Diversity of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) of Howrah district, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Butterflies are one of the most attractive insects in the world which have received a reasonable amount of attention throughout the world. Our result shows that butterflies of Howrah district, West Bengal, India comprises of 106 species including 75 genera and 6 families. Out of these 6 families Lycaenidae and Nymphalidae were to found to be the most dominant in nature. During our studies, we found Grass Jewel, the smallest butterfly in India and The Blue Mormon, the largest butterfly of South West Bengal as well as second largest in India. Common Shot Silverline, Angle Sunbeam, Bengal Plains Blue Royal and Indian Oak Blue recorded the first time from the district. Rapid urbanization and building of industries are the serious threats to butterfly diversity in this district. So, preparation of a list of butterfly species is necessary for further references to understand the changes of their diversity.