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Spatial distribution of butterflies in different macrohabitat in a university campus in Southern-Nigeria

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Abstract

Butterfly fauna remains an important bio-indicator species in maintaining a healthy habitat, agents for plant richness, amongst others. Spatial distribution of butterflies in four habitat types including shrub, forested areas, agricultural farmland and riverside using baited traps and pollard walk methods was conducted from April to August, 2019 to ascertain the records of butterfly checklist in Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. Findings of the study revealed a total of 430 individuals and 44 species of butterflies belonging to four families such as Nymphalidae Papilionidae, Pieridae, and Lycaenidae. Nymphalidae had the highest species and individuals (72.7% and 74.9%) and lowest in Lycaenidae. Of all the species collected, Acraea serena was the most abundant recording highest Shannon diversity index (H = 2.477), Simpson Dominance (1-D = 0.874), and Margalef (5.368). Alpha diversity in various habitat revealed highest Simpson Dominance (1-D = 0.893), Shannon index (H = 2.627), and Margalef index (4.932) in forest area. However, species were evenly distributed (0.682) and equitable (J = 0.834) in the riverside habitat. Abundance-Distribution Model shows high significance variation in species obtained from the shrub, agricultural farm and forested areas with an exception to the riverside habitat (χ2 = 0.57, p = 0.99). The present study is not conclusive as future studies are required to update butterfly checklist. More so, habitat destruction or disruption, a major threat to butterfly conservation, should be placed on check.

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Data availability

All the data are analyzed and presented in the article.

Abbreviations

VC:

Very Common

C:

Common

R:

Rare

SH:

Shrub

RS:

Riverside

AF:

Agricultural Farmland

FA:

Forested Areas

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, Delta State University, Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria

    Cynthia C. Ojianwuna & Victor N. Enwemiwe

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  1. Cynthia C. Ojianwuna
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  2. Victor N. Enwemiwe
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Contributions

VN collected and analyzed field data. CC and VN interpreted the analyzed data. CC and VN wrote and reviewed the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Victor N. Enwemiwe.

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Ojianwuna, C.C., Enwemiwe, V.N. Spatial distribution of butterflies in different macrohabitat in a university campus in Southern-Nigeria. Int J Trop Insect Sci 41, 2657–2668 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-021-00447-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-021-00447-1

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