BUTTERFLY FAUNAL DIVERSITY IN THE COLLECTION OF NATURAL
HISTORY MUSEUM, KATHMANDU, NEPAL
Milan Khanal
Symbol no.:
NEB Registration no.:
A Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of class XI practical
examination.
Submitted to
Kathmandu Model Secondary School
Bagbazar, Kathmandu, Nepal
Mangsir, 2080
i
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the work presented in this thesis has been done by myself, and has not been
submitted elsewhere for the award of any degree. All sources of information have been specifically
acknowledged by reference to the authors.
Name of the student: Milan Khanal
Date:
ii.
RECOMMENDATION
This is to recommend that the report entitled “NATURAL BUTTERFLY FAUNAL
DIVERSITY IN THE COLLECTION OF NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM,
KATHMANDU, NEPAL, has been carried out by the student of Kathmandu Model Secondary
School, Bagbazar, Kathmandu, Mr. Milan Khanal for partial fulfillment of the requirement for class
XI practical examination in Zoology. This is his/her original work and has been carried out under
my supervision. To the best of my knowledge, this work has not been submitted for any other
degree in any institutions.
------------------------------------
(Supervisor)
Monika
Maharajan
Lecturer
Kathmandu Model College
Bagbazar, Kathmandu, Nepal
Date
iii.
LETTER OF APPROVAL
On the recommendation of supervisor Ms. Monika Maharajan, Lecturer, Kathmandu Model
College, Kathmandu, Nepal, the report entitled “BUTTERFLY FAUNA DIVERSITY IN THE
COLLECTION OF NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, KATHMANDU, NEPAL" is
approved for the examination and submitted to Kathmandu Model College in partial fulfillment of
the requirement for the practical examination of class XI in Zoology.
--------------------------------------------
. Pratikshya Shrestha
Head of Department
Zoology
Kathmandu Model College
Bagbazar, Kathmandu, Nepal
Date:
iv.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Ms. Monika Maharajan, Lecturer
of Kathmandu Model College, Kathmandu, Nepal for supervising and guiding me for study and
research for the preparation of report entitled, “BUTTERFLY FAUNA DIVERSITY IN THE
COLLECTION OF NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, KATHMANDU, NEPAL”. I would
also like to express my deepest gratitude to all the respective teachers and my fellow classmates,
those who helped and guided me for the project and preparation of this report. I also would like
express my deepest gratitude to the Natural History Museum, Kathmandu, Nepal, as this project
contains profound amount of data collected from the place.
v.
Table of Contents
Title i
Declaration ii
Recommendation iii
Letter of Approval iv
Acknowledgement v
Table of Contents vi
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Objectives 2
2. Methods and materials 3
2.1 Study Area 3
2.2 Data Collection 4
3. Results 10
4. Conclusion 11
5. Bibliography 12
6. Appendix
vi.
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1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Butterflies are insects belonging to the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. They are known
for their beautiful and colorful wings and they undergo a process of metamorphosis, transitioning
through four life stages: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa and adult.
Classification of Butterfly
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Insecta
Order Lepidoptera
Family Danaidae
Genus Danaus
Species Plexippus
Butterflies have six jointed legs, a pair of antennae and three body parts called a head, thorax
(chest), and abdomen (tail end). The four wings and the six legs of a butterfly are attached to its
thorax. Special sensors on a butterfly or moths' feet allow the insect to taste their food.
Butterflies are the adult flying stage of certain insects belonging to an order or group called
Lepidoptera. Moths also belong to this group. The word "Lepidoptera" means "scaly wings" in
Greek. This name perfectly suits the insects in this group because their wings are covered with
thousands of tiny scales overlapping in rows. The scales, which are arranged in colorful designs
unique to each species, are what gives the butterfly its beauty.
Butterflies can be found in diverse habitats, including forests, gardens etc. They are distributed
worldwide except in extremely cold environment. Different species of butterflies have adopted to
specifies ecosystems and climates. Butterflies are cold-blooded and rely on external heat sources to
regulate their body temperature.
Thus, butterflies are beautiful creatures with a lot of varieties of its species. The study about such wonderful
creature will lead us to a wider range of knowledge.
1
1.2 Objective
The project was carried out in the Natural History Museum, Kathmandu, Nepal. The museum has
sample amount of information regarding various kinds of faunas. Majorly, the project was carried
out to gather the information regarding the study of various species of butterflies in the world. There
are various faunas, insects, mammals in the museum.
Some of the faunas in the museum are listed down below:
1.1.1 Beetles
1.1.2 Butterflies
1.1.3 Aves
1.1.4 Snakes
1.1.5 Mammals, etc.
Well, the main objective of the project is to guide we, students with the knowledge about various
organisms around the world. Also, the project which was carried out in the museum providing
with great amount of knowledge regarding various organisms guides students to learn it by
themselves.
2
2. Methods and Materials
2.1 Study Area
The project was carried out in the field through the direct observation. The field site is the
Natural History Museum, Kathmandu, Nepal. The field site contains profound information
regarding various species in the world. The place is worth visiting as it holds a tendency of
providing decent amount of knowledge regarding any fauna along with its species.
