The butterfly fauna of an unlogged wet evergreen site
in Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve was compared with that of an adjoining 30-year-old selectively logged site. Comparison of the vegetation structure of both sites showed that the canopy was less contiguous and the ground cover was higher in the logged site. Species richness, abundance, and diversity of butterflies were higher in the selectively logged site. Species abundance in both forests types fitted log series distribution, which indicates that only a small portion of the assemblage occur in high abundance. Examination of habitat usage by the butterflies showed that the logged forest harbored a greater number of ubiquitous species along with the wet forest assemblage. Few species like Idea malabarica showed restraint in logged site, while there was a release of few other species in logged site. Implications of these results for butterfly conservation are discussed
