A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF BUTTERFLY IN TIRUNELVELI, TAMILNADU

The most productive pollinators are butterflies. Pollination is essential to the plants survival, because it is part of their reproductive process. The areas with undisturbed vegetation and high floral diversity support large butterfly communities. In the study area 20 species of butterflies were recorded. Out of the 20 species, twelve belonged to Nymphalidae, three to Pieridae, one to Lycaenidae and four to Papilionidae families. Species belonging to the family Nymphalidae were the most dominant (60 %) followed by Papilionidae (20%), Pieridae (15 %) and Lycaenidae (5% ). Among the 20 butterflies recorded 2 species Pachlioptahector and Hypolimnas misippus come under schedule I of the Act. The aim of the present study makes an attempt to the diversity of Butterfly in perumalpuram, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, South India