Study on Different Nectar Rich Flowering Plants of Few Butterfly Species at Different Habitats in Pjtsau Campus Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, India

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the different nectar rich flowering plants of few butterfly species at various habitats in PJTSAU campus, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad during the period from October 2022 to March 2023. The study was conducted in agricultural fields (college farm, student farm and Agricultural Research Institute (ARI)), open scrub areas, Agri biodiversity park (ABP) and botanical garden. To record the nectar plants of few butterfly species, systematic field survey through transact walk was conducted by employing visual count method (VCM) in various habitats. A total of 37 flowering plant species belongs to 20 families were visited by butterflies during the study period. Interestingly, flowering trees found to have contributed more (27.03%) followed by weeds (24.32%), cultivable crops (16.22%), herbs and shrubs with same contribution (13.51%) and the least contribution was found to have recorded with climbers (5.41%). Among the 20 families, Asteraceae (6 plant species) and Fabaceae (6 plant species) families with Yellow, white and pink colored flowers were visited more often for nectar collection. It could help to understand the locally available flora with different flower colors as source of food for few butterfly species and emphasized the need of herbaceous flora conservation to restore native butterfly species in various habitats.