Temporal distribution pattern of butterflies in an unfenced location at Serampore, Hooghly, West Bengal, India

Authors

  • Md. Abu Imran MALLICK West Bengal State University, Department of Zoology, Berunanpukuria, North 24 Parganas Malikapur Berunanpukuria, Barasat, Kolkata, West Bengal-700126 (IN)
  • Narayan GHORAI West Bengal State University, Department of Zoology, Berunanpukuria, North 24 Parganas Malikapur Berunanpukuria, Barasat, Kolkata, West Bengal-700126 (IN)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55779/ng33126

Keywords:

butterfly, co-species association, hierarchical pattern, temporal distribution, time interval

Abstract

The same niche cannot support two species. To avoid negative interactions, species adapt their presence and utilize different types of resources according to different time periods. Many factors, including temperature, influence insect communities. Butterfly species utilize similar habitat types or even microhabitats with other co-species and share the same daytime if the resources are plentiful. However, they follow a certain ecological pattern of temporal distribution by using different intervals of the same time frame. With the use of the Modified Pollard Walk Method, the present study explores butterfly presence, species exclusivity, and commonality in an area situated in Jolkol, Serampore, West Bengal. The presence of reliable sources of nectar, a plentiful supply of food plants conducive to egg-laying, ample sunlight in open spaces, minimal pesticide usage, and limited human interference within the examined region have all contributed to a diverse array of butterfly species in the area. Butterfly species are susceptible to changes in landscape and vegetation, and the loss of habitats caused by urbanization and environmental degradation threatens butterfly diversity. Many butterfly species function as ecological indicators and provide numerous ecosystem services. As a result, conservation and preservation of butterfly diversity are important, particularly in urban habitats.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Barlow JOS, Overal WL, Araujo IS, Gardner TA, Peres CA (2007). The value of primary, secondary and plantation forests for fruit‐feeding butterflies in the Brazilian Amazon. Journal of Applied Ecology 44(5):1001-1012. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2007.01347.x

Beck JAN, Khen CV (2007). Beta-diversity of geometrid moths from northern Borneo: effects of habitat, time and space. Journal of Animal Ecology 76(2):230-237. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01189.x

Bonebrake TC, Ponisio LC, Boggs CL, Ehrlich PR (2010). More than just indicators: a review of tropical butterfly ecology and conservation. Biological Conservation 143(8):1831-1841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.04.044

Bronstein JL (2015). Mutualism. Oxford University Press.

Brown, JH (2014). Why are there so many species in the tropics?. Journal of Biogeography 41(1):8-22. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12228

Carothers JH, Jaksić FM (1984). Time as a niche difference: the role of interference competition. Oikos 42(3):403-406. https://doi.org/10.2307/3544413

Castro A, Espinosa CI (2015). Seasonal diversity of butterflies and its relationship with woody-plant resources availability in an Ecuadorian tropical dry forest. Tropical Conservation Science 8(2):333-351. https://doi.org/10.1177/194008291500800205

Dabhadkar S, Prajapati R (2020). A study of butterfly species diversity in MN College Campus, Visnagar, Mehsana District, Gujarat, India. International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management 3(12):98-104. https://doi.org/10.47607/ijresm.2020.416

Devries PJ, Murray D, Lande R (1997). Species diversity in vertical, horizontal, and temporal dimensions of a fruit-feeding butterfly community in an Ecuadorian rainforest. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 62(3):343-364. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1997.tb01630.x

Didham RK, Springate ND (2003). Determinants of temporal variation in community structure. In: Basset Y, Novotny V, Miller SE, Kitching RL (Eds). Arthropods of tropical forests: spatio-temporal dynamics and resource use in the canopy. Cambridge University Press pp 28-39.

