Checklist of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilonoidea and Hesperioidea) in Gunung Pulai Forest Reserve, Johor

Abstract

This survey was done to provide a checklist of butterflies in Gunung Pulai Forest Reserve, Johor Darul Takzim. Sampling were done between October 2017 to March 2018 for nine sampling days. Butterflies were caught using aerial net and baited traps. The traps were baited with a mixture of rotten bananas and pineapples. A total of 101 individuals comprising 61 species were obtained from this survey. Family Nymphalidae recorded the highest number of species with 30 species, followed by Lycaenidae with 16 species. The most dominant species was Ypthima horsfieldii humei (Nymphalidae) with eight individuals followed by Lexias pardalis dirteana (Nymphalidae) with six individuals. Out of the 61 species, 45 were singletons which accounts for 73.8% of the sample. The Shannon Diversity Index for the butterflies in this area is 3.884 with an Evenness value of 0.941. Three species are considered as new records for the state of Johor. Based on the high value of Shannon Diversity Index and the abundance of singletons, it can be concluded that Gunung Pulai Forest Reserve holds a high diversity of butterflies in the region.