Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2026 | 18(4): 28644–28656

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9988.18.4.28644-28656

#9988 | Received 09 June 2025 | Final received 14 March 2026| Finally accepted 16 March 2026

 

 

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, West Bengal, India: a preliminary checklist

 

Ratnadeep Sarkar 1  & Priyanka Rai 2      

 

1,2 Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, The Himalaya Initiative, Gangtok, Sikkim 737102, India.

1 ratnadeepsarkar37@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 priyanka.rai@atree.org

Both the authors contributed equally and share the first authorship.

 

 

Editor: Pritha Dey, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.   Date of publication: 26 April 2026 (online & print)

 

Citation: Sarkar, R. & P. Rai (2026). Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, West Bengal, India: a preliminary checklist. Journal of Threatened Taxa 18(4): 28644–28656. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9988.18.4.28644-28656

  

Copyright: © Sarkar & Rai 2026. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: Authors received no specific grants for this particular research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Author details: Sarkar, R. worked as a researcher at the University of North Bengal, ATREE and WWF, cherishes his close interest in insects. Rai, P. is a researcher at ATREE and currently, pursuing her PhD from Sikkim Central University.

 

Author contributions: RS & PR—Conceptualization, field works, species identification, writing original draft, review writing and editing.

 

Acknowledgements: Authors are highly grateful to the West Bengal Biodiversity Board (WBBB), Kolkata, as this checklist is an outcome of the Chinese Pangolin Project funded by the authority. The authors express their sincere gratitude to the Directorate of Forests, Government of West Bengal, for the permissions to conduct this research work in the protected area. Range officers and beat officers of the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary are additionally acknowledged for the permission and co-operation all along. We also cordially thank all the forest guards for their support in the field. Authors are also indebted to Mr. Sagar Chhetri, forest staff, for his help in collecting photographs of butterflies. Dr. Sarala Khaling, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Nepal, and former regional director of ATREE-Eastern Himalaya Northeast Regional Office, is thanked for institutional support. Dr. Sunita Pradhan, senior fellow at ATREE, The Himalaya Initiative, Gangtok, Sikkim-737102, India and PI of the Chinese Pangolin Project, is thanked for her continuous encouragement and deliberate suggestions for the development of butterfly checklist from the sanctuary.

 

 

 

Abstract: The present study from Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary records a total of 98 butterfly species among which 66 species are found as ‘first-time records’ from the sanctuary. Therein, eight butterfly species are scheduled under the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 and two are enlisted in the IUCN species list (2016). Nymphalids were recorded at the highest frequency (45.92%) whereas Riodinids are rarest (2.04%).

 

Keywords: Darjeeling, lepidopteran-diversity, new species records, Nymphalidae, protected area, Riodinidae, Terai.

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) are ‘day-flying lepidopterans’, belonging to the world’s second largest insect order under the Class Insecta (Wendimu et al. 2024). These widespread creatures are found almost in every ecological stratum and perform diverse ecological functions in nature. Butterflies act as bio-indicators for a healthy environment and pollinate many flowering plants, thus serving a wide range of ecological benefits (Sinha et al. 2019).

The northern sub-Himalayan part of West Bengal is extremely biodiverse; a handful of studies were reported on butterfly diversity, records, and its ecology from this region. Chakraborty et al. (2023) recorded a few butterfly species from Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR). Only two studies have been conducted from the Neora Valley National Park (Roy et al. 2012; Sengupta et al. 2014). Pradhan & Khaling (2020) recorded butterfly diversity from an organic tea plantation garden of the Darjeeling hills, and a single work from the University of North Bengal campus have been reported (Saha et al. 2023) till date. Approximately, 256 species of butterflies have been recorded from Darjeeling district, of which the family Nymphalidae is the most diverse (114 species), followed by Lycaenidae (52 species), Pieridae (28 species), Hesperiidae (28 species), Papilionidae (27 species), and Riodinidae (7 species) (Roy et al. 2012; Sengupta et al. 2014; Pradhan & Khaling 2020; Saha et al. 2023).

