AN INVENTORY OF BUTTERFLY DIVERSITY (INSECTA: LEPIDOPTERA: PAPILIONOIDEA) OF DISTRICT TAWANG, ARUNACHAL PRADESH, INDIA

Butterfly diversity was recorded in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh in India. A total of 49 species that belonged to 33 genera in six families: Nymphalidae, Pieridae, Papilionidae, Lycaenidae, Riodinidae, and Hesperiidae were recorded. The family Nymphalidae was represented by twenty-seven species under 17 genera (55%), Pieridae had seven species under 6 genera (15%), Lycaenidae six species under 5 genera (12%), Papilionidae five species under 3 genera (10%), Hesperiidae two species under 2 genera (4%), and Riodinidae had two species under 1 genus (4%). Of these 49 species, 13 were common, 13 were uncommon, and the remaining 23 were less common in terms of the relative abundance of butterfly diversity. Out of 49 species, six species were found to have been placed in the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022.. KEYWORDS :Butterfly, Diversity, Pollinators, Temperate regions, Wildlife