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International Journal of Fauna and Biological Studies 2014; 1 (6): 96-100 P-ISSN 2394-0522 E-ISSN 2347-2677 IJFBS 2014; 1 (6): 96-100 Received: 04-11-2014 Accepted: 26-11-2014 Tahsinur Rahman Shihan Junior Wildlife Researcher, Monitoring and Conservation of Wildlife in Kaptai National Park of Bangladesh Project. Department of Zoology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka-1342, Bangladesh. Mohammed Arif Hossain Prodhan Junior Wildlife Researcher, Monitoring and conservation of Wildlife in Kaptai National Park of Bangladesh Project. Department of Zoology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka-1342, Bangladesh. Correspondence: Tahsinur Rahman Shihan Junior Wildlife Researcher, Monitoring and Conservation of Wildlife in Kaptai National Park of Bangladesh Project. Department of Zoology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka-1342, Bangladesh.

Butterflies of Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Habiganj, Bangladesh

Tahsinur Rahman Shihan and Mohammed Arif Hossain Prodhan

Abstract Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area supported mixed tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of great biodiversity value. A study was carried in this park during September 2013 to October 2014 to record the diversity of butterflies. During this study a total of 74 species of butterflies of 06 families were reported. In our study the most abundant family was Nymphalidae followed by Hesperiidae, Lycaenidae, Papilionidae and Pieridae, while Riodinidae was least abundant. Nymphalidae family represents 32 species; Hesperiidae represents 13 species, Lycaenidae represents 13 species, Papilionidae represents 08 species and Pieridae represents 07 species while Riodinidae only 01 species. Keywords: Butterfly, Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Nymphalidae, Lycaenidae, Papilionidae, Hesperiidae. 1. Introduction Butterflies occupy a vital position in ecosystems and their diversity is considered as good indicators for verifying the ecological and vegetative conditions in forests and has great aesthetic and commercial values as they are beneficial as pollinator [1, 2]. They are used in food chains for other animals like birds, lizards, mammals, spiders, and also for other insects. Insects, including butterflies are an excellent source of protein and fat, therefore eating their caterpillars is widely practiced all over the world [3]. Butterflies also recognized as focal species of conservation in several areas of the world and highly sensitive to environmental change and are delicate creatures that act as good bio-indicators of the health of an ecosystem. These widely studied insects show significant ecological contributions in different ecosystems through herbivory and pollination services [4, 5, 6, 7]. The present paper presents a checklist and diversity of butterfly populations in the Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary. Topography as well as soil condition, geographical position, diverse vegetation, ecosystem made this sanctuary as a unique and different habitat for butterflies. The sanctuary contains six major categories of land viz. forested area (both natural and planted forests), agricultural land, open grassland, human settlements, open non-forested area, water-bodies [8]. This unique habitat exploit intimately surrounded by number of villages, cultivated field and tea estates which directly affect the butterfly population. The Sanctuary also supports a rich diversity of other faunal groups such as invertebrates and butterflies, but very little information is currently available. However a total of 326 species of butterflies are listed from Bangladesh [9, 10, 11, 12, 13,

26, 27]. Only one published checklist of butterfly species of Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary is known, hence, an attempt has been made to update and document the richness of butterflies in this Wildlife Sanctuary. The main objective of this works for proper documentation of the diversity and distribution of butterflies and contribute the butterfly checklist of Bangladesh. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1 Study Area Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary covering a total area of 1796 ha. Considering its biodiversity values and conservation needs, the government declared a part of the Reserved Forest as the Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary in 1982 and further expanded the sanctuary area through another declaration in 1996. It belongs to the Chunarughat Upazila under Habigonj District, which is located nearly 130 km east-northeast of Dhaka and approximately 80 km south-southwest of Sylhet city. Its gps co-ordinate is 24011.106´ N 91037.484´ E (Fig. 1) [14, 8].