Djagoun CA, Kassa B, Djossa BA, Coulson T, Mensah GA, Sinsin B (2014). Hunting affects dry season habitat selection by several bovid species in northern Benin. Wildlife Biology 20(2):83-90. https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.12082

Durant SM (1998). Competition refuges and coexistence: an example from Serengeti carnivores. Journal of Animal Ecology 67(3):370-386. https://doi.org/10.1046/J.1365-2656.1998.00202.X

Ebert D, Hamilton WD (1996). Sex against virulence: the coevolution of parasitic diseases. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 11(2):79-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-5347(96)81047-0

Fordyce JA, Nice CC (2003). Variation in butterfly egg adhesion: adaptation to local host plant senescence characteristics?. Ecology Letters 6(1):23-27. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00389.x

Gaston KJ (2000). Global patterns in biodiversity. Nature 405(6783):220-227. https://doi.org/10.1038/35012228

Ghazanfar M, Malik MF, Hussain M, Iqbal R, Younas M (2016). Butterflies and their contribution in ecosystem: A review. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 4(2):115-118.

Gizachew GT (2021). Spatial-temporal and factors influencing the distribution of biodiversity: A Review. Scientific Reports in Life Sciences 2(4):1-19. https://doi.org/10.22034/srls.2021.247920

Hamer KC, Hill JK, Benedick S, Mustaffa N, Chey VK, Maryati M (2006). Diversity and ecology of carrion-and fruit-feeding butterflies in Bornean rain forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 22(1):25-33. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467405002750

Harrison PJ, Buckland ST, Yuan Y, Elston DA, Brewer MJ, Johnston A, Pearce‐Higgins JW (2014). Assessing trends in biodiversity over space and time using the example of British breeding birds. Journal of Applied Ecology 51(6):1650-1660. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12316

Hill JK, Hamer KC, Dawood MM, Tangah J, Chey VK (2003). Rainfall but not selective logging affect changes in abundance of a tropical forest butterfly in Sabah, Borneo. Journal of Tropical Ecology 19(1):35-42. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467403003055

Homyack JA (2010). Evaluating habitat quality of vertebrates using conservation physiology tools. Wildlife Research 37(4):332-342. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR08093

Houlahan JE, Findlay CS, Schmidt BR, Meyer AH, Kuzmin SL (2000). Quantitative evidence for global amphibian population declines. Nature 404(6779):752-755. https://doi.org/10.1038/35008052

Houle A, Vickery WL, Chapman CA (2006). Testing mechanisms of coexistence among two species of frugivorous primates. Journal of Animal Ecology 75(4):1034-1044. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01125.x

Hutchinson GE (1957). Concluding Remarks. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology 22:415-427. http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/SQB.1957.022.01.039

IUCN (2020). The IUCN Red List of threatened species. https://www.iucnredlist.org/

Jain N, Jain A (2012). Butterfly diversity of Hadoti Region, Rajasthan, India. Flora Fauna 18(2):274-276.

Karanth KU, Sunquist ME (1995). Prey selection by tiger, leopard and dhole in tropical forests. Journal of Animal Ecology 64(4):439-450. https://doi.org/10.2307/5647

Kawahara AY, Breinholt JW (2014). Phylogenomics provides strong evidence for relationships of butterflies and moths. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281(1788):20140970. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.0970

Khan MR, Nasim M, Khan MR, Rafi MA (2004). Diversity of butterflies from district Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences 7(3):324-327. https://doi.org/10.3923/pjbs.2004.324.327

Kharat A, Nikam S, Gurule S (2012). Pattern of butterfly diversity from Nashik and Dhule Districts, Maharashtra. Flora and Fauna 18(2):243-252.

Kishimoto‐Yamada K, Itioka T (2015). How much have we learned about seasonality in tropical insect abundance since W olda (1988)?. Entomological Science 18(4):407-419. https://doi.org/10.1111/ens.12134

Kocher SD, Williams EH (2000). The diversity and abundance of North American butterflies vary with habitat disturbance and geography. Journal of Biogeography 27(4):785-794. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2000.00454.x

Korhonen JJ, Soininen J, Hillebrand H (2010). A quantitative analysis of temporal turnover in aquatic species assemblages across ecosystems. Ecology 91(2):508-517. https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0392.1

Kristensen NP, Scoble MJ, Karsholt OLE (2007). Lepidoptera phylogeny and systematics: the state of inventorying moth and butterfly diversity. Zootaxa 1668(1):699-747. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1668.1.30

Kronfeld-Schor N, Dayan T (2003). Partitioning of time as an ecological resource. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 34(1):153-181. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132435

Kumar A (2017). Species diversity and distribution of butterfly fauna with heterogeneous habitats in Jhansi, India. International Journal of Advanced Research in Biological Sciences 4(7):104-110. http://dx.doi.org/10.22192/ijarbs.2017.04.07.013

Kumaraswamy S, Kunte K (2013). Integrating biodiversity and conservation with modern agricultural landscapes. Biodiversity and Conservation 22:2735-2750. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-013-0562-9

Kunte K (2000). India, a lifescape: Butterflies of peninsular India. Universities Press.

