The study of butterfly diversity (Order: Lepidoptera) at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli Campus

Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli Campus (UMKKJ) is located in rural area of Jeli district in Kelantan state. The butterfly diversity study has been conducted at UMKKJ for one month from July to August 2017 at three selected sampling sites that are Site A (Bukit Gaharu), Site B (Student Academic Building area /B.A.P) and Site C (IBS hostel area) as to determine the species richness and abundance of butterfly species within UMKKJ. Butterflies were sampled using aerial net and the butterfly traps along 200 m transect line and they are preserved using dry preservation method. A total of 274 individuals of butterflies belonging to five families (Hesperiidae, Lycaenidae, Nymphalidae, Papilionidae and Pieridae) comprise of 47 species were recorded. Family Nymphalidae were represented by 27 species (57%) was the most species rich family. In term of location, Bukit Gaharu had the highest number of species (40 species), followed by Site C (27 species) and Site B (26 species). The Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (H') of Site A was 3.49, followed by Site C (H‘=3.14) and Site B (l-I'=3.07) whereas Hmax indicates the value of 3.85. The Pielou’s Evenness Index (J‘) for Site A and Site C was slightly higher (0.95) compared to Site B (0.94). The overall value for Shannon-Wiener Diversity index indicates the value of 3.48 showing highly diverse species meanwhile the Pielou’s Evenness Index obtained 0.9 which indicates almost complete evenness. The result obtained shows UMKKJ has potential to be developed as the conservation site for butterflies as the campus itself is rich in butterfly species diversity.