Biodiversity, the diversity of living things on Earth, is an imperative measure of the Earth’s health. Biodiversity provides enormous direct or indirect benefits to humans, with at least 40% of the world’s economy being derived from biological resources. Biological resources offer the raw materials for livelihoods, sustenance, medicines, trade, tourism, and industry. Genetic variety delivers the basis for new breeding programs, enhanced crops, boosted agricultural production, and food security. Forests, grasslands, freshwater, and marine and other natural ecosystems afford a range of services, often not recognized in national economic accounts but important to human welfare: regulating water flows, flood control, pollination, decontamination, carbon sequestration, biodiversity protection, and nutrient and hydrological cycling. Sound ecosystem management provides countless streams of benefits to, and opportunities for, human societies, while also supporting the web of life. Among the invertebrates, butterflies are sufficiently well studied since their populations respond more rapidly to adverse environmental changes than longer lived organisms. Butterflies being highly differentiated in their habits, require precise ecological conditions for their existence. Natural forests, grasslands, canopies of trees as well as wet areas along the banks of rivers and streams are the typical butterfly habitats. However, due to several reasons, mainly due to human intrusion, the habitats of various butterflies have been reformed. Consequently, many species of butterflies that were once very common in our locality and country sides have vanished. It has been stated that extinction of a single species would eventually lead to extinction of about a dozen or more species that are linked with it. Biological diversity is increasingly recognized as a vital parameter to assess global and local environmental changes and sustainability of developmental activities (Collins,1984). Butterflies are potentially useful ecological indicators of urbanization because they are sensitive to changes in microclimate, temperature, solar radiation, and the availability of host plants for ovipositing and larval development (D’Abrera,1982; Dempster,1980).The four main aspects that threaten Swallowtails are habitat alteration and destruction, pollution, introduction of exotic species and commercial exploitation. In general, these threats are either the direct result of increasing human population pressure or else are enhanced by it (Ehrlich et al.,1980). The most critical threat to a wild species is the destruction and alteration of biotopes and habitats in which they live (Thomas,1980; Ford,1944;Fordyce and Nice, 2003). In the case of Swallowtails, the significant forms of habitat alteration that affect their existence are 1) deforestation, 2) agricultural conversion and intensification, 3) alteration of pastures and 4) industrialization and urbanization. These factors often lead to habitat alteration leading to changes in weather parameters like temperature, humidity and rainfall, resulting in diminution of butterfly wealth. Prevalence of unfavourable weather conditions often affect habitat fitness leading to local extinction of butterflies (Van der Made 1987; Pollard 1979; Dempster and Hall 1980; Ehrlich et al 1980; Thomas 1980).
Various efforts have been made to protect butterflies in diverse parts of the world. Some of the strategies adopted for butterfly conservation includes legislation and international conventions and ranching and farming of Swallowtails. At present there are no institutions in India for undertaking research on rare or endangered butterflies, to monitor their population status and to maintain stock cultures through habitat enrichment. However, this is going to be a tremendous task with several challenges. Research on the Birdwing butterflies has demonstrated that indepth knowledge of breeding biology and general ecology are required to pay dividends in terms of both conservation and rational exploitation. Further, carefully directed research could be of great benefit in the conservation of this family as a whole. Butterfly population size, vulnerability and structure together constitute perhaps the most urgent information required for any possible conservation target. In this context, the role of landscaped sites in conserving the diversity and dynamics of Swallowtail butterflies were presented in this paper.