The New light of Myanmar
Tuesday, 1 June , 2004

More butterflies we have, more forest we get

Myanmar has a diversity of species of which over 7,000 plants have been recorded. Also she has a rich diversity of butterfly fauna, about 68 swellow tail butterflies represent 12% of the world total making it the fifth richest country of the world. They have attractive colour and elegant flight. They number in 10 families and about 17,500 species in the world, out of these 9 families and 1,014 species including six of the rare species.

The people of the developed countries seek to spend their vacation at tropical and subtropical environments. It is most surprising that a total of 290 butterfly species were collected from Taninthayi Division. One thousand and fourteen butterflies of Myanmar have been recorded by Talbot’s work on the fauna of British India including Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

Myanmar’s forest covers half of the land area contatining the great diversity of the butterflies. The exact number of the existing butterfly species in these forests are not yet known. No one knows exactly how many butterfly species exist in the world.

Greening projects are being implemented in 13 districts and it is sure to emerge new forests such as Mount Popa, protected forest in central Myanmar. These forest would provide habitat for species diversity. Myanmar has protected forests for plants and animals such as rain forest, monsoon forest and so on. The existence of great diversity of butterflies is due to different geographical region with various of ecological conditions. Thus Taxonomic studies on the butterfly species have been carried out in Universities. Forest area in Myanmar is over fifty percent of the whole country. Geographical conditions and environments are in a proper position. Thus further studies and surveys still need to carry on some areas which previous researchers have not yet studied. Because human resources and natural resources are most basic assets for national development. Some countries which have large area of desert, hilly regions and forest and few water resources have less agriculture land so they cannot rely on agriculture for income. Instead they have to set up industries and import food such as wheat and rice. In these countries they would like to raise butterfly for pollination and seed dispersion. They can use as helper in cultivation for their country. No species can survive in isolation: all species depend on one another directly on indirectly for their survival. Environmentalists and naturalists say that: Thousands of species worldwide are under threat from overuse, loss of habitat and environmental pollution. Because species in ecosystems are interdependent, the loss of one species can lead to the disappearance of many others. Trees in the rain forest are being decimated for timber. And the destruction continues, resulting in the loss of valuable species which could have been exploited by humans for various uses.
Habitat degradation, loss or modification is considered to be the most comprehensive indicator of lost of butterflies. Ecological disaster such as floods, forest fires, are quite common throughout the world. In this way diverse species such as plants, wild animals, birds and butterflies were threatened. Extinction can occur when the biotic potential becomes negative and population cannot recover. Once a population has declined significantly, it may be difficult or impossible for it to rebound.
Major causes of extinction generally are related to human activities for butterflies. Developing a new ecological or green economic is an important contemporary challenge.

Among the beautiful papilionidae include large and magnificantly coloured butterflies. We must collect many species from anywhere. Two methods were used to collect. The first method is rapid side stroke when the insect was in flight, the second method is downward stroke when the butterfly is at rest. The net was then twisted over the frame to prevent the butterfly from escaping. These were anes-thetized by using chloroform pieces of cotton wool soaked with chloroform is placed in a bottle. A piece of paper was placed above the specimen before dropping the chloroform soaked cotton wool into the bottle. The anesthetized specimen were then transferred into envelops. Specimen were mounted on spreading board and left to dry about three hours under sunlight and then they were stored in insect boxes. Identification and classification followed after Bingham, Talbot and Mani. These have been the valuable references for us since 1939.

This article will certainly stimulate many more people to conserve the butterflies and many species of forest plants are pollinated by them. These plants cannot reproduce without them. From the perspective of wild life conservation the number of species of butterflies can be used as an indicator of the condition of the wilderness of the country. The more diverse the species composition, the better the condition of the forest. Ecotourists interested in butterfly collecting have been coming to our country. But now an illustrated checklist for the butterflies of Myanmar is the outcome of the research work of Zoology Department, Yangon University. This publication was compilation work of Stephen Kinyon (Smith-sonian Institute and it would be invaluable to us especially to scholars and researchers of Universities. This publication is the best reference for us now.

Author : Sein Sein Thein (Dagon University)