The Nature and Butterfly Society (TNBS) is aiming and working to systematically collect and record number of butterfly species occurring in the state of Tamil Nadu in various habitats and in various times of the year. Towards this end, systematic data is being collected for more than 6 years now mainly through personal efforts of members through Butterfly walks held in various habitats. Geographic
ally, the Western, Southern and the North Western parts of Tamil Nadu are hilly and rich in vegetation. The Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats meet at the Nilgiri hills. The Western Ghats dominate the entire western border with Kerala, effectively blocking much of the rain bearing clouds of the South West monsoon from entering the state. The Eastern parts are fertile Coastal Plains and the Northern parts are a mix of hills and plains. The Central and the South-Central regions are arid plains and receive less rainfall than the other regions (Source: WIKI). It is quite natural that Tamil Nadu with its varied habitat can house maximum of species that occur in Peninsular India. No recent systematic survey of the state has been done on Butterflies and the list of butterflies available on-line for Tamil Nadu is a just a copy of Kerala (this needs to be validated too). Hence, a systematic and organized way of collecting butterflies is the need of the hour as most of the species are expected to occur primarily in the hills and foothills of Western and Eastern Ghats. As a result, data collected will be incomplete without these being properly studied and surveyed.