Kunte KJ (1997). Seasonal patterns in butterfly abundance and species diversity in four tropical habitats in northern Western Ghats. Journal of Biosciences 22:593-603. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf02703397

Laanto E, Hoikkala V, Ravantti J, Sundberg LR (2017). Long-term genomic coevolution of host-parasite interaction in the natural environment. Nature Communications 8(1):111. http://doi.org./10.1038/s41467-017-00158-7

Lowman MD, Wittman PK (1996). Forest canopies: methods, hypotheses, and future directions. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 27(1):55-81. https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV.ECOLSYS.27.1.55

Mac Nally R, Fleishman E, Bulluck LP, Betrus CJ (2004). Comparative influence of spatial scale on beta diversity within regional assemblages of birds and butterflies. Journal of Biogeography 31(6):917-929. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2004.01089.x

Malmstrom C (2010). Ecologists study the interactions of organisms and their environment. Nature Education Knowledge 3(10):88.

Molleman F, Kop A, Brakefield PM, De Vries PJ, Zwaan BJ (2006). Vertical and temporal patterns of biodiversity of fruit-feeding butterflies in a tropical forest in Uganda. Biodiversity and Conservation 15:107-121. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-3955-y

Momeni B, Chen CC, Hillesland KL, Waite A, Shou W (2011). Using artificial systems to explore the ecology and evolution of symbioses. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 68:1353-1368. http://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-011-0649-y

Morran LT, Schmidt OG, Gelarden IA, Parrish RC, Lively CM (2011). Running with the Red Queen: host-parasite coevolution selects for biparental sex. Science 333(6039):216-218. http://10.1126/science.1206360

Mysterud A (2004). Temporal variation in the number of car‐killed red deer Cervus elaphus in Norway. Wildlife Biology 10(3):203-211. https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.2004.026

Oulhen N, Schulz BJ, Carrier T J (2016). English translation of Heinrich Anton de Bary’s 1878 speech, ‘Die Erscheinung der Symbiose’ (‘De la symbiose’). Symbiosis 69(3):131-139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-016-0409-8

Patterson TA, Grundel R, Dzurisin JD, Knutson RL, Hellmann JJ (2020). Evidence of an extreme weather‐induced phenological mismatch and a local extirpation of the endangered Karner blue butterfly. Conservation Science and Practice 2(1):e147. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.147

Pellet J, Bried JT, Parietti D, Gander A, Heer PO, Cherix D, Arlettaz R (2012). Monitoring butterfly abundance: beyond Pollard walks. PLoS One 7:e41396. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0041396

Pollard E (1977). A method for assessing changes in the abundance of butterflies. Biological Conservation 12(2):115-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(77)90065-9

Pollard E, Yates TJ (1993). Monitoring butterflies for ecology and conservation: the British butterfly monitoring scheme. Vol. 1. Springer, Chapman and Hall, London.

Pyron M (2010). Characterizing communities. Nature Education Knowledge 3(10):39. https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/characterizing-communities-13241173/

Pywell RF, Warman EA, Sparks TH, Greatorex-Davies JN, Walker KJ, Meek WR, ... Firbank L G. (2004). Assessing habitat quality for butterflies on intensively managed arable farmland. Biological Conservation 118(3):313-325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2003.09.011

Ribeiro DB, Freitas AVL (2010). Differences in thermal responses in a fragmented landscape: temperature affects the sampling of diurnal, but not nocturnal fruit-feeding Lepidoptera. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 42:1-4. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.266509

Sánchez-Bayo F, Wyckhuys KA (2019). Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers. Biological Conservation 232:8-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.020

Schoener TW (1974). Resource partitioning in ecological communities: Research on how similar species divide resources helps reveal the natural regulation of species diversity. Science 185(4145):27-39. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.185.4145.27

