Language: English
Butterflies are an attractive and diverse group of animals that form a prominent and distinct part of the terrestrial ecosystem. These are popular creatures and always hold the imagination of the general public. Butterfly study and butterfly watching ranks second after ornithology for naturalists and amateurs. Due to their aesthetic appeal and vulnerability to changing environment, butterflies are protected by law. In India, 452 species of butterflies are included in various schedules. Though the adults are well studied world over, knowledge about the immature stages is limited. The classification of butterflies has been reshuffled from time to time and the study of immature specimens gives a good idea of various stable taxonomic characters, one of them is the study of chaetotaxy of the larvae. In the present book, the chaetotaxy (setal arrangement) of first instar and last instar of fifteen species of butterflies have been studied from Shiwaliks of North-west India.
1. Introduction
2. Review of literature on Chaetotaxy in the order Lepidoptera with emphasis on Butterflies
3. Material and methods
4. Observations on the Chaetotaxy of various species
i. Castalius rosimon (Fabricius)
ii. Euchrysops cnejus (Fabricius)
iii. Vanessa (Aglais) cashmiriensis Kollar
iv. Vanessa (Vanessa) indica (Herbst)
v. Vanessa (Cynthia) cardui (Linnaeus)
vi. Hypolimnas bolina (Linnaeus)
vii. Junonia almana Linnaeus
viii. Phalanta phalantha (Drury)
ix. Acraea issoria (Hubner)
x. Acraea terpsicore (Linnaeus)
xi. Ypthima inica (Hewitson)
xii. Euploea core (Cramer)
xiii. Colotis amata (Fabricius)
xiv. Pontia daplidice (Linnaeus)
xv. Cepora nerissa (Fabricius)
5. Discussion
6. Key to the presently studied families of the superfamily Papilionoidea
7. References
Abbreviations