Abstract
Larval food plants (LFPs) of Sri Lankan butterflies have been well documented recently with the aid of studies done by numerous researchers. In this paper, we present further records, 118 LFPs used by 83 butterflies and 145 plant-butterfly combinations. LFPs of Lethe dynsate and Potanthus pseudomaesa pseudomaesa are reported for the first time in Sri Lanka. Important observations, possible LFPs and LFP preferences of rare and threatened butterfly species, are discussed. This information on plant-butterfly interactions will play an important role in conservation management of both plant and butterfly species.
Highlights
The knowledge on the natural history of Sri Lankan butterflies has been increasing rapidly over the past two decades, mainly due to the increase in the numerous field studies carried out by various researchers on butterflies, including their early stages, that had been published as research papers, detailed books, field guide books, leaflets and as other social media material (Gamage 2007; Jayasinghe 2014; Jayasinghe et el. 2015, 2020; van der Poorten & van der Poorten 2016, 2018)
Stages of Sri Lankan butterflies have been described in detail in several recently published research papers, which provide information on their larval food plants (LFPs) as well
A research article focused on LFPs on Sri Lankan butterflies (Jayasinghe et el. 2014) provided 480 species of LFPs for 207 species of butterflies out of the 245 species known in the country during that time
Summary
The knowledge on the natural history of Sri Lankan butterflies has been increasing rapidly over the past two decades, mainly due to the increase in the numerous field studies carried out by various researchers on butterflies, including their early stages, that had been published as research papers, detailed books, field guide books, leaflets and as other social media material (Gamage 2007; Jayasinghe 2014; Jayasinghe et el. 2015, 2020; van der Poorten & van der Poorten 2016, 2018). Stages of Sri Lankan butterflies have been described in detail in several recently published research papers (van der Poorten & van der Poorten 2011a,b, 2012a,b,c, 2013a,b, 2014; Gunawardana et al 2015; Priyadarshana et al 2015; Herath et al 2020), which provide information on their larval food plants (LFPs) as well.
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