Study affirms Kerala’s rich butterfly diversity

Kerala hosts the highest butterfly diverseness among each Indian States on the Western Ghats, with 328 taxon documented, including 41 taxon endemic to the Western Ghats, according to a broad caller monograph published successful ENTOMON, an unfastened entree quarterly diary by the Association for Advancement of Entomology.

The researchers of the survey ‘The Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) of Kerala: Status and Distribution’ person reported that the Western Ghats enactment 337 butterfly species, and Kerala accounts for astir the full diversity. The butterfly fauna of the State spans six families, led by Nymphalidae (97 species), Lycaenidae (96 species) and Hesperiidae (82 species), followed by Papilionidae, Pieridae and Riodinidae.

The study, undertaken by a squad of researchers led by Kalesh Sadasivan, besides documents 36 migratory butterfly taxon to item the State’s relation arsenic a cardinal corridor for seasonal butterfly movements. Notably, 22 taxon recorded from Kerala are included successful the IUCN Red List, though astir autumn nether the ‘Least Concern’ category, portion 2 are listed arsenic ‘Near Threatened’.

The monograph highlights that 70 butterfly taxon recovered successful Kerala are protected nether the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Of these, lone 4 taxon bask the highest level of extortion nether Schedule I, portion the bulk autumn nether Schedule II of the Act.

One of the astir important contributions of the enactment is the extended larval big works checklist which documents implicit 1,800 feeding records, including implicit 350 caller tract observations. Covering astir 800 works species, the database represents 1 of the largest region-specific compilations successful India.

Another item of the work lies successful its important taxonomic clarifications and reinstatements. The authors contiguous evidence-based revisions affecting respective Western Ghats taxa, including the designation of Argynnis hybrida and A. castetsi arsenic chiseled from their antecedently conflated forms; the clarification of Elymnias caudata arsenic abstracted from E. hypermnestra undularis; and the separation of Abisara bifasciata suffusa from A. echerius prunosa.

Besides proposing species-level elevation for 4 Western Ghats butterflies, the monograph describes a caller subspecies, Tajuria maculata sureshi ssp. nov., discovered successful Kerala and named successful honour of distinguished naturalist and wildlife filmmaker Suresh Elamon.