The preliminary study of feeding behaviour in monarch butterfly (danus plexippus) in Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The butterflies are diurnal and very attractive organisms with the aesthetical and economical values. Ecologists use the butterflies as the model organism to study the impact of the habitat loss and climatic change. Preliminary study of the butterflies and its feeding behaviour not as great in Batticaloa district. Therefore, the present study was carried out to assess the feeding behaviour in Monarch butterfly during the morning and evening hours of a day. The objective of this study was to assess the feeding behaviour of butterfly in morning and evening hours and the detailed ethogram steps of feeding behaviour of butterfly. The present study was carried out in a selected home garden in Batticaloa during the period of February to March 2016.The Monarch butterfly was observed with 10 minutes interval per hour. The time taken for each feeding was recorded in seconds for both morning and evening hours. Totally 15 trials were taken on each attempt during the period of study. The time taken for the feeding in each time was recorded by digital stopwatch and Canon EOS digital camera. Data were analyzed statistically using Microsoft Excel 2013 for Chi – square test. Results (X2 ,p< 0.05) of the present study revealed that the feeding behaviour of Monarch butterflies were significantly high in morning hours in comparing with the evening hours.