Lycaenidae (76 individuals) and Hesperiidae (20 individuals).
 Nymphalidae was the most dominant family with 28 species and it constituted 36.8% of the
total butterfly species of the garden.
 Papilionidae (23.6%)
 Pieridae (15.7%)
 Lycaenidae (14.4%)
 Hesperiidae (9.2%)

11.  The monthly variations in species diversity were recorded.
 Highest – January (131 individuals)
 Lowest – April (73 individuals)
 The butterflies tend to avoid dry habitat and prefer moist places.
 Butterflies engaged in mud puddling were also observed in the site of study.
 of the 76 species,
 29 species – COMMON
 27 species – UNCOMMON
 20 species – RARE

12.  Species wise abundance and dominance index was calculated.
 Blue Tiger showed the maximum abundance and highest dominance index values (32,
5.663716814) followed by Dark Blue Tiger (28, 4.955752212)
 Minimum value (1, 0.176991150) was shown by many butterfly species like Red Admiral,
Marbled Map, Large Oak Blue, Common Imperial, Large Copper, Green Banded Swallow Tail,
Clouded Yellow, Common Wanderer, Indian Palm Bob and Chestnut Bob Fly.
 Diversity index values of the entire area
SI NO INDEX VALUES
1 SIMPSON’S INDEX OF DIVERSITY (D) 0.9769
2 SHANNON WEINER INDEX (H’) 3.9997
3 SHANNON EVENNESS INDEX (SEI) 0.9234
4 MARGALEF’S INDEX (D) 11.8355
5 BERGER-PARKER INDEX 0.05663

13.  COMPARING THE BUTTERFLY DIVERSITY OF THE 3 STUDY SITES
 The present study also documented the host plant species.
 The study area was dominated by plant species belonging to the family Annonaceae,
Apocynaceae, Fabaceae, Malvaceae, Acanthaceae, Rubiaceae, Poaceae etc..
 The present study showed that Thattekkad Butterfly garden is highly rich in floral diversity
which is a flourishing habitat for butterflies.
 The environmental conditions in the garden are highly favourable for butterflies to complete
its life cycle.
 This study is quite significant and it emphasizes the importance of gargen in the
conservation of biological diversity of the region.
 By conserving butterflies, we are indirectly maintaining the ecological balance.
SITE 1 SITE 2 SITE 3
TOTAL SPECIES 50 65 48
ABUNDANCE 137 320 108
SIMPSON’S INDEX OF DIVERSITY (D) 0.967553 0.975137 0.966392
SHANNON WEINER INDEX (H’) 3.65784 3.90979 3.6093
SHANNON EVENNESS INDEX (SEI) 0.743466 0.677804 0.770867
MARGALEF DIVERSITY INDEX 9.959388 11.095082 10.038163
BERGER PARKER INDEX 0.080291 0.05625 0.074074

14. CONCLUSION
 The differences in the diversity of butterflies among habitats was due to the structure and
complexity of the vegetation in each habitat. High vegetation diversity will increase the diversity of
butterflies.
 Availability of resources such as habitat, water, minerlas, food, temperature and humidity affect
the diversity of butterflies.
 Meanwhile, environmental factors such as temperature and humidity highly affect the activities,
distribution, growth and breeding of butterflies.
 It is recommended to conduct further research on plant species which have an ecological role and
function as food sources and hosts for butterflies.

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16. THANK YOU