Butterflies are the indicators of various ecological characteristics of a habitat. They are highly sensitive to the changes in the environment and thus would help to determine the health of the ecosystem. Hence assessing the diversity of butterflies of an area becomes very much significant. The present study on butterfly diversity during the monsoon season was carried out in Bangalore – urban, at two different study areas; Doresanipalya reserve forest and Lalbagh Botanical garden. Random survey of butterflies was done using a Line transect method. A total of 43 species of butterflies, belonging to six families were recorded in the Doresanipalya forest and a total of 30 species, belonging to five families were recorded in Lalbagh. The family Nymphalidae was found to be dominant family at both the study areas. The diversity indices such as Shannon-Weiner diversity index, Shannon Evenness index and Simpsons diversity index were calculated for the study sites.

Keywords : Butterfly, Diversity, Forest, Line-Transect, Monsoon, Urban Forest.