Singhal & Chowdhury (1996) provided the first comprehensive record of biodiversity from Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary (MWS), documenting 170 species of plants (39 trees, 55 herbs, 54 shrubs, and 22 climbers) and 329 species of animals (32 mammals, 253 birds, 9 reptiles, 6 amphibians, and 27 lepidopterans). No systematic study on butterfly diversity has been conducted in MWS to date. Only a baseline study on the flora and fauna of MWS is available (Singhal & Chowdhury 1996), conducted collaboratively by the Wildlife Wing, Forest Department, Government of West Bengal; the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation Ltd.; and the Nature, Environment & Wildlife Society (NEWS). In the survey report by Singhal & Chowdhury (1996), 27 species of butterflies were listed along with other wildlife taxa approximately 30 years ago, providing only rudimentary information on the butterfly fauna of MWS. There are several protected forests in India where butterfly diversity data was recorded because of its pivotal role as pollinators in all the habitats (Sengupta et al. 2014; Gogoi et al. 2023; Choudhury et al. 2024). Therefore, the present study was undertaken in MWS to generate an updated checklist of butterfly species, providing baseline information to facilitate future studies on their diversity, abundance, distribution, and conservation within this protected area.

 

 

MATERIALS AND METHODS

 

MWS along its four ranges, namely, Sukna or East, West, North, and South Range, is expanded over the foothills of central Himalaya and parts of Terai plains (26.798°–26.925° N, 88.393°–88.558° E) of West Bengal (Figure 1). It falls under one of the most species-rich regions in the Indian subcontinent. Hydrologically, the sanctuary is influenced by the Mahananda River system, with the Teesta River defining its eastern margin. The sanctuary encompasses an area of about 161 km², with elevations ranging approximately 150–1,300 m (MWS Management Plan 2012–2022). Most of the habitats of the sanctuary are hilly mountains with precipitous to moderate slopes. The sanctuary contains temperate to tropical climate which give rise evergreen tropical, sub-tropical and deciduous forest and even grasslands in its different parts. Along the two rivers, MWS has characteristic thin watercourses or streams generated from the Himalayan mountains and monsoon rains, innervating the whole sanctuary, are lifelines to its numerous bioresources and wildlife. The sanctuary is situated in the trans-boundary between highly biodiverse ‘Doars’ in the eastern side and Darjeeling Himalaya in its extreme northern side.

The perennial and non-perennial watercourses of MWS serve as lifelines to the wildlife that often visit the places for water and leave their droppings on the shores. The natural bleach and mineral salts are accumulated on the rocks and sandy shores from the algae. The forest soil also shows a variation of sandy loam, coarse sand or ‘slit’ type texture and color from light brown to dark brown, contains different grades of mineral salts and organic matters (MWS Management Plan 2012–2022). These attributes of several spots of Mahananda habitat attract the butterflies to puddle inside the sanctuary for the accumulation of salts, minerals, and amino acids, essential for their physiological and reproductive functions.

For this study, opportunistic surveys were carried out on sunny days from 0800 h to 1200 h, occasionally in the dawn for capturing specific butterflies, between March–September 2024, in the sanctuary. Due to permanent occupancy of mega-mammals, like elephants, butterflies were solely documented by direct sighting and random walks (Murugesan et al. 2013; Upadhyay et al. 2023) near the water courses, roadsides, range office compounds, plantation forests and sometimes in forest core areas (Image 6). Butterflies were photographed in their natural habitat using a digital camera (NIKON P-900), and common species were identified based on their body and wing color patterns, and designs on the spot. All species were later verified using published literature (Mukherjee & Mondal 2020), standard books (Evans 1932), field guide books (Smetacek 2017; Sinha et al. 2019), and from some relevant websites (https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org; https://www.inaturalist.org) (Kunte et al. 2026; iNaturalist 2026). All photo plates and data charts were prepared in the MS-PowerPoint 2019 and MS-Excel 2019, respectively.

 

 

RESULTS

 

In this study, a total of 98 butterfly species, representing 66 genera across all six extant families, were recorded from MWS. Among these, 86 species were photographed during the survey (Images 1–5). Detailed information on all 98 species is presented in Table 1.

The family-wise distribution of species in the sanctuary was as follows: Riodinidae–2 species (2.04%), Hesperiidae–8 species (8.16%), Papilionidae–9 species (9.18%), Pieridae–12 species (12.24%), Lycaenidae–22 species (22.45%), and Nymphalidae–45 species (45.92%) (Table 1, Figure 2). Four families, namely, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae, and Nymphalidae, were recorded in all four ranges of the sanctuary, whereas Hesperiidae was absent from the northern range. Riodinidae was recorded exclusively in the eastern (Sukna) range (Table 1; Figure 3). Among all families, Nymphalidae was the most species-rich and abundant, while Riodinidae was the least abundant, represented by only two species.

