Butterflies of Manas World Heritage Site, Assam, India

Reshmi Bhattacharjee^1, and Rezina Ahmed²

¹Department of Zoology, Gauhati University, Guwahati - 781014, Assam, India

²Department of Zoology, Cotton University, Guwahati - 781001, Assam, India

Cite this paper:
Reshmi Bhattacharjee and Rezina Ahmed. Butterflies of Manas World Heritage Site, Assam, India. Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences. 2020; 8(2):47-54. doi: 10.12691/aees-8-2-2

Abstract

Butterflies are important bioindicators and form an important part of the food chain of different ecosystems. The present study was carried out to document the butterfly species composition of Manas World Heritage Site in Assam, India. The study which was carried out for four years from 2015 to 2019, revealed the presence of 252 species of butterflies in the study area. A total of 135 genera were recorded under all 6 major families which included 49 species of butterflies legally protected by the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Presence of such rare butterflies in Manas World Heritage Site combined with the high diversity makes the study area an ideal site for future works focussed on assessing different aspects of butterfly ecology and long-term effects of environmental changes.

Keywords:
butterfly diversity Manas World Heritage Site

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