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ISSN No. (Print): 0975-1130
ISSN No. (Online): 2249-3239
Nectar resource use by Butterflies in Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, Sasan,
Gujarat
Meeta Sharmaand Noopur Sharma
Forest Protection Division, Arid Forest Research Institute,
New Pali Road, Jodhpur (Rajasthan)-342005, India
(Received 05 June, 2013, Accepted 15 July, 2013)
ABSTRACT: Butterflies are known to be the most fascinating creatures existing on this earth and have a
great aesthetic value. They are in close relation with the plant species as they procure nectar from flowering
plants to meet their energy requirements while butterflies serve to be pollinators for various plant species
which is the only means of their propagation. Hence in order to understand the butterfly-flower interactions,
the present study was conducted in Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, Sasan, Gujarat to determine the numerous host
plants associated with these beautiful butterflies. An extensive entomological survey for a period of two years
in the forest area of Gir was undertaken. Out of the 50 butterfly species recorded in Gir, 27 species (54%)
used nectar while other species obtained their food from non-floral resources such as mud, wet soils and cow
dung. Highest number of butterflies were recorded in Lantana camara (19), followed by Asclepias syriaca (10),
Tamarindus indica (6), Diospyros melanoxylon (5) and Ixora arborea (5) respectively.
Key words:Butterflies, Nectar, Pollinators, Gir wildlife sanctuary, Host plants, Food
INTRODUCTION
Plants are a food source for many insects and animals;
some plants play host to caterpillars whereas other
plants provide sustenance for butterflies. Butterflies help
to pollinate plantsin return.Insects visit flowers to obtain
food, usually in the form of pollen or nectar. The
plants obtain the services of pollinators in carrying
pollen from one flower to another (Proctor et al.,
1996). Butterflies are often considered opportunistic
foragers that visit a wide variety of available flowers.
However their choice of flower is not random and they
exhibit distinct flower preference which can differ
between species (Jennersten, 1984). The choice of
plants as nectar sources by butterflies depends on
various factors including innate color preference,
corolla depth, clustering of flowers from which nectar
can be extracted (Porter et al., 1992). The flower scent
is an important signal for butterflies initially to
identify and subsequently to recognize and distinguish
among rewarding plants. The life cycle of plants, caterpillars
and butterflies has closely evolved to ensure the continuation of
various plant and animal species. Butterflies are generalists,
able to exist in a wide variety of habitats.Most
butterflies however are far more specialised, each
species having its own particular requirements
regarding habitats, temperature, humidity, larval food
plants and adult food sources. Most species of
caterpillars and butterflies only populate specific plant
families. Host plants are the types of plants that butterflies
choose to populate with their larvae.Whena caterpillarchanges
into a butterfly, it will populate various types ofotherplants for
food. Each category of pollinator is associated with a
syndrome of dependent floral characteristics (size,
shape, and reward).
The flora of Gir comprises of many flowering and
non-flowering plants which appear during rains. The
vegetation changes along with west to east axis. The
various plant consists of herbs (40.43%), trees
(21.12%), shrubs (16.67%), climbers (14.19%) and
grasses (7.59%) (Kumar and Meena, 2012). Many of
these plants serve as hosts for various stages of
butterfly life cycle. The consideration of Gir came into
picture because of the fact that it has become a very
stable ecosystem with tremendous regenerating, self
supporting and self sustaining capacity due to its rich
and diverse flora and fauna. Also, it is a potential place
to be a centre for creating environmental awareness
and imparting nature education (Kumar and Meena,
2012). It supports a varied topography means a
corresponding variety of microclimates, rainfall
patterns, plant distributions, wetlands and therefore the
butterfly distributions. The majority of species occur
in fair close proximity to their larval food plants.
Shahabuddin (1997) has worked on butterfly visitors
to 20 plant species in Palni hills, Western Ghats. The
environmental conditions of Gir Wildlife Sanctuary
differ from it. Hence, the present study gives a picture
of the butterfly attracting plant species in Gir that may
be helpful in future afforestation programmes.
Biological Forum –An International Journal 5(2): 56-63(2013)
Sharma and Sharma 57
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study area: A systematic study was carried out to
find out the food resources of butterflies in Gir Wildlife
Sanctuary. Various nes, thana and rivarine sites were
selected from eastern and western Gir ranges that come
under Wildlife Sanctuary areas i.e. between Latitude
20o40' N to 21o50' N and Longitude 70o50' E to 71o
15' E ( Krishnan and Guha, 2006). The present study
covered an area of 678.45 sq. km in West Gir Wildlife
Sanctuary. The study area has rich flora and wild life.
