This study was carried out between July 2007 and April 2008 in Jamshedpur, a large city in the east Indian state of Jharkhand. The author studied behavioural patterns of four butterfly and one moth species (Mottled emigrant, Catopsilia pyranthe, Common Mormon, Papilio polytes, Common Indian crow, Euploea core, Plain tiger, Danaus chrysippus, and Toadflax moth, Calophasia lunula). Observations were made in the kitchen garden and garden of Swarn Vihar, the garden and forest of Telco temple, and the butterfly garden of the zoological park of Jamshedpur to enumerate the butterfly and moth species in different habitats. Typical observations made cover patterns of activity and rest, where butterflies took shelter, which nectar they prefer, which leaves are being eaten by caterpillars, duration of different life stages, and how butterflies protect themselves from predators such as birds, spiders, and lizards.