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Abstract
In both urban and rural areas of Ranchi district of Jharkhand, an unusual unidirectional movement of butterflies was observed between April 20 and 30, 2020, and the migration reached its peak from April 20–27, 2020. The migratory swarm composed mainly Catopsilia pomona and Papilio demoleus. In all 65,000 butterflies were observed with 99% of Catopsilia pomona in them. Population count of migratory butterflies was conducted using ‘Point count’ and ‘Transect walk’, and the activity of butterflies was found to be at peak during mid-day hours i.e., 10:30–11:00 hours. Movement pattern of these butterflies varied with temperature and rainfall. However, this migration can not only be to prevent the movement in bad weather but also to avoid competition at the site of emergence, and also to utilize the availability of suitable host plant resources at the destination site, which depends on the factors of climate change.
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