The major vegetation consists of Tectona grandis,
Wrightia tinctoria, Acacia catechu, Zizyphus
mauritiana, Acacia nilotica, Anogeissus latifolia,
Acacia leucophloea, Terminalia crenulata, Diospyros
melanoxylon, Bauhinia purpurea, Grewia tiliaefolia, A.
ferruginea, Boswellia serrata, Lannea coromandelica,
and Butea monosperma (Sharma and Johan Singh
1995).
Study method: The natural vegetation consisting of
trees, shrubs, herbs, climbers and grasses were observed
to find out the food resources of butterflies, in different
seasons. Recording of flower visiting insect species,
their foraging behavior, length of the visits and number
of flowers visited in unit time was done. All the above
data were recorded between 0600 and 1800 hrs.
Butterfly species were collected and identified by using
standard books of Kehimkar 2008; Gay et al. 1992 and
Wynter Blyth 1957.
RESULTS
Butterfly Diversity: A total of 50 species of small and
large butterflies belonging to four families within an
area of 678.45 km2of Western Gir Wildlife Sanctuary
encompassing eighty localities were recorded (Table 1).
The most dominant family was Nymphalidae followed
by Pieridae, Lycaenidae and Papilionidae. The data
indicated that the smallest butterfly recorded was
Castalius rosimon (Lycaenidae) and the largest was
Pachliopta aristolochiae (Papilionidae). Among the
butterflies sampled, Castalius rosimon is enlisted in
Schedule-I, Hypolimnas misippus is enlisted in
Schedule-I and II and Euploea core is enlisted in
Schedule-IV of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act,1972
(Evans,1932; Gaonkar, 1996; Kunte, 2000 & 2008;
Larson, 1987 & 1988; Talbot, 1939; Wynter-Blyth,
1957).
The faunal diversity of butterflies was greatly
influenced by season, monsoon to late winters being the
preferred seasons. However, butterflies of some
families were also visible during summers. The most
commonly observed species were Danais chrysippus,
Junonia lemonias,Junonia hierta, Junonia orithya,
Catopsilia pyranthe, Eurema hecabe and Papilio
demoleus. They were noticed in all the seasons.
Lycaenidae butterflies were dominant during monsoon.
Papilionidae were always encountered flying at heights
in pair or singly.
Nectar resources: Plant species associated with these
butterflies were identified as their host plants. Out of
the 50 butterfly species recorded, 27 species used nectar
while other species obtained their food from non-floral
resources such as mud, wet soils and cow dung. Floral
nectar of 50 plant species was used as food. The food
plants comprised of 27 species of trees, 10 species of
grasses, 9 species of shrubs and 4 species of herbs
respectively. Highest number of butterflies were
recorded in Lantana camara (19), followed by
Asclepias syriaca (10), Tamarindus indica (6),
Diospyros melanoxylon (5) and Ixora arborea (5). Five
plant species namely Terminalia arjuna, Balanites
aegyptica, Bauhinia variegata, Commiphora wightii
and Lannea coromandelica were not observed visited
by butterflies (Table 2). The flower color and size also
influence the visiting insects, therefore majority of
butterflies were attracted to white flowers (36.36%).
This was followed by yellow (29.09%), red (20%) and
green (14.55%) respectively (Fig. 1). Also small sized
flowers charmed maximum butterflies (Table 2).
Foraging behavior and timings varied among different
species. Most of the species remain active in the
forenoon (Selvarathinam et al., 2009). Junonia
lemonias visited many flowers and spent long durations
for collecting nectar. Danais chrysippus was observed
the whole day siphoning nectar. On the contrary,
swallowtail butterflies like Graphium sarpedon,
Pachliopta aristolochiae occasionally visited flowers
and spent only 1-2 seconds in a single flower and flew
away. The major flower visitors were Euploea core,
Phalantha phalantha, Eurema blanda, Anaphaeis
aurota and Catopsilia pomona.
Non-floral food source: Species of Pieridae and
Papilionidae are generally seen mud puddling
(Sreekumar and Balakrishnan, 2001). Catopsilia
pyranthe, C. crocale, Anaphaeis aurota, Eurema
blanda, Papilio demoleus and Graphium sarpedon were
observed mud puddling on wet soil in the monsoon
season. Alongside, two species of Nymphalidae viz.
