Checklist of butterfly fauna (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) of Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

The present study was carried out from Sindh, Pakistan during 2012-2013. A total of 1,964 specimens of butterflies were collected from the different localities of Sindh, Pakistan. The identification was done through available literature. Among collected specimens, 67 species belonging to 41 genera of 16 subfamilies falling in 6 families were identified. Our result showed that Lycaenidae was the richest family; comprising 19 species followed by Pieridae comprising 18 species, Nymphalidae 11 species, Hesperiidae 11 species, Danaidae comprising 5 species and Papilionidae comprising 03 species were reported. The present study was first time attempt to make the checklist of butterfly fauna of Sindh, Pakistan.

Some Records of Skippers (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea: Hesperiidae) from Balochistan Province, Pakistan

“…Earlier reported from Balochistan: Quetta; Punjab: Rawalpindi and Sindh: Karachi (Roberts, 2001). However, recently this species was reported from Sindh (Mal et al, 2014).…”

“…However, earlier reported from Balochistan: Khuzdar; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Dera Ismail Khan, Parachinar; Sindh: Hyderabad, Karachi; Punjab: Multan and Lahore (Roberts, 2001). Reported from Sindh (Mal et al, 2014).…”

“…Roberts (2001) first time reported 41 species from Pakistan. Recently (Mal et al, 2014) documented 11 species from Sindh.…”

Coasting along to a wider range: niche conservatism in the recent range expansion of the Tawny Coster, Acraea terpsicore (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

“…A range‐shifting species is “a species tracking its environmental niche through a range expansion or relocation beyond its historical native range” (Wallingford et al., 2020). Acraea terpsicore was until recently considered endemic to the Indian subcontinent (India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – Chowdhury et al., 2017; Larsen, 2004; van der Poorten & van der Poorten, 2016; Wynter‐Blyth, 1957), but during the past few decades it has naturally and rapidly expanded its geographic range, with chronological records from the following countries (years): Thailand (1984–1988: Nishimura, 1994; Takanishi, 1988; West, 1996), Nepal (<1989: Smith, 1989), Malay Peninsula (1992: Arshad et al., 1996), Vietnam (1992: Nishimura, 1994; Pierre & Bernaud, 1997), China (Hainan) (1994: Chou, 1994; Huang, 2002), Singapore (2006: Khew, 2008), Indonesia (2008–2011: Braby et al., 2014a; Matsumoto et al., 2012), Timor‐Leste (2012: Braby, Bertelsmeier, et al., 2014), Australia (2012: Braby, Bertelsmeier, et al., 2014; Braby, Thistleton & Neal, 2014; Sanderson et al., 2012), Laos (2012: Nakamura & Wakahara, 2012); Pakistan (2012: Mal et al., 2014), Cambodia (2013: Braby, Thistleton, & Neal, 2014), Bhutan (2014: Nidup, 2015) and Malaysian Borneo (2016: Abang et al., 2017).…”