UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

The current study was conducted in and around the Shimla Kalibari, Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh, India, in the month of April, 2025 to assess the butterfly composition at high altitudes. Butterfly sampling was carried out by using line transect method in which the entire survey path (4200 m) was divided into 12 transects and were surveyed every day following the same transect path. During the course of the study, 39 species of butterflies belonging to five different families were recorded. Percentage composition analysis of the five families illustrated that family Pieridae (56.54%) had the highest percentage, followed by Nymphalidae (24.08%), Lycaenidae (14.11%), Hesperiidae (4.70%) and lastly Papilionidae (0.56%). Based on the sightings of butterflies at the study site, it was found that 39.51% belonged to the not rare category, 34.71% to the very common, 17.31% to the rare, 8.18% to the common and 0.28% to the very rare category. Among the recorded butterfly species, 7 of them were found to be protected under various Schedules of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Shannon diversity index (H'=3.19) signified the high species richness of the butterfly community. Pielou’s evenness index (j=0.87) depicted the evenly distributed nature of the butterflies in the studies butterfly community and Simpson's index of diversity (D=0.94) indicated the persistence of high species abundance in the sampled butterfly community. Therefore, the information from this preliminary survey will prove to be beneficial for implementing necessary conservation strategies required for the persistence of butterfly fauna in the hilly terrain.