A Checklist of Butterflies of Meenachil River Basin, Kerala, India
Keywords:
Meenachil river, Endemic species, bio-indicators, anthropogenic pressure
Abstract
Butterflies are highly sensitive to environmental change and are delicate creatures that act as good bio-indicators of the health of an ecosystem. Meenachil river basin has attracted considerable amount of public interest. A survey of the butterflies conducted randomly revealed a total of 91 species belonging to five families including three endemic species. Family Nymphalidae dominated in the study area, followed by Hesperiidae and Lycaenidae. This area is currently under severe anthropogenic pressure and minimizing these disturbances is important for the long-term survival of specialist butterflies.
References
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Palot J Balakrishnan VC and Kambrath B. 2003. Keralathile Chitrasalabhangal. Malabar Natural History Society, Calicut, Kerala, 195.
Sudheendrakumar VV Binoy CF Suresh PV and Mathew G. 2000. Habitat associations of butterflies in the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala, India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 97: 193-201.
Thomas S. 1966. Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum - Descriptive Catalog of the Butterflies, Natural History Section Vol. VII No. 1.
Watershed Atlas. 1996. Kerala State Land Use board, Govt. of Kerala Publications, Kerala.
Wynter-Blyth MA. 1957. Butterflies of Indian Region. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay.
Chakravarthy AK Rajagopal D and Jagannatha R. 1997. Insects as bio indicators of conservation in the tropics. Zoos’ Print, 12:21-25.
Evans WH. 1932. Identification of Indian Butterflies. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay, 454.
Gay T Kehimkar ID and Punetha JC. 1992. Common Butterflies of India. Oxford University Press, Bombay.
Gunathilagaraj K. 1998. Some South Indian Butterflies. Tamil Nadu, India: Nilgiri Wildlife and Environments Association, Udhagamandalam, Nilgiris, 274.
Haribal M. 1992. The butterflies of Sikkim, Himalaya and their natural history. Nataraj Publishers, Dehradun, 217.
Mathew G and Rahamathulla VK. 1993. Studies on the butterflies of Silent Valley National Park. Entomon, 18:185-192.
Larsen TB. 1987a. The butterflies of the Nilgiri mountains of South India (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 84: 26-43.
Larsen TB. 1987b. The butterflies of the Nilgiri mountains of South India (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 84: 291-316.
Larsen TB. 1987c. The butterflies of the Nilgiri mountains of South India (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 84: 560-584.
Larsen TB. 1988. The butterflies of the Nilgiri mountains of South India (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 85: 26-43.
Lawton, JH Bignell D E Bolton B Bloemers GF Eggleton P Hammond PM Hodda M Holts RD Larsen TB Mawdsley NA Stork NE Srivastava DS and Watt AD. 1998. Biodiversity inventories indicator taxa and effect of habitat modification in tropical forest. Nature, 391: 72-76.
Palot J Balakrishnan VC and Kambrath B. 2003. Keralathile Chitrasalabhangal. Malabar Natural History Society, Calicut, Kerala, 195.
Sudheendrakumar VV Binoy CF Suresh PV and Mathew G. 2000. Habitat associations of butterflies in the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala, India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 97: 193-201.
Thomas S. 1966. Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum - Descriptive Catalog of the Butterflies, Natural History Section Vol. VII No. 1.
Watershed Atlas. 1996. Kerala State Land Use board, Govt. of Kerala Publications, Kerala.
Wynter-Blyth MA. 1957. Butterflies of Indian Region. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay.
Published
2013-02-04
How to Cite
MV, V., R, B., & AP, P. (2013). A Checklist of Butterflies of Meenachil River Basin, Kerala, India. Journal of Research in Biology, 3(1), 768-774. Retrieved from https://ojs.jresearchbiology.com/ojs1/index.php/jrb/article/view/280
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