author(s)
Varuna P Panicker, Anuraj R, Govind Shankar, Aswathy S, Anu Gopalakrishnan and Biju S

abstract
Butterflies are one of the important groups of insects which can act as indicators of change in ecosystem. Urbanisation going on around the globe leads to the habitat destruction of these insects. Survival of these butterflies is now under threat. Present survey is focussed on the assessment of the butterfly diversity and its conservation priorities. A total of 71 species of butterflies belonging to five families were identified from the campus of College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences. Among all six species were protected under various schedules of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Butterfly fauna of the campus dominated with Nymphalidae family. Abundance of the butterfly in the campus showed seasonal variations and preferences. The present study focussed to have a checklist of the butterfly population in our campus which will later contribute for planning campus development programmes.