Butterfly Diversity in Agroecosystem of Low Hills in District Sirmaur of Himachal Pradesh

Author: Avtar Kaur Sidhu, Anjoo Dhar and Kamal Saini

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Abstract

The present studies assess the butterfly species diversity in agroecosystem of low hills of district Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh) based on surveys carried out from 2022 to 2024. The study area lies in Shiwalik hills, covering five sites with altitudinal range from 384m to 964m. A total of 40 butterfly species belonging 30 genera and to families of order Lepidoptera were recorded during the study period. The family Nymphalidae, was the most dominant (23 species), followed by Pieridae (10 species), Lycaenidae (5 species), Papilionidae (1 species) and Hesperiidae (1 species). Pieris canidia (Sparrman, 1768) has been observed to be the most dominant species of Butterfly in terms of number of individuals. Other dominant species observed in the agroecosystem of the low hills in Sirmaur district are Pseudozizeeria maha (Kollar, 1848), Eurema hecabe (Linnaeus, 1758), Pontia daplidice (Linnaeus, 1758) and Heliophorus sena (Kollar, 1848). It has been observed that the agriculture fields which were flanked by forests or dense wild vegetation have higher diversity than the others

Keywords

Butterfly diversity, agroecosystem, low hills, Sirmaur

Conclusion

The butterfly fauna of Aroecosystem of Himachal Pradesh remain to be poorly studied. The present attempt provides the baseline data to give future researchers a list on butterfly diversity in district Sirmour. In conclusion, endemicity is very low in the study site because of anthropogenic disturbances

References

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How to cite this article

Avtar Kaur Sidhu, Anjoo Dhar and Kamal Saini (2025). Butterfly Diversity in Agroecosystem of Low Hills in District Sirmaur of Himachal Pradesh. Biological Forum, 17(3): 49-52