Seasonal dynamics of butterfly population in DAE Campus, Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, India

Authors

  • K.J. Hussain
  • T. Ramesh
  • K.K. Satpathy
  • M. Selvanayagam

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o2603.1401-14

Abstract

Seasonal population trends of butterflies inhabiting the campus of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) at Kalpakkam were recorded by setting a permanent line transect of 300m and recording all species of butterflies observed within a 5m distance. The survey yielded 2177 individuals of 56 butterfly species, belonging to the families Nymphalidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae, Papilionidae and Hesperiidae. Nymphalidae were found to be the dominant family during all seasons. Species richness and abundance were highest during the northeast monsoon and winter periods, indicating that in the southern plains of India butterflies prefer cool seasons for breeding and emergence. The taxonomic structure of the butterflies sampled resembles that of the Western Ghats and other regions of India in two ways: (a) dominance of nymphalids and (b) peak abundance during wet seasons. A detailed study of ecologically important local butterfly fauna and their host plants is in progress, to construct a butterfly garden in Kalpakkam to attract and support butterflies.

Author Biographies

K.J. Hussain

Dr. K. Jahir Hussain has obtained his MSc and MPhil in Zoology from Madurai Kamaraj University and PhD from the University of Madras in the year 2007. He has published a book on Biodiversity of DAE campus, Kalpakkam. He is presently working on biodiversity conservation and environmental impact assessment in IGCAR and designated as visiting scientist. Shri.

T. Ramesh

Shri. T. Ramesh is a research scholar since 2008, after successfully completing his M.Sc and M.Phil in Zoology from Madurai Kamaraj University. He has enrolled for PhD under the guidance of Dr. M. Selvanayagam.

K.K. Satpathy

K.K. Satpathy is an environmental scientist with several papers and books to his credit. Presently he is head, Environmental and Safety Division and Chairman, Environmental Empowered Task Force of IGCAR.

M. Selvanayagam

M. Selvanayagam is a well known zoologist from Loyola College, Chennai and he is the director of Loyola Institute of Frontier Energy.

Downloads

Published

26-01-2011

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2011)

Section

Communications

License

Authors own the copyright to the articles published in JoTT.  This is indicated explicitly in each publication. The authors grant permission to the publisher Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) Society to publish the article in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. The authors recognize WILD as the original publisher, and to sell hard copies of the Journal and article to any buyer. JoTT is registered under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which allows authors to retain copyright ownership.  Under this license the authors allow anyone to download, cite, use the data, modify, reprint, copy and distribute provided the authors and source of publication are credited through appropriate citations (e.g., Son et al. (2016). Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the southeastern Truong Son Mountains, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(7): 8953–8969. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2785.8.7.8953-8969). Users of the data do not require specific permission from the authors or the publisher.