Abstract:
An attempt was made to investigate entitled “Behaviour of some selected butterflies
and its influence on nutritional and medicinal values of host plants” in both field and
laboratory conditions. To establish Butterfly Research Park through butterfly colonization,
the developmental process and survival rate of butterfly related host plants and nectar plants
were examined. The dynamism of butterfly population in relation to nectar plants and
behavioural patterns of butterfly, viz. foraging, mating, egg laying, resting, searching and
puddling in relation to population dynamics were observed. The effect of abiotic and biotic
factors on the butterfly abundance, species richness, species diversity in the forest ecosystems
were also studied and recorded.
To study the biology of Danaus chrysippus butterfly in relation to larval host plants
and adult nectar plants, ovipositional behavior, length variation, feeding potential and weight
of excreta of different larval stages of D. chrysippus were observed in both field and
laboratory experiments. The utilization of nectar plants by visits of D. chrysippus as
nutritional requirements for their development were also recorded during the
experimentation.
To study biotic interaction between Pachliopta aristolochiae butterfly and its related
host plants, successive development of the host plants, Aristolochia indica and A. tagala, egg
laying strategy, host plant utilization by larvae as nutritional sources and pupation strategy
were examined in the field. Length variation, feeding potentiality of larvae and weight of
larval excreta were analyzed in laboratory experiment. Different behavioural strategies of P.
aristolochiae butterfly, viz. foraging, mating, egg laying, resting, searching and puddling in
relation to population fluctuation were also studied and recorded in the experimental field.
To detect the medicinal values of butterfly related host plants through butterfly
behavioural activities, different partitionates of leaves extract of the host plant, Aristolochia
tagala i.e. Tert-butyl-1-hydroxytoluene (BHT), Ascorbic acid (AA), Methanolic extract
(ME), Petroleum ether (PE), Carbon tetrachloride soluble (CTE), Chloroform soluble (CHE)
and Aqueous soluble partitionate (AQE) were analyzed for free radical scavenging activity
(antioxidant), brine shrimp lethal bioassay (toxicity) and antimicrobial activity. Here, tertbutyl-1-hydroxytoluene (BHT) and ascorbic acid (ASA) were used as reference standard.
