Hindawi Publishing Corporation Dataset Papers in Biology Volume 2013, Article ID 451461, 4 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.7167/2013/451461 Dataset Paper Butter�y ��ecies �ist �or �elected �est Albertine �i�t �orests Patrice Kasangaki, 1 Anne M. Akol, 2 and Gilbert Isabirye Basuta 2 1 National Livestock Resources Research Institute (NaLIRRI), P.O. Box 96, Tororo, Uganda 2 Department of Biological Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda Correspondence should be addressed to Patrice Kasangaki; pkasangaki2005@yahoo.com Received 1 May 2012; Accepted 10 June 2012 Academic Editors: M. Skoracki and P. Tryjanowski Copyright © 2013 Patrice Kasangaki et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. is dataset gives details on a study which was conducted in seventeen forests in western Uganda (Albertine region) between 1993 and 1995. Different methods were used to sample butter�ies from these forests. A total of 630 butter�y species were collected in 5 main families. Key characteristics of the forests were recorded, and these were found to in�uence the butter�y species richness of the forests. 1. Introduction Butter�ies are known to respond to environmental changes, and there have been considerable amounts of data collected on how particular species contend with alteration in land use [1, 2] and thus may play a valuable role in ecological monitoring [3]. In Uganda, some 1245 species of butter�ies have been recorded [4] from a variety of habitats, and it is thus feasible to evaluate the butter�y fauna of the region as well as derive reasonably accurate comparisons of sites and subsequently identify conservation requirements. is dataset paper exam- ines the butter�y species diversity and distribution in selected West Albertine Ri Forests. 2. Methodology is study was based on secondary data collected by the former Forest Department, now National Forestry Authority (NFA), over a period of three years from January 1993 to December 1995 as part of a National Forestry Biodiversity in seventeen forests (see [5]). For the purposes of this study, West Albertine Ri Forests were taken to be those found within the geographical boundaries north of Lake Albert between Arua and Pakwach (West Nile) and the forests of western Uganda (Figure 1). Twelve �ne-mesh cylindrical traps (approximately 70 × 40 cm diameter) were set at a range of heights from 1 to 10 m above ground level for the duration of the survey. A variety of baits including fermenting banana, dog feces, chicken offal, urine, and locally distilled alcohol were used in the traps. Traps were checked regularly, and representative specimens of each species were collected. For those species not usually attracted to traps, sweep netting was carried out daily in a range of habitat types within the forests. e average sampling efforts for each forest were measured in terms of man-days and the different forests’ characteristics recorded (Table 1). Secondary data on the ecological attributes of interest (forest size, altitude, plant species richness, rainfall, and temperature) and the human activities in the forests recorded by the Forest Department were used to generate Table 1. We made visits to the forests in order to determine the levels of human activities in them. It was these activities which were regarded as forest disturbance. e activities considered for the purpose of this study were lumbering, agriculture (crop and livestock), hunting, charcoal burning, and settlement. ese were arbitrarily scored within a range of 0–5, where 0 is nonexistent and 5 is the highest activity present. All the collected specimens were put in papers with their wing folded on the back and later identi�ed. e species list was compiled as shown in Dataset Item 1 (Table).