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Fig 1: Map of Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary encompasses several hills of different elevations and the low-lying valleys. The highest peak of the hills is about 67 m from the sea level. There are a series of ridges of the hills running in different directions, and valleys locally and composed of Upper tertiary rocks [15, 30]. The forests of Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary are very rich biologically, located as they are in the high rainfall bio-geographic zone with evergreen and semi-evergreen forests. The Wildlife Sanctuary represents several features of the bio-diversity of the north-eastern subcontinent, which is one of the mega biodiversity regions with many floral endemic species. Many important rivers, including Surma and Kushiara flow through the forest division, forming fertile floodplains with enhanced economic activity and high population density. The climate of the Sanctuary is in generally warm and humid but, the weather is cool and pleasant during winter. The temperature varies with an average from minimum 27 degrees in February to 37 degrees in June. The humidity is high in the Wildlife Sanctuary throughout the year, with monthly average humidity varying from 74% in March to 89% in July. There is heavy dew during winter when rainfall is low. The water condensation is thus distributed throughout the year in different forms and greatly influences plants and butterflies. The area covered under the WS is one of the wettest in the country and so the rainfall is quite high with an annual average of 4,000 mm approximately, with maximum rainfall falling during June to September from South-West monsoon [16]. 2.2 Methods The habitats were documented randomly by visual observations, walks, opportunistic observations and butterfly species were also photo-documented by Canon Power Shot SX50 HS and Canon DSLR 1100D and 55-250 mm lens during the study period. Species identity, taxonomy and

nomenclature were confirmed with the help of the books by Evans (1932), Wynter-Blyth (1957), Marshall and de Niceville (1883), Bingham(1905), Kunte (2000), Kehimkar (2008), Singh (2010) and Kunte et al (2012) [17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25]. Butterflies observed were categorized into four groups (Very common >10, Common < 6-10, Uncommon <3-5, Rare <2) based on their relative number during the study period. We sampled butterflies in seven major habitats categories of land viz. natural forested area, planted forest area, agricultural land, open grassland, open non-forested area, human settlements and near water-bodies. Each species were noted and photographed instantly during field work [28, 29]. 3. Results In the present study a total of 74 species of 06 families belonging to 53 genera have been recorded. The most abundant family was Nymphalidae followed by Hesperiidae, Lycaenidae, Papilionidae and Pieridae, while Riodinidae was least abundant (Table-1). Nymphalidae family represents 32 species belonging to 22 genera; Hesperiidae represents 13 species belonging to 12 genera, Lycaenidae represents 13 species belonging 11 genera, Papilionidae represents 08 species belonging 03 genera and Pieridae represent 07 species belonging 04 genera while Riodinidae only 01 species of 01 genera. Out of 74 species, 05 species were found rare, 31 species found uncommon, 28 species found common and 10 species found very common. The species identified were Arhopala perimuta, Discolampa ethion, Cupitha purreea, Pseudoborbo bevani and Sancus fuligo are found to be rare and Papilio memnon, Papilio polymnestor, Euploea core, Junonia iphita, Lebadea martha, Melanitis leda, Orsotriaena medus, Castalius rosimon, Hypolycaena erylus and Zemeros flegyas are found to very common in the study area.

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Fig 2: Butterflies (selected species) of Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Habiganj, Bangladesh.

Key: A - Discolampa ethion, B - Arhopala perimuta, C - Discophora sondaica, D - Cupitha purreea, E - Sancus fuligo, F - Sarangesa dasahara.

Table 1: Checklist of butterflies of Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh.

SL Scientific Name Common Name Present study Feeroz et al. Relative Abundance Family: Papilionidae

1. Pachliopta aristolochiae Fabricius, 1775 Common Rose + + Common 2. Papilio chaon Westwood, 1845 Yellow Helen + + Uncommon 3. Papilio clytia Linné, 1758 Common Mime + + Uncommon 4. Papilio demoleus Linnaeus,1758 Lime Butterfly + _ Common 5. Papilio memnon Linné, 1758 Great Mormon + + Very Common 6 Papilio polymnestor Cramer, 1775 Blue Mormon + + Very Common 7 Papilio polytes Cramer, 1775 Common Mormon + + Uncommon 8 Troides helena Felder & Felder, 1865 Common Birdwing + _ Uncommon