Euploea core and Phalantha phalantha were also
observed mud puddling at times. Males seem to benefit
from the sodium uptake through mud-puddling
behavior with an increase in reproductive success. The
collected sodium and amino acids are often transferred
to the female with the spermatophore during mating as
a nuptial gift. This nutrition enhances the survival rate
of the eggs (Pivnik and McNeil, 1987; Medley and
Eisner, 1996; Molleman et al., 2004).
Sharma and Sharma 58
Table 1: Butterflies recorded in Western Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, Sasan, Gujarat (2011 to 2013).
S. No.
Common Name
Scientific Name
Family
Legal Status
1.
The Lemon Pansy
Junonia lemonias
Nymphalidae
-
2.
The Blue Pansy
Junonia orithya
Nymphalidae
-
3.
The Yellow Pansy
Junonia hierta
Nymphalidae
-
4.
The Peacock Pansy
Junonia almanac
Nymphalidae
-
5.
The Danaid Eggfly
Hypolimnas misippus
Nymphalidae
Schedule I & II
6.
Blue Tiger
Tirumala limniace
leopardus
Nymphalidae
-
7.
Plain Tiger/African
Monarch
Danais chrysippus
Nymphalidae
-
8.
The Monarch Butterfly/
The Milkweed Butterfly
Danais plexippus
Nymphalidae
-
9.
The Baronet
Euthalia nais
Nymphalidae
-
10.
The Common Indian
Crow
Euploea core
Nymphalidae
Schedule IV
11.
The Common Leopard
Phalantha phalantha
Nymphalidae
-
12.
The Common Nawab
Charaxes athamas
Nymphalidae
-
13.
Common evening brown
Melanitis leda
Nymphalidae
-
14.
Common threering
Ypthima asterope
Nymphalidae
-
15.
Dark evening brown
Melanitis phedima
Nymphalidae
-
16.
Spotted joker
Byblia ilithyia
Nymphalidae
-
17.
Angled castor
Ariadne ariadne
Nymphalidae
-
18.
Painted lady
Vanessa cardui
Nymphalidae
-
19.
Tawny coster
Acraea terpsicore Syn. A.
violae
Nymphalidae
-
20.
The common pierrot
Castalius rosimon
Lycaenidae
Schedule I
21.
Common guava blue
Virachola Isocrates
Lycaenidae
-
22.
Forget-me-not
Catochrysops Strabo
Lycaenidae
-
23.
Babul blue/ Topaz
spotted blue
Azanus jesous
Lycaenidae
-
24.
Indian red flash
Baspa melampus
Lycaenidae
-
25.
Stripped pierrot
Tarucus nara
Lycaenidae
-
26.
Common silverline
Cigaritis vulcanus
Lycaenidae
-
27.
Bright babul blue
Azanus ubaldus
Lycaenidae
-
28.
The Lemon Emigrant
Catopsilia pomona Syn.
Catopsilia crocale
Pieridae
-
29.
The Mottled Emigrant
Catopsilia pyranthe
Pieridae
-
30.
Yellow Orange Tip
Ixias pyrene evippe
Pieridae
-
31.
White Orange Tip
Ixias Marianne
Pieridae
-
32.
The Pioneer White
Belenois aurota Syn.
Anaphaeis aurota
Pieridae
-
33.
The Black veins
Aporia hippie
Pieridae
-
34.
Small orange tip
Colotis etrida
Pieridae
-
35.
Plain orange tip
Colotis eucharis
Pieridae
-
36.
Crimson tip
Colotis danae
Pieridae
-
37.
The Common Jezebel
Delias eucharis
Pieridae
-
38.
The Common Grass
Yellow
Eurema hecabe
Pieridae
-
39.
Three spot Grass yellow
Eurema blanda
Pieridae
-
40.
Spotless grass yellow
Eurema laeta
Pieridae
-
Sharma and Sharma 59
41.
Broad bordered grass
yellow
Eurema brigitta
Pieridae
-
42.
Common gull
Cepora nerissa
Pieridae
-
43.
Small white
Pieris rapae
Pieridae
-
44.
Large white
Pieris brassicae
Pieridae
-
45.
Common Lime
Butterfly/ Chequered
Swallowtail
Papilio demoleus
Papilionidae
-
46.
The Swallowtail
Papilio veiovis
Papilionidae
-
47.
Common Rose
Swallowtail
Pachliopta aristolochiae
Papilionidae
-
48.
The Common Mormon
Papilio polytes romulus
Papilionidae
-
49.
Zebra butterfly
Graphium nomius
Papilionidae
-
50.
