Thengumarahada is the largest among the seven tribal villages found in the Moyar valley belonging to the Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu with an area of 500acres. Moyar valley is an ecologically strategic junction where the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats meet. The village lies on the banks of the river Moyar. The study was carried out for one year during May 2005-April 2006.The vegetation of the area includes deciduous and thorn forests comprising various plant species including Albizzia amara, Bauhinea racemosa, Capparis deciduas, Cassia auriculata, Chloroxylon swietenia, Dalbergia lanceolaria, Ficus benghalensis, Lantana camara, Mangifera indica, Syzygium cuminii, Tamarindus indica, Terminalia arjuna and cultivated areas include Oryza sativa, Musa paradisiaca, Calendula officinalis, Areca catechu and Cocos nucifera.Pollard walk method was adapted for observing the butterflies following Moore (1975); Pollard et al. (1975); Walpole & Sheldon (1999). The butterflies were observed during sunny day hours (0700-1200hr). We identified the butterflies using field guides by Wynter-Blyth (1957); Kunte (1997) and followed the classification in Gaonkar (1997).In the study, 85 butterflies belonging to five families were recorded (Table 1). Among the families, the Nymphalidae were dominant with 35 species followed by Pieridae (16 species), Lycaenidae (14), Papilionidae (12) and Hesperiidae (8).Eight endemic species were seen in the study area. Six species are listed in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (Anon.,1990 with two species in Schedule I, four species in Schedule II and one species in Schedule IV. Danaid eggfly, Hypolimnas misippus is listed in Schedules I and II.

Acraea terpiscore L. is commonly known as the Tawny Coster butterfly, it belongs to the Nymphalidae or Brush-footed butterfly family. Its common larval hosts depend on the availability of Turnera subulata. The study has been carried from January to July 2015 in Thammampatti, Salem district in Tamilnadu. A. terpiscore larvae were found in Turnera subulata and Passiflora foetida. From this observation it is evident that host preference is prevalently exhibited in larval feeding of Tawny Coster. On the availability of T. subulata the choice of P. foetida is found meagre. The caterpillars were counted once a week in both the populations during an observation period of six months. T. subulata and P. foetida plants respectively envisaging its host preference of T. subulata over P. foetida. It is reported here for the first time as a new larval host of Tawny Coster.