Butterflies are good indicators of the health status of certain ecosystems because of their sensitivity to environmental alterations. Despite this, few studies have been conducted on this important taxon, especially in disturbed habitats near Mt. Matutum Protected Landscape of South Cotabato province, Philippines. Thus, an inventory of species composition and status of butterflies was conducted in agroecosystem and forest patch in Acmonan, Tupi, South Cotabato. Result of the study revealed 34 butterfly species belonging to five families. Among these families, Nymphalidae dominates with 16 species, followed by Lycaenidae with seven species, Papillionidae with five species and Peiridae with four species. Family Hesperiidae is least represented with only two species identified. Of the 34 species identified, three are known to be Philippine endemic: Celarchus archagathos archagathos, Ragadia melindena melindena, Ypthima s. stellera, and 1 Mindanao endemic - Ypthima sensilis; three rare: Euripus nyctelius nysia, Symbrenthia hypatia matuti (site endemic) and Ypthima sensilis, and five uncommon species. This result implies that disturbed ecosystem like agricultural areas provides a unique habitat for butterflies; however, sustainable conservation strategies must also be employed to balance biodiversity and livelihood of the community.
Mangaoang et al. (2019) studied this question.