checklist of butterflies of chuadanga district, bangladesh

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Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2014; 2 (5): 218-224 ISSN 2320-7078 JEZS 2014; 2 (5): 218-224 © 2014 JEZS Received: 19-09-2014 Accepted: 09-10-2014 Tahsinur Rahman Shihan Junior Wildlife Researcher, Monitoring and Conservation of Wildlife in Kaptai National Park of Bangladesh Project. Belgachi Eidgahpara, Chuadanga, Bangladesh. Department of zoology, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Correspondence: Tahsinur Rahman Shihan Junior Wildlife Researcher, Monitoring and Conservation of Wildlife in Kaptai National Park of Bangladesh Project. Belgachi Eidgahpara, Chuadanga, Bangladesh. Department of zoology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Checklist of butterflies of Chuadanga District,

Bangladesh

Tahsinur Rahman Shihan Abstract A study was conducted in Chuadanga district during November 2011 to April 2014 to investigate the butterfly diversity. A total of 49 species of butterflies belonging to six families were recorded for the first time. The family Nymphalidae was found to be dominant with 17 species followed by Lycaenidae (10 species), Hesperiidae (10 species), Pieridae (06 species), Papilionidae (05 species) and Riodinidae (01 species).

Keywords: Butterfly, Chuadanga, Nymphalidae, Lycaenidae, Riodinidae, Hesperiidae 1. Introduction Chuadanga district is an important habitat for butterflies with many fruit gardens, agricultural fields, homestead vegetation, flower garden, weeds, wild herbs and shrubs contain huge number of varieties include apang (Achyranthes aspera), khejur (Phoenix sylvestris), helencha (Alternanthera philoxeroides), kata note (Amaranthus sp.), shoti (Curcuma zedoaria), durba (Cynodon dactylon), shon (Imperata cylindrica), dhani ghas (Panicum repens), dhan (Oryza sativa), akondo (Calotropis procera), porgacha (Dendrophthoe sp.), dadmordon (Glycosmis pentaphylla), lantan (Lantana camara), lojjaboti (Mimosa pudica), reri (Ricinus communis); bel (Aegle marmelos), kamranga (Averrhoa carambola), bans (Bambusa arundinacea), shimul (Bombax ceiba), tal (Borassus flabellifer), shonalu (Cassia fistula), lebu (Citrus aurantifolia), batabi lebu (Citrus grandis), narkel (Cocos nucifera), am (Mangifera indica), kul (Ziziphus mauritiana), is warmful (Aristolochia indica), bonalu (Dioscorea bulbifera) whose leaves act as larval food for different species of butterflies [1, 2]. Butterflies of Chuadanga district have not been documented. The objective of this study is to identify butterflies and to contribute the butterfly checklist of Bangladesh with established a permanent database. Butterflies are natural pollinators and potentially useful ecological indicators of urbanization and forest health because they are ready surveyed, and they are sensitive to changes in microclimate, temperature, solar radiation, and the availability of host plants for ovipositing and larval development [3, 4, 5]. Increased urban features, including roads, buildings and moved lawns, correspond with decreases in butterfly species richness, diversity and abundance [6, 7, 8, 9]. Urbanization also is associated with habitat degradation including decreased plant species diversity, reduced water quality, and increased air and soil pollutions [10, 11, 12, 13, 14]. The reductions in amount and quality of natural habitat associate with urban development negatively affect nature biodiversity [15]. Studies on butterfly fauna are very few in Bangladesh which is not completely documented. Since 1947 very little research on butterflies has been conducted [16]. Khan (2001) documented 49 species from Tangail [17]. According to Larsen (2004) only 311 butterfly species had been recorded from Bangladesh [18]. Furthermore, Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh, mentioned 148 butterflies species [19]. In addition there are some regional works have been done on butterfly checklist such as Islam (2011) documented 158 species from Savar, Dhaka [20]. Chowdhury and Hossain (2013) was recorded 225 butterfly species with pictorial evidence from all over the Bangladesh [21]. Hossain (2014) documented 37 species from Sundarban [22]. Neogi, Khan and Shahadat (2014) have added 9 more new species to the checklist which takes the total number of butterflies to 320 IUCN checklists of butterflies [16, 23, 32].

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Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies

Fig 1: Map of Chuadanga district in red box.