Butterfly species were observed within an altitudinal range of 161–576 m in MWS, with 91 out of the 98 species found occurring below 200 m, ranging from sub-tropical and tropical to moist forests (Table 1).

Of the 98 recorded species, eight are listed under the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022. Two species, Orchid Tit Hypolycaena othona and Grey Count Tanaecia lepidea, are included in Schedule I; five species, Danaid Eggfly Hypolimnas misippus, Long-banded Silverline Spindasis lohita, Great Evening Brown Melanitis zitenius, White-bar Bushbrown Mycalesis anaxias, and Blue Oakleaf Butterfly Kallima horsfieldi, are included in Schedule II; and a single species, Common Crow Euploea core, is included in Schedule IV (Table 1). Under the IUCN Red List (2016), two species—Common Imperial Cheritra freja and Plain Tiger Danaus chrysippus—are classified as ‘Least Concern’ (Table 1), whereas the remaining species have not been assessed.

 

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

 

Out of 98 species, 18 were found both this study and in the record of Singhal & Chowdhury (1996). Whereas, nine other species of previous record were absent during this study. Amongst 66 species were first-time recorded from the sanctuary in this study: Nymphalidae–27 species—Cirrochroa aoris, Junonia hierta, Junonia lemonias, Parantica aglea, Tirumala septentrionis, Melanitis zitenius, Chersonesia risa, Kallima inachus, Mycalesis anaxias, Mycalesis visala, Orsotriaena medus, Mycalesis perseus, Tanaecia jahnu, Tanaecia lepidea, Tanaecia julii, Euthalia aconthea, Neptis clinia susruta, Athyma inara, Pantoporia hordonia, Neptis miah miah, Athyma perius perius, Lasippa viraja, Lebadea martha, Charaxes psaphon imna, Hypolimnas bolina, Elymnias hypermnestra undularis, Symbrenthia lilaea; Lycaenidae–19 species—Arhopala centaurus, Castalius rosimon, Cheritra freja, Spalgis epius, Talicada nyseus, Heliophorus epicles, Pseudozizeeria maha, Jamides alecto, Jamides bochus, Jamides celeno, Catapaecilma major, Catochrysops strabo, Hypolycaena erylus, Hypolycaena othona, Spindasis lohita, Prosotas nora, Leptotes plinius, Chilades pandava, and Loxura atymnus; Hesperiidae–eight species—Seseria sambara, Gerosis bhagava, Pseudocoladenia dan, Sarangesa dasahara, Burara gomata, Pelopidas agna, Oriens gola, Iambrix salsala; Pieridae–six species—Pieris canidia, Eurema blanda, Catopsilia pomona, Hebomoia glaucippe, Cepora nerissa, and Appias olferna; Papilionidae–four species—Graphium antiphates, Graphium doson, Papilio nephelus, and Papilio memnon; and Riodinidae–two species—Zemeros flegyas and Abisara bifasciata. Records of the majority butterfly species (91 species) within a 162–200 m range of MWS is corroborated with Priya (2024). 

In India, about 500 Nymphalid species are found, among which 45 species are now found from MWS. As other studies from the region (Roy et al. 2012; Sengupta et al. 2014; Pradhan & Khaling 2020; Saha et al. 2023), here only the highest number of species is from Nymphalidae and the lowest number from Riodinidae. Their dominance in MWS may be due to its habitat preferences and larval host as well as nectar plants among the vast floral diversity in the foothills of the Himalaya (Sengupta et al. 2014; Pradhan & Khaling 2020). With 98 butterfly species, several of protected under WPA, 1972 and the IUCN species list (2016), the MWS can be considered an important reserve of butterflies in the transition zone between the peninsular Indian sub-region and Indo-Malayan sub-region of the Oriental region.

With 98 species, although this work is the first of its kind in the record of butterflies, not only from MWS but also from any protected forests of the Darjeeling District, this study demands systematic, long-term investigation for the record of more butterfly species as well as a survey on its nectar and host plants and precise efforts for the introduction of conservation and management practices for the butterfly fauna in MWS.

 

 

Table 1. Checklist of butterflies recorded from Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary (MarchSeptember, 2024).