Pic. Map of the museum
Pic. Location of the museum
3
2.2 Data Collection
The data was collected by the direct observation in the field. There are also few secondary
sources used for the data collection for the project report. Mostly, data collected is through
direct observation i.e. field visit. The natural history of museum is the primary site for the
observation of various faunas.
4
3. Results
BUTTERFLY FAUNA COLLECTED IN NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM,
KATHAMANDU, NEPAL
[Link]. Common Name of Butterfly Scientific Name
1. Krishna Peacock butterfly Papilio krishna
2. Swallowtail butterfly Papilio palamedes
3. Monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus
4. Black swallowtail Papilio polyxenes
5. Painted lady Vanessa cardui
6. Tiger Swallowtails Papilio glaucus
7. Cabbage white Pieris rapae
8. Spring Azure Celastrina ladon
9. Large Blue Phengaris arion
10. Orange oakleaf Kallima inachus
5
The data collected regarding few species of butterflies are mentioned below:
1) Krishna Peacock Butterfly
Scientific name: Papilio krishna
The Krishna peacock, is a large swallowtail butterfly found in forests in China, Nepal, north east
India, Myanmar and Vietnam. A large beautiful butterfly with a prominent swallowtail, the Krishna
peacock has a wingspan. It has black upper forewings with a thin prominent yellow discal band
running across the wing, parallel to the body. The upper hindwing has a large blue discal patch
which tapers off into a greenish yellow band from its lower edges inwards towards the dorsum. It
has a series of red-mauve capped crescents. The upper hindwing discal band appears on the under
hindwing also as a prominent curved yellow discal band.
2) Swallowtail Butterfly
Scientific name: Papilio palamedes
Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550
species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except
Antarctica. The family includes the largest butterflies in the world, the birdwing butterflies of the
genus Ornithoptera.
3) Monarch Butterfly
Scientific name: Danaus plexippus
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly
(subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region,
include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. It is amongst the most
familiar of North American butterflies and an
iconic pollinator, although it is not an especially effective pollinator of milkweeds. Its
wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan.
4) Black swallowtail
Scientific name: Papilio polyxenes
The black swallowtail, American swallowtail or parsnip swallowtail, is a butterfly found throughout
much of North America. An extremely similar-appearing species, Papilio joanae, occurs in the
Ozark Mountains region, but it appears to be closely related to Papilio machaon. The Papilio
polyxenes demonstrates polyandry showing no male parental care and display sites. Females are
therefore able to choose males based on these sites and males are the only resource the females find
at these sites.
6
5) Painted lady
Scientific name: Vanessa cardui
The painted lady is the most widespread of all butterflies in the world. It is found throughout
Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and Central America. Although not a permanent resident
here in Wisconsin (it can only survive very mild winters here), it is a common visitor to the
garden, especially in the fall.
7
6) Tiger Swallowtails
Scientific name: Papilio glaucus
Papilio glaucus, the eastern tiger swallowtail, is a species of butterfly native to eastern North
America. It is one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern United States, ranging north to
southern Ontario, Canada, and is common in many different habitats. It flies from spring until fall,
during which it produces two to three broods. Adults feed on the nectar of many species of flowers,
mostly from those of the families Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, and Fabaceae.
7) Cabbage white
Scientific name: Pieris rapae
The small, or European, cabbage white was introduced to North America in 1860 and is one of the
most common white butterfly species in North America. Pieris rapae has white or cream-coloured
wings with small black dots and lays its eggs singly on leaves. Pieris rapae is a small- to medium-
sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is known in Europe as the
small white, in North America as the cabbage white or cabbage butterfly, on several continents as
the small cabbage white, and in New Zealand as the white butterfly.
8) Spring Azure
Scientific name: Celastrina ladon
Spring Cloud Azure is an open-source project that provides integration between your Spring
applications and Azure services, using conventional expressions and configurations that are native
to Spring application development. Despite the similarity in the name, Spring Cloud Azure is
different from Azure Spring Apps, a web hosting platform designed for running Spring Apps on
Azure.
9) Large Blue
Scientific name: Phengaris arion
The large blue (Phengaris arion) is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The species was
first defined in 1758 and first recorded in Britain in 1795. In 1979 the species became mostly
extinct in Britain but has been successfully reintroduced with new conservation methods.
8
10) Orange oakleaf
Scientific name: Kallima inachus
The butterfly wings are shaped like a leaf when in the closed position. When the wings are closed,
only the cryptic underside markings are visible, which consists of irregular patterns and striations
in many shades of biscuit, buff, browns, yellow, and black. The veins are darkened and resemble
the veins of a leaf. The resemblance to a dried leaf, a masquerade, is extremely realistic and gives
the genus its common names, the oakleaf or dead leaf.
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4. Conclusion
This survey concluded that in the Natural History Museum, Kathmandu, Nepal, many species of
butterflies were found safely collected with scientific labels that includes systematic taxonomic
hierarchy, name of collectors, date of collection of the particular specimens or species. The project
and the report tend to conclude that the diversification of species has a wide range and its study
makes an individual attain profound knowledge on a specific topic along with their scientific name
and taxonomical classification.
10
Bibliography
1. [Link]
2. Wikipedia (The free Encyclopedia)
11
Appendix
12