ELEVATIONAL SURVEY AND DIVERSITY OF BUTTERFLY SPECIES IN KALLAR REGION, COIMBATORE, TAMIL NADU, INDIA

Abstract

Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth. Butterflies are one of the most conspicuous species of Earth’s biodiversity. Being extremely responsive to any changes in their environment namely, temperature, humidity, light and rainfall patterns these insects are identified as useful bioindicators. They have different requirements for different habitat types for mating, breeding and nectaring and are thus, in synchronization with the diversity and quality of their habitats. The present study was to portray the butterfly diversity, relative abundance, Simpson and Shannon index of Kallar region, Mettupalayam, Coimbatore district. Butterflies were collected for a period of eight months recorded from Jan 2018 to Aug 2018.The specimens collected were analyzed to study the general population trend and the guild structure. The 42 butterfly species in 34 genera belonging to 5 families clearly indicate a high diversity of butterflies distributed in the study field. Among this the family Nymphalidae was the dominant family with 14 species. 13 butterfly species were reported in the elevation level (longitude, latitude) of 325m (1,066 ft) in the Kallar region Mettupalayam. The butterflies collected during the study were classified into different study sites in Kallar region.