Abstract: 【Aim】Habitat types and environmental factors have an important effect on species distribution and maintenance. In this study, the effects of different habitat types on butterfly community diversity and community structure, as well as the effects of environmental factors on butterfly species richness and abundance, were analyzed to lay a foundation for the study on the maintenance mechanism of butterfly diversity on varying regional scale.【Methods】In August and October 2019, we investigated the species of butterflies in five habitats including natural forest, secondary forest, complex habitat, artificial forest and farmland, by using the transect-line method in Xishuangbanna area, Yunnan, southwestern China, and analyzed the diversity of butterfly communities, community structure similarity and the relationship of species richness and abundance with environmental factors.【Results】A total of 2 226 butterflies were collected in Xishuangbanna in 2019, belonging to 175 species, 98 genera, and 11 families. The species richness of butterflies on Xishuangbanna prefecture-level scale was higher than that in county scale. On Xishuangbanna prefecture-level scale, there were significant differences in the species richness and abundance of butterflies among the five habitats, while on county scale, the species richness, abundance, and Chao 1 species richness estimate values showed no consistent rule. The similarity results of the community structure showed that there were extremely significant differences in the community structure of butterflies on Xishuangbanna prefecture-level scale among different habitat types. On county scale, only the butterfly community structure in Mengla was significantly different among different habitat types. This study also revealed that butterfly species richness and abundance were affected not only by habitat types, but also by temperature, average annual precipitation and altitude.【Conclusion】These results suggest that habitat types have a greater impact on the diversity of butterflies in Xishuangbanna, while temperature, average annual precipitation and altitude are important factors of maintaining the diversity of butterfly species on varying regional scales. These findings have important implications for biodiversity conservation in the current era of human-induced habitat loss and climate change.

Key words: Varying regional scale, habitat types, butterfly, diversity, community structure, environmental factor, Xishuangbanna