A report on the migration of butterflies in Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala

Abstract

722 Manuscript received 25 August 2001; Revised manuscript received 28 November 2001; Accepted for publication 2 January 2002 Butterflies are known for their migratory flights. Williams (1938) recorded many migratory flights of butterflies from India and Sri Lanka. He recorded 33 species from the Indian region. Wynter Blyth (1957) listed most frequent migrant species from India: the emigrants, Catopsilia spp., The Common Albatross Appias albina (Boisduval), The Common Crow Euploea core (Cramer), The Blue Tiger Tirumala limniace (Cramer), The Common Tiger, Danaus genutia (Linnaeus), The Lime Butterfly Papilio demoleus Linnaeus, The Great Eggfly Hypolimnas bolina (Linnaeus), The Pea Blue Lampides boeticus (Linnaeus) mainly from Palni Hills, Nilgiri Hills and the Himalaya. The most important observations are those made by Evershed (1910) at Kodaikanal in the Palni Hills and of Larsen (1978, 1987a,b) in the Nilgiris. In the present communication we are presenting an observation of migration at Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary (11o53' N to 75o56' E), Kannur District, northern Kerala, located at the Brahmagiri Hill slopes of the southern Western Ghats.