Common bluebottle
Graphium sarpedon
Papilionidae
-
Table 2 : Butterfly attracting plant species (flowers) recorded in Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, Sasan, Gujarat
(2011 to 2013).
1.
Lantana camara
(Shrub)
Lantana, red sage,
shrub verbena
Verbenaceae
Small
white, pink, or
yellow,
changing to
orange or red
19
2.
Asclepias
syriaca (Herb)
Common
Milkweed
Asclepiadaceae
Small
Pinkish-
purple
10
3.
Zizyphus
mauritiana
(Shrub)
Ber, Indian plum,
Jujube
Rhamnaceae
Small
Yellow
4
4.
Zizyphus
xylopyrus
(Shrub)
Ghatbor
Rhamnaceae
Small
Yellow-green
2
5.
Terminalia
bellirica (Tree)
Baheda
Combretaceae
Small
Greenish-
yellow
3
6.
Terminalia
crenulata (Tree)
Aina, sadad
Combretaceae
Small
Cream
1
7.
Butea
monosperma
(Tree)
Flame of forest,
dhak, palash,
khakhar
Fabaceae
Large
Red
2
8.
Tectona grandis
(Tree)
Teak
Verbenaceae
Large
White
2
9.
Cassia tora
(Herb)
Charota or
Chakod. Guj.
Kawaria, kuvadio
Fabaceae
Large
Yellow
1
10.
Cassia fistula
(Tree)
Golden shower
tree, Garmalo
Fabaceae
Large
Yellow
2
11.
Nerium oleander
(Shrub)
Oleander
Apocynaceae
Large
White, pink to
red
2
12.
Acacia catechu
(Tree)
Khair, cutch tree,
Kumath
Fabaceae
Small
White to pale
yellow
1
13.
Acacia nilotica
(Tree)
Babul, gum
Arabic tree
Fabaceae
Small
Yellow
2
Sharma and Sharma 60
14.
Acacia senegal
(Shrub)
Gum Arabic tree,
gum acacia, gorad
Fabaceae
Small
Creamy white
3
15.
Acacia
leucophloea
(Tree)
Safed kikkar,
safed babul,
hermo
Fabaceae
Small
White
1
16.
Ficus
benghalensis
(Tree)
Banyan tree, Vad
Moraceae
Small
Pinkish-red
1
17.
Syzygium cumini
(Tree)
Jamun
Myrtaceae
Small
White
3
18.
Diospyros
melanoxylon
(Tree)
Tendu, timru
Ebenaceae
Small
White
5
19.
Pongamia
pinnata (Tree)
Karanj
Fabaceae
Small
White
3
20.
Ficus racemosa
(Tree)
Cluster fig tree,
Umro
Moraceae
Small
White
2
21.
Mitragyna
parvifolia (Tree)
Kalam, Kaim
Rubiaceae
Small
Yellow
3
22.
Holoptelia
integrifolia
(Tree)
Indian elm, Charal
Ulmaceae
Small
Greenish-
yellow
1
23.
Albizia lebbeck
(Tree)
Sirus
Fabaceae
Large
White
1
24.
Tamarindus
indica (Tree)
Amli
Fabaceae
Large
Red & yellow
6
25.
Prosopis
juliflora (Shrub)
Vilayati babul,
Gandobaval
Fabaceae
Small
Greenish-
yellow
2
26.
Casuarina
equisetifolia
(Tree)
Sheoak, saru
Casuarinaceae
Small
Brown
1
27.
Wrightia
tinctoria (Tree)
Duhi, dudhlo
Apocynaceae
Small
White
3
28.
Aegle marmalos,
(Tree)
Stone apple, bili
Rutaceae
Large
White
3
29.
Carissa
carandus
(Shrub)
Karonda
Apocynaceae
Small
White
2
30.
Emblica
officinalis (Tree)
Amla
Euphorbiaceae
Small
Green
1
31.
Vitex negundu
(Shrub)
Five leaved haste
tree, nirgundi
Verbenaceae
Large
White to blue-
purple
1
32.
Anogeissus
latifolia (Tree)
Dhawa, dhavdo
Combretaceae
Small
Yellow
1
33.
Sterculia urens
(Tree)
Gum karaya,
kadaya
Malvaceae
Small
Green
3
34.
Bauhinia
racemosa (Tree)
Bidi leaf tree,
Asundharo
Fabaceae
Large
White
2
35.
Bombax ceiba
(Tree)
Cotton tree,
semal,semlo
Malvaceae
Large
Red
1
36.
