Keywords

1 Introduction

Butterflies along with moths belong to insect order Lepidoptera and are perhaps the most conspicuous and colorful of insects (Kunte 2006). They undergo ‘complete metamorphosis’ and have four distinct stages in their life cycle (the egg, the larva, the pupa and the adult), and each stage of development takes its own time. Usually the larval (caterpillar) stage is the longest, and the egg stage is the shortest. A number of factors, such as high species richness, occurrence across the world and variety of habitats (Kristensen et al. 2007), relatively easy to sample and identify with the help of field guides (Basset et al. 2011), highly sensitive to environmental changes (Spitzer et al. 1997), and above all being charismatic insects that attract the public attention, have made butterflies one of the most studied groups of organisms among the invertebrates (Varshney 1993; Spitzer et al. 1997) and qualified them to be considered as ideal candidates for indicator, umbrella and/or flagship species New 1997; Spitzer et al. 1997; Fleishman et al. 2000; Maes and Van Dyck 2001; Kristensen et al. 2007). Besides being used in biogeography, evolution and plant–insect interaction research, they play an important role in ecosystem functioning, including nutrient cycling and pollination. For instance, the association of blue caterpillars with ants is an astonishing case of coevolution (Kunte 2006). The habitats of butterflies are strictly terrestrial, and virtually all butterflies are associated with plants, and their occurrence depends on the presence of plants (Kunte 2006).

The total number of known species of Lepidoptera which makes up about 10% of the animal Kingdom, approaches 200,000 (Holloway et al. 1987) to 2,55,000 (Heppner 1991), most of which are moths (Heterocera) and only about 15,000 to 18,000 are butterflies (Rhopalocera) (Holloway et al. 1987; Shields 1989). India is also rich in butterfly fauna, and about 1400–1500 species (Bingham 1905, 1907; Talbot 1939, 1947; Wynter-Blyth 1957; Gaonkar 1996; Haribal 1992; Kunte 2006; Kehimkar 2008; Varshney and Smetacek 2015) have already been reported from the Indian subcontinent. The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) State has also a unique and diverse butterfly fauna with respect to other parts of India. However, the information on butterfly fauna of this vital Himalayan region remains vague, erratic, scattered and poorly explored and documented. The present work is an attempt to document the butterfly diversity of this Himalayan State, and it is hoped that it will prove a baseline data for further studying these beautiful lifeforms.

2 Materials and Methods

The inventory data of the butterfly fauna was obtained from a comprehensive literature review. For compilation of the checklist, all the relevant scientific literature available has been perused. The earlier workers, prior to 1947, who have contributed to the information on butterfly fauna of the State include Kollar 1844; Horsfield and Moore 1857; Lang 1868; Moore 1874; Marshal and de Niceville 1883, 1886, 1889; Bingham 1905, 1907; Evans 1932; Thomas-Glover 1936; Home 1938; and Talbot 1939, 1947. Although these works remain relevant sources for developing the baseline data of butterfly wealth of J&K, many of these works, besides including Kashmir and Ladakh at that time, were covering whole of Indian subcontinent. Post 1947, during the last 70 years, a huge body of scientific literature has contributed to the knowledge base on butterflies of this biodiversity-rich region (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Das et al. 1964; Das and Verma 1965; Malik et al. 1972; Eisner 1978; Vis and Coene 1987; Eisner and Weiss 1990; Jamdar 1991, 1992; Haribal 1992; Varshney 1993, 1994, 1997; Tshikolovets 2005; Kehimkar 2008; Khan et al. 2011a, b; Qureshi et al. 2012a, b, c; 2013a, b, c, d, e; 2014 Bala et al. 2014; Qureshi and Bhagat 2013, 2015) and Sondhi et al. 2017. For the present study, the classification scheme as proposed by Kunte (2012) and Varshney and Smetacek (2015) has been followed. The common names mostly as given in Evans (1932), Wynter-Blyth (1957), Varshney (1983), and Varshney and Smetacek (2015) have been followed. No attempt has been made to change the taxonomic position of a species, but at the same time, every effort has been made to put the species as per their valid taxonomic status.

