Tephrosia purpurea, the potential nectar source for the butterflies in Jodhpur, an arid zone of Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India
Keywords:
Biodiversity, cross-pollination, environment, flowers, food chain, nectar guides, pollinatorsAbstract
Observations of plant-insect interactions in the Jodhpur, an extreme arid zone of Thar Desert, Rajasthan have been supported by photographic evidence. The research focused on plant taxa: Tephrosia purpurea subsp. purpurea and T. purpurea subsp. apollinea belonging to the Fabaceae family. A total of 26 butterflies belongs to the families Hesperiidae (Skippers), Lycaenidae (Blues), Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies), Papilionidae (Swallowtails) and Pieridae (Whites and Yellows), have been recorded here. It was found that these two plants are a major source of nectar, that are part of the diet, and they are larval host plants. In the study area, these butterflies visited other desert plant species. However, these observations explain the importance of these two native taxa of plants for the conservation of pollinators in the arid zones of the country.
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