Family Pieridae 9 Appias lyncida Boisduval, 1836 Chocolate Albatross + + Common 10 Catopsilia pomona Fabricius, 1775 Common Emigrant + _ Common 11 Catopsilia pyranthe Linné, 1758 Mottled Emigrant + _ Uncommon 12 Delias descombesi Boisduval, 1836 Red-Spot Jezebel + + Common 13 Delias eucharis Drury, 1773 Common Jezebel + _ Common 14 Eurema andersoni Corbet & Pendlebury, 1932 One-Spot Grass Yellow + _ Common 15 Eurema hecabe Linné, 1758 Common Grass Yellow + + Common

Family Nymphalidae 16 Acraea violae Fabricius, 1775 Tawny Coster + + Uncommon 17 Ariadne ariadne Fruhstorfer, 1899 Angled Castor + + Common 18 Ariadne merione Moore, 1884 Common Castor + _ Uncommon

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Family Lycaenidae 48 Anthene emolus Godart, 1824 Common Ciliate Blue + _ Common 49 Arhopala amantes Swinhoe, 1886 Large Oakblue + _ Uncommon 50 Arhopala perimuta Moore, 1858 Yellowdisc Tailless Oakblue + _ Rare 51 Caleta decidia Hewitson, 1876 Angled Pierrot + _ Uncommon 52 Castalius rosimon Fabricius, 1775 Common Pierrot + + Very Common 53 Discolampa ethion Westwood, 1851 Banded Blue Pierrot + _ Rare 54 Hypolycaena erylus Fruhstorfer, 1912 Common Tit + + Very Common 55 Jamides celeno Cramer, 1775 Common Cerulean + _ Uncommon 56 Prosotas dubiosa Evans, 1925 Tailless Lineblue + _ Common 57 Prosotas nora Moore, 1875 Common Lineblue + _ Uncommon 58 Pseudozizeeria maha Kollar, 1848 Pale Grass Blue + + Common 59 Zizeeria karsandra Moore, 1865 Dark Gras Blue + + Uncommon 60 Zizula hylax Fabricius, 1775 Tiny Grass Blue + + Uncommon

Family Hesperiidae 61 Badamia exclamationis Fabricius, 1775 Brown Awl + _ Uncommon 62 Cupitha purreea Moore, 1877 Wax Dart + _ Rare 63 Hasora badra Moore, 1858 Common Awl + _ Uncommon 64 Iambrix salsala Moore, 1865 Chestnut Bob + _ Uncommon 65 Notocrypta paralysos Fruhstorfer, 1911 Common Banded Demon + _ Uncommon 66 Parnara guttatus Moore, 1865 Straight Swift + _ Uncommon 67 Pelopidas sp Swift sp + _ Uncommon 68 Pseudoborbo bevani Moore, 1878 Bevan’s Swift _ + Rare 69 Sancus fuligo Moore, 1878 Dusky Partwing + _ Rare 70 Sarangesa dasahara Moore, 1865 Common Small Flat + _ Uncommon 71 Tagiades gana Plötz, 1884 Suffused Snow Flat + _ Uncommon 72 Tagiades japetus Moore, 1865 Common Snow Flat + _ Common 73 Udaspes folus Cramer, 1775 Grass Demon + _ Common

Family Riodinidae 74 Zemeros flegyas Cramer, 1780 Punchinello + + Very Common

4. Discussion Forty species of butterflies were previously recorded [8] from this study area and 34 species were newly recorded in the present study period. In addition of these 34 newly recorded species, the existing checklist of Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary is updated and the species richness in the Wildlife Sanctuary increased to 74 species. The checklist provides the status for 74 species as only 01 (Pseudoborbo bevani) species reported in earlier were not recorded during the present study. Khandokar et al. were recorded a total of 160 species of butterflies from the nearest protected area named Lawachara National Park, Bangladesh [31].

5. Conclusion The study reflects the baseline information on these beautiful groups of insects and enriches the butterfly checklist of Bangladesh. The area was found to be rich in butterfly diversity. More studies are needed to understand the population dynamics and seasonal patterns of butterflies in this particular geographical area. 6. References 1. Gadgil M. Documenting diversity: An Experiment;

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