BUTTERFLY ABUNDANCE AND SPECIES DIVERSITY IN SOME URBAN HABITATS

Butterflies are important bioindicators which should be protected to conserve the biodiversity and environment. Different species of plants and habitats of Jhansi city attract wide variety of butterfly fauna, which play a vital role in pollination of various flowering plants besides a key component of food chain. The investigation on species diversity and abundance was carried out in some distinct habitat types; within the Jhansi viz. gardens, parks (Nagar Nigam, University, and Jhansi fort), green areas of medical college and engineering college, road sites and hilly areas. Regular survey was conducted from December 2010 to November 2011 during day time (7.00AM-11.00AM). Nine hundred and forty eight individuals of butterflies collected from various study sites, which include 38 identified species belonged to 29 genera and Six families viz., Nymphalidae-Brush-footed Butterfly family was the most dominant with 11 species followed by Pieridae-White and yellows (10), Lycaenidae-Blues (6), Danaidae-The tigers (4), Hespiridae-Skippers (4), Papilionidae-Swallotails (3). During work five urban habitats of Jhansi were selected for extensive sampling to determine the butterflies. The diversity was calculated by using diversity indices namely: Simpson’s index (D), (1-D), (1/D), Margalef’s index (d) and Shannon-Wiener index (H’). The calculated values of diversity indices showed that from district Jhansi the highest diversity was obtained from Jhansi fort and lowest diversity was obtained from Medical College. All sites were selected on the basis of their position in vegetation and accessibility.