Biology and distribution of butterfly fauna of Hazara University, Garden Campus, Mansehra, Pakistan

The butterflies are beautiful creature of nature with great economic importance as pollinator as well as bio-indicator of environments. The present survey was conducted to determine the biology and distribution of butterfly fauna of Hazara University, Garden Campus, Mansehra, Pakistan during March-June 2012. The study area was divided into 3 quadrates, i.e., residential area, administration area and main campus. A total of 170 specimens were collected, 10 species were identified belonging to 3 different families and falling in 8 genera. The species were identified. The painted lady, Cynthia cardui (Linnaeus);blue pansy, Junonia orithya Linnaeus;and plain tiger, Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus) were belonging to family Nymphalidae. The lime butterfly, Papilio demoleus Linnaeus and com-mon mormon, P. polytes Linnaeus were belonging to family Papilionidae. The dark clouded yellow, Colias croceus (Geoffroy);common grass yellow, Eumera hecab (Linnaeus);Murree green-veined white, Pieris ajaka Moore;green-veined white, P. napi (Linnaeus) and Bath white, Pontia daplidice (Linnaeus) were belonging to family Pieridae. The body sizes of E. hecabe and J. orithya were minimum, i.e., 1.4 cm (n = 4 - 13), however, D. chrysippus was maximum, i.e., 2.5 cm (n = 1). The wingspan of E. hecabe was minimum, i.e., 3.7 cm (n = 4), however, P. polytes was maximum, i.e., 7.5 cm (n = 1). Proper preventive measures should be taken into consideration in order to minimize the natural habitat loss, as butterfly fauna is dependent upon proper environmental conditions.

Characterization of insect-fauna of the free-ranging urban dog, Canis domesticus (L.) carcass in tropical region of Pakistan: A tool for forensic entomology

As the authors’ request, the following paper published in Vol.1, No.2, 29-37, 2013 has been withdrawn from the website.

Comparative Characterization of the Ladybird Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from Hazara University, Garden Campus, Mansehra, Pakistan

The ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) have great economic importance as natural enemies. Three hundred individuals belonging to 6 genera and 7 species of the subfamily, Coccinellinae and the tribe, Coccinellini was collected during March-May, 2011 from 3 study sites of Hazara University, Garden Campus, Mansehra, Pakistan. They were reported maximum (83.3%) from residential area and minimum (8%) from administration area. All collected species have glabrous hair on their slightly elongated or rounded bright colored body. The seven-spotted ladybug, Coccinella septempunctata (Linnaeus) has maximum (average: 6.7 ± 0.77 cm;n = 15) and Adalia tetraspilota (Hope) has minimum (average: 4.2 ± 0.15 cm;n = 14) body length. Moreover, transverse ladybird, Coccinella transversalis (Fabricius) has maximum (average: 4.8 ± 0.35 cm;n = 10) and Oenopia sauzeti (Mulsant) (n = 9) or adonis ladybird, Hippodamia variegate (Goeze) (n = 10) has minimum (3.1 cm) body width. Except six-spotted zigzag ladybird, Menochilus sexmaculatus (Fabricius) (n = 12), all collected species have black head, varied but attractive and dark in color pronotum and elytra, black scutellum except in fifteen-spotted ladybird, Harmonia dimidiate (Fabricius) (n = 10) which was brownish. The ventral side of body of A. tetraspilota was dark brown, however, C. septempunctata, C. transversalis, H. variegate and O. sauzeti were black;moreover, H. dimidiata was brownish-orange;further, M. sexmaculatus was brown. It is concluded that ladybird beetles of HU have great diversity. Their further studies have been needed for education and awareness.

Checklist of the First Recorded Spider Fauna in Sheringal, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The spiders are the member of the class Arachnida of the phylum Arthropoda with a hard cephalothorax and soft abdomen. They are environmental indicators and play an important role in biological control of insect population. The present study was conducted to prepare the checklist of the first recorded spider fauna of the 6 quadrates, i.e., Daramdala, Doki, Guryaal, Samang, Shahoor and Sia-Sheringal of Sheringal, Dir Upper (DU), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan during June 2013-July 2014. Ten species (spp) belonging to 7 families, and 10 genera (n = 123: total;n = 77: identified;n = 46: unidentified) were recorded. The family Opilionidae (n = 12): harvestmen spider, Hadrobunus grandis Sundevall, 1833;family, Hersiliidae (n = 6): two-tailed spider, Harsilia savignyi Lucas, 1836;family, Pholcidae (n = 10): cellar spider, Crossopriza lyoni Blackwall, 1867;family, Araneidae (n = 5): garden spider, Araneus diadematus Clerck, 1757;family, Gnaphosidae (n = 3): ground spider, Gnaphosa eucalyptus Ghafoor and Beg, 2002 were with one species;family, Sparassidae (n = 19), huntsman spider with 2 spp including Halconia insignis Thorell, 1836, and Isopeda tuhogniga Barrion and Litsinger, 1995;while the highest number of species caught from family Lycosidae (n = 20): wolf spider with 3 spp including Arctosa littorali Simon, 1897;Hippasa partita Takidar, 1970 and Pardosa distincta Backwall, 1867 were recorded. It was concluded that 7 families with 10 genera and species each, respectively, were identified from the study area. A detail study is required for further enhancing of the biodiversity of the spider fauna of Sheringal, KP, Pakistan for synthesis of the ethnozoopharmaco-products.

巴基斯坦北方南部地区狩猎活动对鹤类的影响(英文)

我们研究了巴基斯坦北方南部两个地区的狩猎活动对蓑羽鹤(Anthropoides virgo)和灰鹤(Grus grus)的影响。数据主要来自于野外调查、访谈及问卷调查。于2008年秋季和2009年春季分别调查了165个和85个狩猎营地。这些营地的大部分狩猎者持有野生动物狩猎许可证且狩猎活动是以休闲为目的。根据我们的调查,由于受到过度狩猎、自然栖息地的破坏、人类活动及地理因素的影响,这两种鹤在该地区的种群数量正逐渐下降。为此,我们提出了应对策略以保护这两种鹤。