Species Distribution Modeling of Variable Tawny Rajah (Charaxes bernardus hierax) in some unusual habitats of West Bengal, India: implications for conservation

Abstract

Abstract Lepidopteran species serve as one of the most important pollinators in ecosystem and this species also coevolved with their nectaring plants. They regarded as one of the good indicators of ecosystem health due to their high sensitivity to the changes in environmental variables. There are numerous butterfly and moth species are found in India whose possible distribution in the geographic areas yet to be known. In our present study we try to find out the predicted distribution area of Variable Tawny Rajah (Charaxes bernardus hierax) in West Bengal by the use MaxEnt 3.4.4 program. It was observed that northern part of West Bengal consists of greater areas that contain suitable environmental conditions (maximum and moderate) than southern part of West Bengal. The regions with > 304 mm and > 105 mm precipitation (bio 13 and bio 15) are considered to suitable for sustaining this species. This type of study may helps to provide an idea about predicted distribution of Charaxes bernardus hierax in West Bengal and selection of conservation strategies for this butterfly species in particular geographical region.