Butterfly diversity in and around Rampurhat, West Bengal, India was studied during June to November, 2017. A total of 30 butterfly species belonging to the families of Nymphalidae (47.6%), Pieridae (21.8%), Papilionidae (20.2%), Lycaenidae (6.57%) and Hesperidae (3.78%) were identified in the present investigation. Based on observation of the species concerned, 47.7% species are very common, 40.2% are common, 11.4% are not rare, 0.53% are rare and only 0.07% are very rare. In respect to diversity indices, Shannon Weiner diversity score is highest in the family Nymphalidae (H=2.14) and lowest in the family Lycaenidae (H=1.04). Evenness index (J) also shows same tendency. According to Simpson’s index, Nymphalidae is also dominant family (score 1/D=0.4762). Among these five families Family Hesperiidae bears only one species, Chest nut bob. The butterflies those show high occurrence in these months are Zizula hylax (Lycaenidae), Danaus chrysippus (Nymphalidae), Eurema hecabe (Pieridae) and Papilio polytes (Paplionidae). Present findings of various species of butterfly indicate the influence of available vegetation and other allied factors like rainfall, wind speed, temperature etc. The study suggests conservation management of butterfly species to maintain ecosystem integrity.