2. Materials and Methods The study was conducted in Chuadanga during November 2011 to April 2014. The district is situated in western part of Bangladesh. It lies between 23035ʹ13.67ʺ N latitude and 88049ʹ56.59ʺ E longitudes (Fig. 1). This area is covered with cultivated land, wetland and homestead vegetation include trees, herbs, shrubs, grasses and climbers which support butterflies species for their larval food, nectar feeding and resting. The climate is monosonic. The mean monthly temperature was the highest 35 0C in May and the lowest 80C in January. The highest rainfall was recorded in May (330 mm) and the lowest in December (05 mm). The average humidity varied from 95.0% to 55.0%. The habitats were documented randomly by visual observations, walks, opportunistic observations and butterfly species were also photo-documented by Nikon Coolpix P100, Canon DSLR 1100D and 55-250 mm lens during the study period. Species identity, taxonomy and nomenclature were confirmed with the help of the books by Evans (1932), Wynter-Blyth (1957), Marshall and de Niceville (1883), Bingham(1905), Kunte (2000), Kehimkar (2008), Singh (2010) and Kunte et al (2012) [24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35, 36]. Butterflies observed were categorized into four groups (Very common >10, Common 6-10, Uncommon <3-5, Rare <2) based on their relative number during the period. I sampled butterflies in several possible habitats such as flower gardens, fruit gardens, beside the railway bush, roadside bush, agricultural fields, homestead vegetation and open land etc. Each species was noted and photographed instantly [29, 30]. 3. Results and Discussion A total of 49 species representing 40 genera from 06 families recorded from the Chuadanga District. Among these, family Nymphalidae is represented by 17 species and 13 genera formed to be dominant during study period. The family Lycaenidae and Hesperiidae is represented 10 species followed by Pieridae (06 species), Papilionidae (05 species) and Riodinidae (01) (Table-1). In the case of Nymphalidae Junonia almana Linnaeus was more abundant than others. Family Riodinidae Abisara echerius Moore was found only once in the Chuadanga District. The

checklist provides 49 species reported earlier from other places of Bangladesh. On the basis of direct observation we found that of 49 species of which 07 rare, 19 uncommon, 19 common and 04 very common. Out of this total species 7 species namely Pachliopta aristolochiae, Delias eucharis, Eurema hecabe, Danaus chrysippus, Danaus genutia, Euploea core and Catochrysops strabo, were found collecting nectar in the flower of wild herbs and shrubs, 7 species namely Papilio polymnestor, Papilio polytes, Danaus chrysippus, Junonia almana, Junonia lemonias, Rathinda amor and Tagiades japetus were recorded in the flower garden, 11 species namely Papilio clytia, Catopsilia pomona, Catopsilia pyranthe, Cepora nerissa, Danaus chrysippus, Hypolimnas bolina, Junonia atlites, Anthene emolus, Parnara guttatus, Pelopidas subochracea and Pelopidas agna were recorded from the agricultural field, most 23 species namely Papilio demoleus, Catopsilia pyranthe, Leptosia nina, Acraea violae, Ariadne ariadne, Ariadne merione, Euploea core, Melanitis leda, Moduza procris, Neptis jumbah, Phalantha phalantha, Ypthima baldus, Castalius rosimon, Chilades lajus, Everes lacturnus, Pseudozizeeria maha, Rapala manea, Zizula hylax, Matapa aria, Suastus gremius, Telicota sp., Udaspes folus and Abisara echerius were recorded in homestead vegetation, 3 species namely Euthalia aconthea, Rathinda amor and Ypthima baldus found both in the fruit garden and homestead vegetation. The present study is the first study of this type in the area. It is suggested and recommended that the area under study should be continuously monitored to observe any change in the diversity of butterflies because the changes in the diversity can only be observed through continuous monitoring and comparing the data of every year. Butterfly diversity in the study area was found to be very low. This is due to the natural climate. This is rather unsupportive of great butterfly diversity. Thus, the lack of butterfly diversity is not entirely due to the climate but is more directly a result of low diversity of flora upon which to support greater butterfly diversity [31]. Butterflies are one of most significant groups of insects with their impact on the ecosystem as bio-indicators, pollinators and as prey for many living organisms from birds to other arthropods like spiders. Public attentiveness is requisite to conserve these

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butterflies and their habitats. The study reflects the baseline information on these beautiful groups. Therefore, an extensive survey needs to be carried out to explore the rich diversity of

these elegant insects with their richness in different rural and urban vegetation. The present results have thrown light on the butterfly diversity in the southeast region of Bangladesh.