Scientific name

Common name

Habitat

type

Collection locality

Elevation (m)

Red List status

WPAA, 2022 status

Family 1. Riodinidae (2 species)

Zemeros flegyas Cramer, 1780*

Punchinello

TPF; FROC

ER; ER

184; 197

NL

NM

Abisara bifasciata Moore, 1877*

Double-banded Judy

TPF

ER

181

NL

NM

Family 2. Hesperiidae (8 species)

Seseria sambara Moore, 1866*

Notched Seseria

LHWMF

WR

177

NL

NM

Gerosis bhagava Moore, 1866*

Yellow-breasted Flat

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Pseudocoladenia dan Fabricius, 1787*

(Himalayan) Fulvous Pied Flat

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Sarangesa dasahara Moore, 1866*

Indian Common Small Flat

FROC   

ER

197

-

-

Burara gomata Moore, 1866*

Pale Green Awlet

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Pelopidas agna Moore, 1865*

Bengal Obscure Branded Swift

FROC

SR

186

-

-

Oriens gola Moore, 1877*

Common Dartlet

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Iambrix salsala Moore, 1866*

Chestnut Bob

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Family 3. Papilionidae (9 species)

Graphium agamemnon Linnaeus, 1758§

Tailed Jay

SPF

-

SR; Golaghat, 1995

162

NL

NM

Graphium antiphates Cramer, 1775*

Five-bar Swordtail

LHWMF;

FROC

WR; ER

177; 197

NL

NM

Graphium doson Felder, 1864*

Common Jay

LHWMF

WR

177

NL

NM

Graphium sarpedon Linnaeus, 1758§

 

Common Bluebottle

LHWMF;

FROC

-

WR;  ER; Golaghat, 1995

177;

197;

-

NL

NM

Papilio nephelus Boisduval, 1836*

Yellow Helen

LHWMF;

FROC;

LHDMF;

LHDMF

WR; ER; NR; NR

177;

197;

235; 190

NL

NM

Papilio memnon Linnaeus, 1758*

Great Mormon

 

FROC

LHDMF

ER; NR

197; 190

NL

NM

Papilio polytes Linnaeus, 1758§

Common Mormon

FROC;

LHDMF;

LHDMF;

LHDMF;

FROC;

FROC;

LHWMF

NR; NR; NR; NR; ER; SR; WR;

Hatisar, 1995

195;

317;

228;

190;

197;

186;

177

 

NL

NM

Papilio demoleus Linnaeus, 1758¥

Lime butterfly

-

Andheri, 1995

-

NA

NM

Pachliopta aristolochiae Fabricius, 1775¥

Common Rose

-

Sukna, 1995

-

NL

NM

Family 4. Pieridae (12 species)

Pieris canidia Linnaeus, 1768*

Asian Cabbage White

FROC;

LHWMF

ER; WR

197;184

NL

NM

Leptosia nina Fabricius, 1793§

Psyche

FROC & roadside

ER; Jogijhora, 1995

197

NL

NM

Eurema blanda Boisduval, 1836*

Three-spot Grass Yellow

LHWMF;

FROC & roadside

WR; ER

177; 197

NL

NM

Eurema hecabe Linnaeus, 1758§

Common Grass Yellow

LHWMF

-

-          

WR; Golaghat, 1995; Hatisar, 1995

177;

-

NL

NM

Catopsilia pomona Fabricius, 1775*

Lemon Emigrant

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Ixias pyrene Linnaeus, 1764§

Yellow Orange-tip

LHWMF

-

WR; Banderjhola, 1995

177;

-

NL

NM

Hebomoia glaucippe Linnaeus, 1758*

Great Orange-tip

LHWMF;

WMF

WR; SR

184;

174

NL

NM

Cepora nerissa Fabricius, 1775*

Common Gull

LHWMF;

Roadside

WR; ER

177; 197

NL

NM

Delias descombesi Boisduval, 1836§

Red-spot Jezebel

FV

-

NR; Kokhlong, 1995

195;

-

NL

NM

Appias lyncida Cramer, 1777§

Chocolate Albatross

LHWMF;

Roadside;

LHDMF

-

WR; ER;

NR; Chewa, 1995

177; 184;

228;

-

NL

NM

Appias olferna Swinhoe, 1890*

Eastern Striped Albatross

Roadside; FROC; LHWMF

ER; ER; WR

184; 197; 177

NL

 

NM

Delias hyparete Linnaeus, 1758¥

Painted Jezebel

-

Kuhi, 1995

-

NL

NM

Family 5. Lycaenidae (22 species)

Arhopala centauruns Fabricius, 1775*

Centaur Oakblue

FROC   

ER

197

NL

NM

Arhopala sp.

