Changing biodiversity scenario in the Himalayan ecosystem : Mussoorie , Uttarakhand , India , as revealed by the study of blue butterflies ( Lycaenidae )

for conservation. Butterflies form an important component of biodiversity. Apart from their aesthetic appeal, they are good pollinators. As butterflies are highly sensitive to any environmental change and are delicate creatures, they act as good bio-indicators of the health of a habitat. However these creatures are under a real threat due to various developmental activities leading to habitat changes. The protection of these creatures should be given priority. Since the conservation of butterflies essentially means the conservation of their habitat, the spots rich in butterfly diversity are high conservation priority areas. In general, areas with undisturbed vegetation and high floral diversity support large butterfly communities. Few places in India can rival the abundance, both in

terms of species and sheer numbers of individuals, of butterflies as found in Mussoorie.Mussoorie is located at 30 0 27'N and 78 0 5'E in the Garhwal Hills and is known as the 'Queen of Hills' for its immense natural beauty.In 1820, Captain Young was enchanted by its beauty and made it his home.Mussoorie is named after the Mansur shrub, which used to grow in abundance here.Mussoorie is at a height of 2112m.It is rich in flora and fauna.
Mackinnon & de Nicéville (1897), Ollenbach (1929), Shull (1958Shull ( , 1962)), and Rose & Sidhu (1994) made checklists of butterflies of Mussoorie and reported it as one of the richest areas in butterfly diversity.But due to excessive tourism coupled with various developmental activities, this hill station in recent times has undergone severe environmental degradation.In the present paper, a checklist of 66 species of lycaenid butterflies of Mussoorie, Uttarakhand has been prepared and compared with the lists made by the above mentioned earlier workers (Table 1).The nomenclature for naming various taxa, has been followed from Bridges (1988) and Varshney (1997).

Material and Methods
A literature search resulted in the collation of the various lists mentioned above.Mussoorie was visited by the author from June 2005 to September 2006.During this period, a total of 25 days was spent observing butterflies in the area.During these visits, 38 species of butterflies were recorded (Sidhu & Narender 2010).These specimens are presently in the collection of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.

Observations and Discussion
The checklist of lycaenid butterflies has been made from the collections made by different Zoological Survey of India workers between 2000 and 2006.The observations and studies were made in Mussoorie in the first week of June 2006 and again in September 2006 in areas like Bhilaru Pumping Station (30 0 28.068'N and 78 0 04.095'E), one of the richest butterfly spots in India (located at 1737.4m) (Ollenbach 1929).
While listing butterflies of Mussoorie, Mackinnon and de Nicéville (1897) reported 316 species of butterflies from Mussoorie and its neighbouring  Celastrina huegelli, Everes huegelli and Lampides boeticus could be collected from this spot.
Keeping in view the richness of the butterfly diversity of this spot noted by previous workers, it is brought to the notice of concerned authorities that these butterfly rich spots should be conserved on a priority basis or else the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 will be meaningless, for while many of the wildlife species that inhabit the vicinity of Bhilaru Pumping Station are protected under provisions of the Act, the extermination of entire populations of these species is being countenanced in the ongoing developmental activities in the area and a unique heritage site is being lost due to ignorance on the part of the authorities, despite being well recorded in the literature (Mackinnon & de Nicéville 1897;Ollenbach 1929;Schull 1962;Rose & Sidhu 1994).Mussoorie and especially the vicinity of Bhilaru Pumping Station, being a good habitat for a great variety of butterflies in particular and biodiversity in general, must be given special status and care for conservation.This will also ensure a pure drinking water supply for Mussoorie in the years to come.

Table 1 . Checklist of lycaenid butterflies of Mussoorie, Uttarakhand Species of Lycaenidae Ollenbach (1929) Shull (1962) Rose & Sidhu (1994) In Uttarakhand other than Mussoorie (2000-2006) In Mussoorie (Presently 2005- 2006)
In the first week of June, 2006 and again in the second week of September, 2006, the Bhilaru Pumping Station, was visited by the present author.This spot was on the outskirts of Bhilaru Village in 1993 and a narrow unpaved foot path connected it to the main Mussoorie road.But now the spot has been totally devastated from the point of view of butterfly habitats.Bhilaru Village has expanded.The spring has dried up (Image 4).The paved road has been built up to the Pumping Station.Bordering the favourite butterfly spot, shops have been built and are conducting business (Image 5).Only four species viz., Celastrina argiolus, (Rose & Sidhu 1994)re recorded (Table2).According toShull (1962), "The hill station of Mussoorie in north-west India is probably one of the best places in the world for collecting a large number of species".H.S. Rose, who was a member of the party during the 1992-1993 visits(Rose & Sidhu 1994)to various butterfly collecting spots in Mussoorie, had observed that a fairly large number of individuals belonging to a