S. W. N. BAHAAR AND G.A. BHAT
Abstract
In the study on the rice field Lepidoptera of north-west Kashmir (34o02N; 74o16E) a total of 22 taxa belonging to 8 families of butterflies and moths were registered. The qualitative dominance of various families was depicted as: Nymphalidae (6 taxa) < Pieridae (5 taxa) < Lycaenidae (4 taxa) < Noctuidae (2 taxa); Geometridae (2 taxa) < Hesperiidae (1 taxon); Arctiidae (1 taxon); Crambidae (1 taxon). Diversity was calculated using Simpsons Index (D), Simpsons Index of Diversity (1-D), Simpsons Reciprocal Index (1/D), Shannon-Weiner Index (H), Margalef Richness Index (d), and Evenness Index (e) depicting a rich assemblage of lepidopteran fauna highlighting the contribution of rice fields in maintaining biodiversity of this region. The impact of anthropogenic interferences on the density and distributions was quite evident.