Oakblue Butterfly

TPF      

ER

184

NL

NM

Castalius rosimon Fabricius, 1775*

Common Pierrot           

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Cheritra freja Fabricius, 1793*

Common Imperial

LHWMF;

FROC   

WR; ER

177; 197

LC

NM

Curetis sp.       

Sunbeam

FROC   

NR

195

NL

NM

Spalgis epius Westwood, 1851*

Apefly

FV       

ER

576

NL

NM

Talicada nyseus Guerin, 1843* 

Indian Red Pierrot

LHWMF; FROC   

WR; ER

184; 197

NL

NM

Heliophorus epicles Godart, 1824* 

Purple Sapphire

LHWMF

WR

184

NL

NM

Pseudozizeeria maha Kollar, 1844*

Pale Grass Blue

LHWMF; FROC   

WR;

ER

177; 197

NL

NM

Jamides alecto C. Felder, 1860*

Metallic Cerulean

LHWMF; FROC   

WR;

ER

177; 197

NL

NM

Jamides bochus Stoll, 1782*

Dark Cerulean

FROC   

ER

197

NL

NM

Jamides celeno Cramer, 1775*

Common Cerulean

LHWMF; FROC   

-

WR;

ER;

WR

184; 197; 177

NL

NM

Catapaecilma major Druce, 1895*

(Himalayan) Common Tinsel

SPF      

SR

161

NL

NM

Catochrysops strabo Fabricius, 1793*

Forget-me-not 

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Hypolycaena erylus Godart, 1824*

Common Tit    

Sal forest

SR

161

NL

NM

Hypolycaena othona Hewitson, 1865*

Orchid Tit        

FROC

ER

197

NL

Sch-I

Spindasis sp.

Silverline

FROC

ER

197

-

-

Spindasis lohita Horsfield, 1829*

Long-banded Silverline

SPF

SR

161

NL

Sch-II

Prosotas nora C. Felder, 1860*

Common Lineblue

FROC   

ER

197

NL

NM

Leptotes plinius Fabricius, 1793*

Zebra blue

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Chilades pandava Horsfield, 1829*

Plains Cupid

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Loxura atymnus Stoll, 1780*

Yamfly 

FROC   

ER

197

NL

NM

Family 6. Nymphalidae (45 species)

Cirrochroa aoris Doubleday, 1847*

 

Large Yeoman

 

TPF;

FROC;

FROC   

NR;

SR;

ER

186;

164;

197

NL

NM

Junonia iphita Cramer, 1779§  

 

Chocolate Pansy           

 

LHWMF;

LHWMF;

FROC

-

 

WR;

WR;

ER;

Latpanchor, 1995

184; 177; 197;

-

NL

NM

Junonia hierta Fabricius, 1798*

Yellow Pansy   

LHWMF

WR

184

NA

NM

Junonia lemonias Linnaeus, 1758*

Lemon Pansy

LHWMF

WR

177

NL

NM

Danaus genutia Cramer, 1779§ 

 

Striped Tiger   

 

LHWMF; FROC;

FROC   

WR;

ER;

Rhyeum, 1995

184; 197;

-

NL

NM

Danaus chrysippus Linnaeus, 1758§

Plain Tiger       

 

LHWMF;

FROC

-          

WR;

ER;

Golaghat, 1995

184; 197;

-

LC

NM

Parantica aglea Stoll, 1782* 

Glassy Tiger     

LHWMF; WMF   

WR;

SR

177; 184

NL

NM

Tirumala septentrionis Butler, 1874*

Dark Blue Tiger

LHWMF

WR

184

NL

NM

Euploea sp.      

