A Preliminary Checklist of Butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera) Recorded from Paiengaon Forest Area around the Sillery Gaon Road, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Butterfly species were sampled in a short-term survey for a period of four days, using pollard walk method, to assess the species diversity and abundance in Paiengaon forest area around the Sillery Gaon road, Kalimpong district, West Bengal. A butterfly checklist was prepared which comprised a total number of 72 butterfly species belonging to 46 genera and six families, namely Nymphalidae (51.75%), Pieridae (23.80%), Papilionidae (10.92%), Riodinidae (6.77%), Lycaenidae (4.15%) and Hesperidae (2.62%). The recorded butterfly species were categorized, where 11.14% species were very common, 38.43% were common, 7.77% were not rare, 5.68% were rare and 9.17% were very rare. Shannon diversity index score was highest in family Nymphalidae (H'= 3.30) and lowest in Hesperiidae (H’=0.29). A similar trend of results was noted for the Pielou’s evenness index and Simpson's diversity index where maximum and minimum value were observed in family Nymphalidae (J’=0.90, Ds=0.96) and Hesperiidae (J’=0.41, Ds=0.17) respectively. Family Nymphalidae was the most dominant family with the highest species evenness, whereas the lowest in family Pieridae. Different diversity indices and rank-abundance curve showed high diversity and moderate evenness with strong intra-generic competition in butterfly community structure of the study area. This study might be the baseline for future investigations on biodiversity, ecology and conservation of that hilly forest. As the study area is a visiting place, their habitat is being disturbed that deleteriously affects the butterfly community. The study recommends to take conservation management of butterfly species to save wildlife and their habitat for maintaining the ecosystem health and integrity.