Morphological and molecular characterization of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea: Pieridae) of District Dehradun (Uttarakhand)

The family Pieridae consists of some of the most highly visible and easily recognized butterflies, yet work is still needed to clarify certain areas of its taxonomy and improve our understanding of its evolution. In this study, a total of 17 species belonging to 12 genera were identified based on morphological characteristics. DNA barcode sequences were generated for 38 specimens, identifying 14 species from 10 genera. Both morphological and genetic species identifications corroborate with each other, which were further validated through Neighbour-Joining (NJ) tree analysis. The NJ tree demonstrated that sequences belonging to the same species clustered into distinct monophyletic clades, further supporting the accuracy of the identifications. This study highlights the importance of integrating morphological and genetic approaches to ensure robustness and reliability in the identification of butterflies. The present work represents a comprehensive attempt to integrate morphological and molecular techniques to assess the species diversity of Pieridae butterflies in the Dehradun district of Uttarakhand.