MADURAI: Special efforts are being made by the American College in Madurai to create more awareness about butterflies among the students and general public and one of the plans is to establish butterfly museum in the college main campus here in the city.
The Department of Zoology of The American College had conducted the annual Big Butterfly Month celebration event on September 25th 2025 where the UG and PG Zoology Associations had led the initiative for butterfly count and photo contest to kindle interest about butterflies.
“We want to establish butterfly museum in the zoology department of our college campus in Madurai because we are working from the year 2009 in butterfly studies. If we get funding support from the government, it will take shape soon,” Dr.E.Joy Sharmila, Associate Professor and Head of Postgraduate and Research Department of Zoology, The American College, has said today.
The butterfly count this year had revealed that there is a noticeable decline in butterfly population in the main campus which used to be the main hub for butterflies.
Dr.Joy Sharmila had documented butterfly diversity in Alagar Hills Reserve Forest (101 species) and Sirumalai Hills (168 species), and there is a project study going on right now in Kodimangalam Reserve Forest and that study is being spearheaded by research scholar B.Archana with funding support by the Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology, according to a press release.
“Students and researchers in the Zoology Department of American College are examining various aspects of butterfly biology, wing structure, scale morphology, pigmentation structural coloration and chemical compostion of wings. Already there is a dedicated butterfly garden in our college campus to support butterfly conservation and observation. This year’s survey had recorded 36 butterfly species from our college’s satellite campus at Chatharpatti. For the butterfly studies, a significant collaborative research has been conducted with Dr.Stephen Inbanathan fro the physics department and Dr.Sharon from the mathematics department,” the press release said.
The butterfly species that were noticed in this year’s count include Double Banded Crow, Dark Blue Tiger, Common Banded Peacock, Red Flash, Common Oak Blue, Common Jay, Tiny Grass Blue etc.
“The initiative for butterfly count and butterfly month celebrations 2025 were coordinated by soology team comprising Dr.E.Joy Sharmila (PG Head), Dr.P.Velladurai (UG Head), Dr.Sivaruban Thambiratnam (assistant professor), Dr.Stella Mary (assistant professor) and research scholar B.Archana. The coordination team also includes J.Vashini Abiya (student secretary of PG Zoology Association) and M.Deva Sri Prakash (student secretary of UG Zoology Association),” according to the press release.