Boswellia
serrata (Herb)
Salai , saaledi
Burseraceae
Small
Cream
1
Sharma and Sharma 61
37.
Ixora arborea
(Shrub)
Torch tree
Rubiaceae
Small
White
5
38.
Grewia
tiliaefolia
(Tree)
Dhaman, dhamani
Malvaceae
Small
Yellow
3
39.
Mangifera
indica (Tree)
Mango
Anacardiaceae
Small
White
1
40.
Ricinus
communis
(Herb)
Castor oil plant
Euphorbiaceae
Small
Red
1
41.
Sehima
nervosum
(Grass)
Rat’s tail grass,
white grass
Poaceae
Small
-
1
42.
Sehima
sulcatum
(Grass)
Shaniyar
Poaceae
Small
-
1
43.
Dicanthium
annulatum
(Grass)
Sheda grass,
zinjoo
Poaceae
Small
-
1
44.
Bothriochloa
ischaemum
(Grass)
Yellow blue
stem,jinjavo
Poaceae
Small
-
1
.45
Cymbopogon
jwarancusa
(Grass)
Lemongrass,
gandharu
Poaceae
Small
-
1
46.
Cymbopogon
martini
(Grass)
gingergrass and
rosha or rosha
grass, rosa
Poaceae
Small
-
1
47.
Chrysopogon
(Grass)
Guria grass
Poaceae
Small
-
1
48.
Apulda mutica
(Grass)
Mauritian Grass,
Bhongla,
bhangaru
Poaceae
Small
-
1
49.
Aristida
adscensionis
(Grass)
Common needle
grass, lapdu
Poaceae
Small
-
1
50.
Heteropogon
contortus
(Grass)
black spear grass,
dabhasaliu
Poaceae
Small
-
1
51.
Terminalia
arjuna (Tree)
Arjun tree
Combretaceae
Small
Yellow
0
52.
Balanites
aegyptica
(Tree)
Soap berry tree
Zygophyllaceae
Large
Yellow-green
0
53.
Bauhinia
variegata
(Shrub)
Orchid tree
Fabaceae
Large
Pink
0
54.
Commiphora
wightii (Tree)
Gugal
Burseraceae
Large
Red-pink
0
55.
Lannea
coromandelica
(Tree)
Indian ash tree,
Moledi
Anacardiaceae
Small
Green
0
Sharma and Sharma 62
Fig. 1. A graph depicting the preference of color of flowers by the visiting butterflies.
DISCUSSION
Most butterflies have specific habitat and food
requirements. Although adult butterflies are sensitive to
their choice of flowers for feeding, most species never
visit some flowers (Feltwell, 1986). All the butterflies are not
flower visitors, only the highly evolved species whose mouth
parts are represented by a long, thin proboscis, is adapted for
feeding on liquid diet known as nectar (Wynter-Blyth, 1957).
The amount of nectar present in a flower is related to foraging
visits of a butterfly. When little nectar is available, visits are short
and a butterfly visits many flowers. While when large amounts of
nectar accumulate, the butterflies need to spend more time to
extract nectar and hence they visit few flowers (Cruden, 1976).
This study indicates that Gir proves to be a flourishing
habitat for butterflies various life cycle stages (egg to
adult). Since butterflies are in close relationship with
vegetation, they indicate the floral diversity of a habitat.
This diversity, in turn, determines the survival of
herbivores and hence the dependent carnivores of that
particular habitat. The nature of vegetation is an
important factor that determines the survival of
herbivores in a particular habitat. Being highly sensitive
to changes in environment, butterflies are easily
affected by minor changes in the habitat. To maintain a
healthy habitat, it is essential to sustain the biodiversity.
Hence, to attract butterflies, butterfly attracting plant
species listed here may be included in the afforestation
programmes. Therefore, protecting butterflies confers
protection of coexisting organisms as well. The check-
list of host plant species provides suitable route for
mass scale breeding of beautiful butterflies species in
order to develop a butterfly garden in future studies.
Due to various developmental activities, most of the
natural habitat of butterflies is under threat. There is
need to identify the threats and survival chances of
various species by which the conservation programme
can be develop. There is a need to further survey work
in the other parts of Gir to get the entire spectrum of
butterflies and their host plants in this region. It also
reiterates the need to have more such unadulterated
areas such as National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries
for long term conservation of rare and endangered flora
and fauna.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank the Director, Arid
Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur for their co-operation
in financial assistance of the project and State Forest
Department, Gujarat for granting permission and
valuable support during field studies.
Sharma and Sharma 63
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