Comparative Study of Butterfly Diversity across Four Habitats in Cuncolim, Goa, India

Biodiversity describes the variety and richness of life on Earth. The diversity of life on Earth is essential for healthy functioning and it boosts ecosystem productivity. Without wide range of animals, plants and microorganisms we cannot have the healthy ecosystems on which we are relying. Monitoring of biodiversity is of prime importance because biodiversity is the marker of ecosystem stability. Butterflies provide variety of ecological services and are very important component of biodiversity in different natural ecosystems. Several studies are reported from different parts of the state, mainly from wildlife sanctuaries, sacred grooves, Plateaus, and well-known tourist destinations of Goa. Present study is focused on collecting preliminary information on diversity of butterflies from four unexplored selected habitats of Cuncolim area at the foothills of Western Ghats in Goa. The Pollard Walk and visual count methods were employed. Total number of butterfly species during the survey at Forest is 316, Rivulet is 264, Seven temple is 222, and Plant nursey is 230. From the present survey it is observed that the Nymphalidae is the richest family (51%) followed by Pieridae (17%), Lycaenidae and Paipilionidae, both with (15%) each and Hesperiidae with (2%). Relative abundance of site 1(Forest) is 30.62, site 2 (Rivulet) is 25.58 site 3 (Seven temple) is 21.51 and site 4 (Plant nursery) is 22.28. Observations from this study clearly indicate the impact of anthropogenic activities on butterfly diversity.