Crow Butterfly

LHWMF;

LHWMF; FROC   

WR;

WR;

ER

184; 177;197

NL

NM

Euploea core Cramer, 1780§  

Common Crow

FROC;

WMF;

Forest road

-          

ER;

WR;

SR;

Sukna, 1995

197; 184; 164;

-

NL

Sch-IV

Melanitis zitenius Herbst, 1796* 

Great Evening Brown 

LHWMF

WR

291

NL

Sch- II

Chersonesia risa Doubleday, 1848*

Common Maplet

LHWMF

WR

179

NL

NM

Kallima inachus Doyere, 1840*

Himalayan Orange Oakleaf

WMF   

WR; SR

184; 174

NL

NM

Lethe confusa Aurivillius, 1898§           

           

Banded Treebrown      

FV;

FV       

ER;

ER; Panchanai, 1995

184; 576;

-

NL

NM

Mycalesis anaxias Hewitson, 1862*

White-bar Bushbrown

FROC

ER

197

NL

Sch-II

Mycalesis visala Moore, 1858* 

Long-branded Bushbrown

WMF   

ER

181

NL

NM

Orsotriaena medus Fabricius, 1775*

Oriental Medus Brown 

FROC   

ER

197

NL

NM

Mycalesis perseus Fabricius, 1775*

Common Bushbrown

FROC   

ER;

SR

197;162

NL

NM

Charaxes bharata C. & R. Felder, 1867§

Indian Nawab

FROC

ER; Golaghat, 1995

197;

-

NL

NM

Tanaecia jahnu Moore, 1858*

Plain Earl

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Tanaecia lepidea Butler, 1868*  

Grey Count

FROC

ER

197

NL

Sch-I

Tanaecia julii Lesson, 1837*

Common Earl   

FROC   

ER

197

NL

NM

Euthalia aconthea Cramer, 1777*

Common Baron

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Neptis clinia susruta Moore, 1872*

Himalayan Sullied Sailer

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Athyma inara Westwood, 1850*

Color Sergeant

FROC   

ER

197

NL

NM

Pantoporia hordonia Stoll, 1790*

Common Lascar

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Neptis miah miah Moore, 1858* 

East Himalayan Small Yellow Sailer

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Athyma perius perius Linnaeus, 1758*           

Oriental Common Sergeant

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Lasippa viraja Moore, 1872*

Yellowjack Sailer

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Neptis sp.        

Sailer

LHWMF

WR

177

-

NM

Lebadea martha Fabricius, 1787*

Knight 

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Phalanta phalantha Drury, 1773§    

Common Leopard

LHDMF;

LHWMF;

-

NR;

WR;

Sukna, 1995

228;

184;

-

NL

NM

Charaxes psaphon imna Westwood, 1847*

Indian Plain Tawny Rajah

FROC   

ER

197

NL

NM

Hypolimnas bolina Linnaeus, 1758*

Great Eggfly

FROC   

ER

197

NL

NM

Elymnias hypermnestra undularis Drury, 1773*

Himalayan Palmfly

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Ypthima baldus Fabricius, 1775§

Common Five-ring

FROC;

SPF

ER;

Panchanai, 1995

197;

-

NL

NM

Ypthima huebneri Kirby, 1871§

Common Four-ring

FROC;

LHDMF

ER;

Upper Ghoramara, 1995

197;

-

NL

NM

Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 184

Indian Tortoiseshell

FROC

ER Sukna 1995a,b

197;

-

NL

NM

Symbrenthia lilaea Hewitson, 1864*

Northern Common Jester

FROC

ER

197

NL

NM

Charaxes bernardus Fabricius, 179

Tawny Rajah

-

Hatisar, 1995

-

NL

NM

Cyrestis thyodamas Doyere, 1840¥

Map Butterfly

-

Jogijhora, 1995

-

NL

NM

Hypolimnas misippus Linnaeus, 1764¥

Danaid Eggfly

-

Golma, 1995

-

NA

Sch-II

Tirumala limniace Cramer, 1775¥

Blue Tiger Butterfly

-

Sukna, 1995

-

NL

NM

Neptis hylas Linnaeus, 1758¥

Common Sailer

-

Golaghat, 1995

-

NL

NM

Kallima horsfieldi Kollar, 1844¥

Blue Oakleaf Butterfly

-

Latpanchor, 1995

-

NA

Sch-II

ER—East range | FROC—Forest range office compound | LC—Least Concern | LHDMF—Lower hill dry mixed forest | LHWMF—Lower hill wet mixed forests | NA—Not applicable | NL—Not listed | NM—Not mentioned | NR—North range | Sch—Schedule | SPF—Sal Plantation forest | SR—South range | TPF—Teak Plantation Forest | WMF—Wet mixed forest | WPAA—Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 | WR—West range.

*Species identified in this study represent new records.

