Open AccessLarval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India
Author(s) -
Nitin Ravikanthachari,
Valappil Balakrishnan,
Paresh V. Churi,
S. Kalesh,
Satya Prakash,
Krushnamegh Kunte
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of threatened taxa
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.264
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 0974-7907
pISSN - 0974-7893
DOI - 10.11609/jott.3104.10.4.11495-11550
Subject(s) - butterfly , checklist , biodiversity hotspot , biodiversity , biology , host (biology) , larva , ecology , plant diversity , plant species , geography , paleontology
We present a systematic, updated checklist of larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, a globally recognized biodiversity hotspot. This includes recent new records, with a total of approximately 834 plant species/groups belonging to 88 families that are used by 320 butterfly species of the Western Ghats (the host plant records for 16 species are unknown). A reverse list is also provided as a reference to plant species-wise plant-butterfly associations. This work highlights the diversity of plant species on which the endemic and other butterfly species of the Western Ghats depend.