Papilionoidea Latreille, 1802

Tiple, Ashish D. & Bhagwat, Shatanik S., 2023, An updated list of butterfly (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) fauna of Tadoba National Park, Chandrapur, Maharashtra, Central India, Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics 9 (1), pp. 103-114 : 105-110

Superfamily Papilionoidea Latreille, 1802

A total of 134 butterfly species, belonging to six families, were recorded, of those 27 species previously unrecorded on the Tadoba National Park ( Figs 2–3). Butterflies were recorded from the family Nymphalidae (43 species) with 4 new records. Of Lycaenidae , 41 species were recorded with 12 new records. In Pieridae 19 species with 3 new records were recorded. A total of 20 Hesperiidae species were recorded with 6 new records and 10 species were recorded from the Papilionidae with 2 new records and one species recorded from the family Riodinidae ( Fig. 4). Among the 134 species of butterflies about 44% (60) were very common, 25% (34) species were common, 7% (09) were frequent common, 14% (19) were rare and 9% (12) were very rare. The observed and identified species, their status in Tadoba National Park are listed in Table 1.

Protection Table 1.

Act

1972

Butterfly

. species of Tadoba National Park and surroundings together with common name.

Among the 134 butterflies recorded from Tadoba National Park, 12 species come under the protected category of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. Among them Pachliopta hector (Linnaeus, 1758) , Hypolimnas misippus (Linnaeus, 1764) and Prosotas noreia (R. Felder, 1868) come under Schedule I of the Act. The species recorded which come under Schedule II were Anthene lycaenina (C. Felder, 1860) , Euchrysops cnejus (Fabricius, 1798) , Lampides boeticus (Linnaeus, 1767) , Ionolyce helicon (C. Felder, 1860) , Spindasis elima (Moore, 1877) , Tarucus callinara Butler, 1886 . The species recorded which came under schedule IV were Appias albina (Boisduval, 1836) , Delias eucharis (Drury, 1773) , Baoris farri (Moore, 1878) ( Gupta & Mondal, 2005; Kunte 2000).

Seasonal occurrence. Most butterfly species were observed from the monsoon (hot/wet season) to early winter (cool/wet season) but thereafter declined in early summer (March). Among the 134 species of butterflies, Papilio demoleus , Pachliopta hector , Pachliopta aristolochiae , Catopsilia pyranthe , Catopsilia Pomona , Eurema hecabe , Cepora nerissa , Danaus chrysippus , Hypolimnas bolina , Hypolimnas misippus , Tirumala limniace , Acraea violae , Euploea core , Junonia lemonias , Junonia almanac , Junonia iphita , Melanitis leda , Phalanta phalantha , Symphaedra nais , Catochrysops strabo , Freyeria putli , Euchrysops cnejus , Leptotes plinius , Prosotas nora , Zizeeria karsandra , Badamia exclamationis , Borbo cinnara , Pelopidas mathias , Telicota bambusae were occurred throughout the year (January–December), whereas remaining 104 species of butterflies were prominently observed only after June-July till the beginning of summer (April–May).