3 Results and Discussion

A total of 408 species belonging to 5 families and distributed under 129 genera, which account for about 27% of the India’s butterfly diversity, is reported from the J&K State (Table 28.1). Overall Ladakh region is reported to have the highest number of species (317) followed by Kashmir (274) and Jammu (192) regions. Family Nymphalidae is having highest number of species (166 spp.) which accounts for about 41% of the total butterfly fauna of the State, followed by Papilionidae (81 spp., 20%), Lycaenidae (80 spp., 19%), Pieridae (51 spp., 12%), and Hesperiidae (31 spp., 8%) (Table 28.1). Some of the most diverse genera in terms of number of species include Parnassius having 58 species followed by Hyponephele (14 spp.), Karanasa (12 spp.), Papilio (12 spp.), Argynnis (11 spp.), Colias (11 spp.), Polyommatus (10 spp.), and Ypthima (10 spp.) (Table 28.1). The most diverse subfamily having the highest number of species is Satyrinae (76 spp.) followed by Parnassinae (58 spp.), Polyommatinae (48 spp.), Nymphalinae (33 spp.), Pierinae (27 spp.), Coliadinae (23 spp.), Papilioninae (23 spp.), Heliconinae (19 spp.), Pyrginae (16 spp.), Theclinae (16 spp.), Limenitinidae (14 spp.), Hesperiinae (13 spp.), and Lycaeninae (10 spp.) (Table 28.1; Fig. 28.1).

Table 28.1 Checklist of butterflies of J&K State 
Full size table
Fig. 28.1
figure 1

Subfamily-wise diversity in butterfly fauna of J&K State

Full size image

Biogeographically, 150 species (37%) are common to all the three regions, while 17 (4%), 50 (12%), and 116 (28%) species exclusively occur in Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh; and 24 (6%), 01 (0.25%), and 50 (12%) species are common between J&K, Jammu and Ladakh, and Kashmir and Ladakh regions, respectively (Fig. 28.2). Furthermore, 38 species belonging to 4 families, Nymphalidae (20 spp.), Pieridae (9 spp.), Lycaenidae (6 spp.), and Papilionidae (3 spp.), which account for 9% of the butterfly fauna of J&K have been included in the Wildlife (Protection) Act (WPA) of India (1972). Out of these, 6 species have been listed in the Schedule I and 31 species in the Schedule II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of India (1972) (WPA), respectively (Table 28.1).

Fig. 28.2
figure 2

Region-wise diversity of butterflies in J&K State. (Hes = Hesperiidae; Lyc = Lycaenidae; Nym = Nymphalidae; Pap = Papilionidae; Pie = Pieridae)

Full size image

Despite being an important resource for socioeconomic development, the biodiversity of this Himalayan State which also includes butterfly wealth has suffered greatly due to varied anthropogenic pressures, more so in recent past. According to an estimate, about 40% of the endemic plant species in Kashmir Himalaya are currently threatened (Dar et al. 2002), and just like other floral and faunal elements, butterflies are facing survival risks with many species already listed in Red Data books. Some of the identified threats to butterfly diversity include (i) habitat destruction, degradation and fragmentation, (ii) illegal trade, (iii) grazing, (iv) biotic pressure, (v) climate change, (vi) fires, (vii) application of chemical pesticides and weedicides in agricultural and urban ecosystems, and (viii) administrative and legal loopholes. In India, some of the areas where considerable butterfly trading goes on are in the Himalaya and in northeastern India (Kunte 2006). Although J&K State forms an important region of the Himalaya, its bio-wealth including butterflies is scientifically poorly reported and documented. There is still lack of basic information on taxonomy, distributional records, status, biology, ecology, etc., for both widely distributed and endangered butterfly species (Plate 28.1).

Plate 28.1
figure 3

Butterflies:(A) Pieris brassicae (B) Gonepteryx rhamni (C) Junonia orithya (D) Colias electo (E) Aulocera padma (F) Vanessa indica ; (G) Cynthia cardui (H) Pontia daplidice (I) Lebithya lepita (J) Aglias cashmirensis (K) Argynnis childreni (L). Aulocera brahminus

Full size image

4 Concluding Remarks

Butterflies are biological indicators of a healthy environment. In recent times, much emphasis is given to butterflies in the developed world and numerous and relatively small nature reserves have been set up to protect particular species or butterfly-rich habitats. These allow the butterflies to prosper in areas threatened by human activities. Such conservation measures need to be undertaken in the developing world as well. In the J&K State, inspite of having its separate J&K Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1978 (JKWPA), to date no butterfly species has been listed. Thus, there is an urgent need to include the threatened butterflies in JKWPA, which will provide legal protection at the regional level. An enormous amount of organized research using new methodologies/technologies including molecular analysis (DNA barcoding), geospatial tools, information technology, etc., is required so that a reliable information base can be achieved for the conservation of butterfly and other biodiversity elements of J&K State. There is immense scope to popularize the concept of butterfly parks/gardens, which besides boosting ecotourism opportunities in the State shall pave way for the public awareness and participation in the conservation process. Further, there is need to promote research involving long-term monitoring, strict enforcement of laws, conservation education, citizen science among local communities, besides having a strong government support and political will for the overall documentation, conservation, and management of these beautiful creatures of nature. There are innumerable opportunities for entomologists, pollination biologists, policy makers, and other stakeholders to jointly put concerted efforts towards conservation of butterfly biodiversity of the State.