Butterflies of Buxa Tiger Reserve (An Old and Rare Book)

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This book covers total 408 species of butterflies that have been recorded so far from BTR- This includes all the previous records from Buxa as well as the records during butterfly survey. The book showcases images of every species recorded from BTR along with some information regarding their habit, seasonality, status, wingspan and others. The images are chosen in such a way that the identification keys can be observed as much as possible. This book aims to make the people aware about the biology and conservation of butterflies. This book was also prepared to promote eco-tourism focusing on the butterflies of BTR. We hope that this book will be very helpful for the forest guides, nature enthusiast, students and those who want to introduce themselves to the world of butterflies. Enjoy the book!

Butterflies are a mesmerizing group of insects with great ecological significance. They are very sensitive animals, and their presence or absence can reflect even minute changes in their habitat caused by any natural or anthropogenic factors. Despite their ecological significance, none of the butterflies have names in any regional languages. There is hardly any regional baseline information in academia on this class of insects.

Taking these factors into serious consideration, the Wildlife Wing of Forest Directorate, Government of West Bengal has taken conservation initiatives to protect these beautiful creatures in Buxa Tiger Reserve, which, apart from its vast floral and faunal diversity, is especially known to harbour the largest butterfly diversity in West Bengal.

Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR), situated in Alipurduar District, West Bengal, has an area of 760.87 km². Declared as a Tiger Reserve in 1983, BTR is located in the confluence of three major Bio Geographic zones, It harbours over 1000 faunal species including endemic Indo-Malayan species and some endemic species of North East India, with a wide range of insect diversity including beetles, cicadas, odonates, moths and most importantly butterflies. BTR is enriched with around 450 species of butterflies including several rare and charismatic species.

A special project was taken up in 2016, in collaboration with the Nature Mates Nature Club of Kolkata to identify the butterfly species of Buxa Tiger Reserve, their host plants and establishment of a Butterfly Conservatory at Rajabhatkhowa, BTR. After completion of three long years of study the results have been compiled in the form of this publication.

I hope this will be highly accepted by the scientific community and will be considered as an important guidebook for the students, researchers and butterfly enthusiasts all over the world.

With their colourful appearance and varied shape and size, Butterflies are a mesmerizing group of insects having immense ecological importance. They are extremely sensitive animals which can be considered as bio- indicators for the habitat quality. Butterflies work as pollinators leading to propagation of wild forest species, especially endangered and endemic ones, thus enabling biodiversity conservation.

Most importantly, they also play a significant role in maintaining the ecological balance of a forest through different factors, one of which is 'trophic interaction'. They are an integral part of the food web of forest as they are predated by several other animals of both lower and higher taxa such as dragonflies, spiders, frogs, lizards, birds etc. Thus, bottom-up strategies of conserving butterflies can strengthen the base of the food pyramid of a forest habitat which ultimately helps in conservation of higher mammals.

A study on the butterflies of Buxa Tiger Reserve was taken up by the Wildlife Wing, Directorate of Forests, Government of West Bengal through the Nature Mates - Nature Club, Kolkata since 2014. Ms. Sarika Baidya and Sri Arjan Basu Roy have been instrumental in carrying out the study in BTR over a period of five years.

Along with the field study, an open-air butterfly conservatory has been established at Rajabhatkhawa which is located in the buffer area of Buxa Tiger Reserve with fund support from Buxa Tiger Conservation Foundation. The conservatory is based on a 7 acre land with proper laboratory back up. It was inaugurated on 30th of December, 2018. Though the conservatory has started its journey very recently, it has already attracted a considerable number of butterfly species, some of which are quite rare. Till date, more than 110 species of butterfly belonging to all the 6 families have visited the conservatory. Among these, life cycle of 42 butterfly species belonging to 5 different families (Papilionidae: 7 species, Pieridae: 7 species, Lycaenidae: 7 species, Riodinidae: 1 species, Nymphalidae: 20 species) have been successfully completed in the laboratory. The conservatory also aims to conserve the wild species of plants, especially the endemic ones which are used as host or nectar plants by the butterflies. Interestingly, the conservatory attracts different species of birds as well, which can predate on the caterpillars of butterflies. Till date, 43 species of birds have been recorded from the conservatory. This place is gradually becoming a place of attraction for the tourists which is generating a different kind of interest and awareness about this group of insects among common people. As it is a laboratory supported conservatory, it also creates a scope for the students to know about the life history of butterflies in fine details.