Diversity of Butterflies in Renuka Lake and its Vicinity of Himachal Pradesh

Abrtract Butterflies diversity in Himachal Pradesh is very rich and diversified, primarily due to varied climatic conditions ranging from tropical in the foothills to arctic environment in the Trans-Himalayan region. Renuka lake situated at 303636 North latitude and 772730 East longitude and at an altitude of 672 (2205 ft) m, in district Sirmaur of Himachal Pradesh with a circumference of about 3214 m (10, 545 ft). A lion safari and a zoo are there at Renuka Ji. This area fall under the Renuka Ji Wild Life Sanctuary. The sanctuary falls in the biogeographical zone IV and biogeographical province IV as per the classification done by the Wildlife Institute of India (WIIVarious natural ecosystems/habitats like agriculture fields, forests, grasslands, streams, human habitations etc. , were selected to explore the presence of Butterflies in studied area. Butterflies studies carried out in Renuka lake and its vicinity, during different seasons of the years revealed the presence of 49 species of insects belonging to 37 genera and 9 families. During the course of present studies it was observed that Nymphalidae represented by 12 species (25 %), spread over 8 genera was the largest family followed by Pieridae (11 species (23 %)), Papilionidae and Satyridae (8 species (16 %) each), Danaidae (4 species (8 %)), Lycaenidae and Hesperiidae (2 species (4 %) each). Moreover, it was interesting to note that two families of butterflies viz. , Erycinidae and Acraeidae were represented by one species (2 %) each.