Table 1: Checklist of butterflies of Chuadanga district, Bangladesh.

SL Common Name Scientific Name Relative Abundance

Family: Papilionidae 1 Common Rose Pachliopta aristolochiae Fabricius Common 2 Common Mime Papilio clytia Linnaeus Uncommon 3 Lime Butterfly Papilio demoleus Linnaeus Common 4 Blue Mormon Papilio polymnestor Cramer Uncommon 5 Common Mormon Papilio polytes Cramer Very Common

Family Pieridae 6 Common Gull Cepora nerissa Fabricius Uncommon 7 Common Emigrant Catopsilia pomona Fabricius Common 8 Mottled Emigrant Catopsilia pyranthe Linnaeus Uncommon 9 Common Jezebel Delias eucharis Drury Common 10 Common Grass Yellow Eurema hecabe Linnaeus Common 11 Psyche Leptosia nina Fabricius Common

Family Nymphalidae 12 Tawny Coster Acraea violae Fabricius Rare 13 Angled Castor Ariadne ariadne Fruhstorfer Uncommon 14 Common Castor Ariadne merione Cramer Very Common 15 Plain Tiger Danaus chrysippus Linnaeus Common 16 Striped Tiger Danaus genutia Cramer Common 17 Common Crow Euploea core Cramer Uncommon 18 Common Baron Euthalia aconthea Fruhstorfer Common 19 Great Eggfly Hypolimnas bolina Linnaeus Uncommon 20 Peacock Pansy Junonia almana Linnaeus Very Common 21 Grey Pansy Junonia atlites Linnaeus Common 22 Lemon Pansy Junonia lemonias Linnaeus Uncommon 23 Common Evening Brown Melanitis leda Cramer Common 24 Commander Moduza procris Cramer Rare 25 Common Bushbrown Mycalesis perseus Fabricius Common 26 Chestnut-streaked Sailer Neptis jumbah Moore Uncommon 27 Common Leopard Phalantha phalantha Drury Uncommon 28 Common Five-ring Ypthima baldus Fabricius Common

Family Lycaenidae 29 Common Ciliated Blue Anthene emolus Godart Uncommon 30 Common Pierrot Castalius rosimon Fabricius Common 31 Forget me not Catochrysops strabo Fabricius Uncommon 32 Lime Blue Chilades lajus Stoll Common 33 Indian Cupid Everest laturnus Tytler Rare 34 Pale Grass Blue Pseudozizeeria maha Kollar Very Common 35 Slate Flash Rapala manea Hewitson Rare 36 Monkey Puzzle Rathinda amor Fabricius Uncommon 37 Common Silverline Spindasis vulcanus Fabricius Common 38 Tiny Grass Blue Zizula hylax Fabricius Uncommon

Family Hesperiidae 39 Moore’s Ace Halpe porus Mabille Rare 40 Chestnut Bob Iambrix salsala Moore Common 41 Common Redeye Matapa aria Moore Rare 42 Straight Swift Parnara guttata Moore Uncommon 43 Large Branded Swift Pelopidas subochracea Moore Uncommon 44 Bengal Swift Pelopidas agna Moore Uncommon 45 Palm Bob Suastus gremius Fabricius Uncommon 46 Common Snow Flat Tagiades japetus Moore Common 47 Palm Dart Telicota sp. Uncommon 48 Grass Demon Udaspes folus Cramer Common

Family Riodinidae 49 Plum Judy Abisara echerius Moore Rare

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1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

100

11 12

13 14 15

16 17 18

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19 20 21

22 23 24

25 26 27

28 29 30

31 32 33

34 35 36

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Fig 2: Images of the butterflies found in Chuadanga District (see Table 1 for corresponding names)

4. Conclusion Butterfly research in under inventory phase in Bangladesh. This checklist will be helpful for studying the overall documentation and distribution pattern of butterflies of this country. 5. Acknowledgements The author grateful to Mr. Issac Kehimkar and Mr. Krushnamegh Kunte for identification of three species. Along with them author also thankful to Dr. Monwar Hussain and Dr. Monirul H. Khan, Professor, Department of Zoology, Jahangirnagar University.

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37 38 39

40 41 42

43 44 45

46 47 48

49 49

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checklist of butterflies of chuadanga district, bangladesh

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