§Species found in both the previous records and this study;

¥Species found in the previous records but not in this study

 

 

FOR FIGURES & IMAGES - - CLICK HERE FOR FULL PDF

 

 

REFERENCES

 

Chakraborty, M., P. Baidya & U.S. Roy (2023). Butterfly diversity along a short trekking route inside Buxa Tiger Reserve, West Bengal, India. Species 24(e18s1018): 1–15.

Choudhury, K., B. Basumatary & P.J. Sapruna (2024). Butterflies in two Conservation Gradient Landscapes of Manas Biosphere Reserve, Assam, India. Asian Journal of Conservation Biology 13(1): 62–74.

Evans, W.H. (1932). The identification of Indian Butterflies, 2nd Edition. The Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India, 454 pp.

Gogoi, R., A. Chetry & A. Bhuyan (2023). Diversity and species richness of butterfly in Soraipung range of Dehing Patkai National Park, Assam, India. The Journal of Basic and Applied Zoology 84(6): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41936-023-00327-9

iFoundbutterflies (2024). https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/. Accessed on 02.xi.2024.

iNaturalist (2024). https://www.inaturalist.org/. Accessed on 12.x.2024.

iNaturalist (2026). https://www.inaturalist.org/. Accessed on 09.ii.2026.IUCN (2016). IUCN Red List of threatened species. Version 2016.1. at https://www.iucnredlist.org/en. Accessed on 11.ix.2024.

Kunte, K., S. Sondhi & P. Roy (Chief Editors) (2026). Butterflies of India, v. 4.31. Indian Foundation for Butterflies Trust. https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org. Accessed on 10.ii.2026.

Mukherjee, K. & A. Mondal (2020). Butterfly diversity in heterogenous habitats of Bankura, West Bengal, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(8): 15804–15816. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5136.12.8.15804-15816

Murugesan, M., P.R. Arun & B.A.K. Prusty (2013). The butterfly community of an urban wetland system- a case study of Oussudu Bird Sanctuary, Puducherry, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5(12): 4672–4678. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3056.4672-8

Paul, T.K. & A. Kumar (2023). Flora of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Darjeeling, West Bengal. Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, 171 pp.

Pradhan, A. & S. Khaling (2020). Butterfly diversity in an organic tea estate of Darjeeling Hills, eastern Himalaya, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(11): 16521–16530. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.5716.12.11.16521-16530

Priya, N.D. (2024)  Butterfly puddling behaviour: a fascinating phenomenon. Agri Articles 4(3): 647–649.

Roy, U., M. Mukherjee & S. Mukhopadhyay (2012). Butterfly diversity and abundance with reference to habitat heterogeneity in and around Neora Valley National Park, West Bengal, India. Our Nature 10: 53–60. https://doi.org/10.3126/ON.V10I1.7751

Saha, A., S. Das, P. Das, P. Raha & D. Saha (2023). Butterfly diversity in the campus area of university of north Bengal, West Bengal, India. Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation 20: 245–255. https://doi.org/10.51200/jtbc.v20i.4520

Sengupta, P., K. Banerjee & N. Ghorai (2014). Seasonal diversity of butterflies and their larval food plants in the surroundings of upper Neora Valley National Park, a sub-tropical broad leaved hill forest in the eastern Himalayan landscape, West Bengal, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 6(1): 5327–5342. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3446.5327-42

Singhal, N. & B.R. Chowdhury (1996). Survey of Flora and Fauna of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary. A Collaborative Research project of Wildlife Wing, Forest Department, West Bengal and Nature Environment & Wildlife Society, Kolkata, 34 pp.

Sinha, R.K., S.S. Gupta, A.B. Roy, S. Baidya, S. Roy, N. Das, A. Paul & A. Pal (Eds.) (2019). Butterflies of Buxa Tiger Reserve, 1st Edition. A CITADEL Publication, Kolkata in association with Buxa Tiger Conservation Foundation, Alipurduar, West Bengal, India, 248 pp. 

Smetacek, P. (2017). A Naturalist’s Guide to the Butterflies of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. 1st ed. John Beaufoy Publishing Limited.

Upadhyay, R., R. Gogoi, R. Ahmed & R. Limbu (2023). A preliminary checklist of butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera) from Vijaynagar, district Changlang, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Asian Journal of Conservation Biology 12(1): 151–169.

Wendimu, A., W. Tekalign & E.E. Bojago (2024). Day-flying lepidopteran species abundance, diversity, and distribution in Wolaita Sodo University, Ethiopia. Psyche: A Journal of Entomology 13: 5535105. https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/5535105