Sherry TW (1979). Competitive interactions and adaptive strategies of American Redstarts and Least Flycatchers in a northern hardwoods forest. The Auk 96(2):265-283. https://doi.org/10.2307/4087501

Sheskin DJ (2003). Handbook of parametric and nonparametric statistical procedures, 3rd Edition. Chapman and Hall/CRC. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420036268

Singh M, Roy K, Singh M (2011). Resource partitioning in sympatric langurs and macaques in tropical rainforests of the central Western Ghats, South India. American Journal of Primatology 73(4):335-346. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.20900

Skreta M, Luccioni A, Rolnick D (2020). Spatiotemporal features improve fine-grained butterfly image classification. Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning Workshop at NeurIPS 2020. Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems pp 1-7. https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/climate-change-ai/papers/neurips2020/63/paper.pdf

Sonter LJ, Watson KB, Wood SA, Ricketts TH (2016). Spatial and temporal dynamics and value of nature-based recreation, estimated via social media. PLoS One 11(9):e0162372. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162372

Spitzer K, Novotny V, Tonner M, Leps J (1993). Habitat preferences, distribution and seasonality of the butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea) in a montane tropical rain forest, Vietnam. Journal of Biogeography 20:109-121. https://doi.org/10.2307/2845744

Stoms DM, Estes JE (1993). A remote sensing research agenda for mapping and monitoring biodiversity. International Journal of Remote Sensing 14(10):1839-1860. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431169308954007

Stuart SN, Chanson JS, Cox NA, Young BE, Rodrigues AS, Fischman DL, Waller RW (2004). Status and trends of amphibian declines and extinctions worldwide. Science 306(5702):1783-1786. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1103538

Subedi B, Stewart AB, Neupane B, Ghimire S, Adhikari H (2021). Butterfly species diversity and their floral preferences in the Rupa Wetland of Nepal. Ecology and Evolution 11(5):2086-2099. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7177

Suwarno HI, Yasmin Y, Rasnovi S, Dahelmi (2018). Diversity and abundance of butterfly (Lepidoptera rhopalocera) in the City Garden of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper 24(3):1009-1017.

Taron D, Ries L (2015). Butterfly Monitoring for Conservation. In: Daniels J (Ed). Butterfly Conservation in North America. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9852-5_3

Tiple AD, Deshmukh VP, Dennis RL (2005). Factors influencing nectar plant resource visits by butterflies on a university campus: implications for conservation. Nota Lepidopterologica 28(3/4):213.

Tooby J (1982). Pathogens, polymorphism, and the evolution of sex. Journal of Theoretical Biology 97(4):557-576. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-5193(82)90358-7

Torres‐Vila LM, Rodríguez‐Molina MC (2002). Egg size variation and its relationship with larval performance in the Lepidoptera: the case of the European grapevine moth Lobesia botrana. Oikos 99(2):272-283. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0706.2002.990207.x

Valtonen AKSJJ, Saarinen K, Jantunen J (2006). Effect of different mowing regimes on butterflies and diurnal moths on road verges. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation 29(2):133-148. https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2006.29.0133

Varga D, Roigé M, Pintó J, Saez M (2019). Assessing the spatial distribution of biodiversity in a changing temperature pattern: The case of Catalonia, Spain. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16(20):4026. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16204026

Wagner DL, Nelson MW, Schweitzer DF (2003). Shrubland Lepidoptera of southern New England and southeastern New York: ecology, conservation, and management. Forest Ecology and Management 185(1-2):95-112. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(03)00249-4

Weber L (2002). Butterflies of the north Woods, 2nd Edn. Kollath Stensaas Publishing, Minnesota p 288.

Wolda H (1988). Insect seasonality: Why?. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 19(1):1-18. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.19.110188.000245

Wolda H (1989). Seasonal cues in tropical organisms. Rainfall? Not necessarily!. Oecologia 80:437-442. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00380064

Published

2023-08-18

How to Cite

MALLICK, M. A. I., & GHORAI, N. (2023). Temporal distribution pattern of butterflies in an unfenced location at Serampore, Hooghly, West Bengal, India. Nova Geodesia, 3(3), 126. https://doi.org/10.55779/ng33126

Issue

Section

Research articles