Preliminary Checklist On Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) Recorded Around Banasura Sagar Dam, Wayanad District, Kerala

Butterflies are important bioindicators, which should be protected to conserve the biodiversity and environment. The field survey was conducted from January to June, 2022 by following standard methods. Results revealed a total of 47 species of butterflies belonging to five different families, of which Nymphalidae family records highest number of species (47%), followed by Papilonidae (17%), Pieridae (15% ), Lycaenidae (13%) and Hesperiidae (8%). Further, these Butterflies were classified into Common (C), Very Common (VC) and Rare (R) based on their Relative abundance status. Interestingly, Butterfly species viz., Neptis columella Cramer, Hypolimnas misippus Linnaeus, Euploea core Cramer, Castalius rosimon Fabricius, Pachliopta hector Linnaeus, Papilio clyta Linnaeus which are listed in Schedule I & IV of Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 were documented from the study area. Thus, the present investigation forms a baseline data on occurrence of butterflies at the study area, constituting along with the Western Ghats area and may aid in designing the future conservation strategies.