New butterfly, spotted three decades back

Roopak Goswami

Limenitis rileyi. Picture courtesy: British Natural History Museum, London Guwahati, Jan. 31: A butterfly, spotted in Arunachal Pradesh nearly three decades back, has been finally described as a new species. The Limenitis rileyi Tytler was sighted by London-based naturalist Purnendu Roy in Upper Dibang Valley district in 1987, and has now been reported in the current issue of Journal of Threatened Taxa. "This sighting of L. rileyi represents the first record of this species from India, thus adding to India's butterfly fauna," the article says. The species was previously recorded in southeast Tibet, Myanmar and northern Vietnam. Roy had found a single male specimen on July 19, 1987, at a height of around 1,800 metres near Anini in Upper Dibang Valley in a wet sub-tropical broad-leaf forest. A neighbouring subspecies, L. rileyi xizangana Huang, was recorded in southeast Tibet in 1998. The Dibang Valley record lies between southeast Tibet and northeast Myanmar records and fills a gap in the distribution. No subspecies determination has been made because of the sample size of one. Records of L. rileyi from southeast Tibet and northeast Myanmar indicate a flight period of June to August at altitudes between 1,600m and 2,400m. "When I collected the butterfly back in 1987 in Upper Dibang Valley, there was no freely available literature to identify this species. Even now it is not illustrated on the Internet to my knowledge. H.C. Tytler unfortunately did not illustrate the species when he described it in 1940 from northeast Myanmar. At the time it was bit of a dead end for investigation so I had left it tentatively identified to a related species L. mimica that occurs in Myanmar and China. "In 2012, my partner Jo persuaded me that I should spend more time on butterflies again. After hearing about the work of Sanjay Sondhi of Titli Trust, I contacted him and offered to assist in the surveying of moths and butterflies at Pakke tiger reserve and Eaglenest wildlife sanctuary. It was after that trip that I decided to approach the British Natural History Museum, London, to assist in identifying what I could not identify in 1987. David Lees identified the species as L. rileyi. He also recognised that another specimen I had was not described before, which I named Callerebia dibangensis in 2003," Roy told The Telegraph. He said the butterfly is found in wet sub-tropical Montane forests at around 1,800m. Such areas can be inaccessible in monsoon owing to landslides and with frequent rains it can be a lottery to observe butterflies. Consequently, species that fly in monsoon like this species, maybe overlooked, he added. Roy said habitat loss is the greatest risk to any species. Where the species was collected, the forest is quite fragmented and so locally could be at risk. There are larger forests where it may be less at risk but these are quite inaccessible or in protected areas. "I think it is essential that local biodiversity is conserved and that we are not just left with islands of biodiversity, inaccessible to most people and more vulnerable. For the lower forests, the proposed Dibang Valley dam is a major threat. Despite being initially rejected by the forest advisory committee in 2013, it has been given the go ahead again and some of India's finest forests will be destroyed," he said.

Original News

Paper in Journal of Threatened Taxa

Limenitis rileyi Tytler, 1940 – Tiger-mimic Admiral

Butterfly spotted after 58 years - Sighted in Arunachal Pradesh

Roopak Goswami

A Howarth's Hairstreak. Picture credit: Rachit Singh Guwahati, Jan. 1: His love for the butterfly world helped young Rachit Singh to sight Howarth's Hairstreak, a butterfly species, after 58 years at Tenga valley in Arunachal Pradesh. Howarth's Hairstreak ( Chrysozephyrus disparatus interpositus Howarth) was rediscovered 58 years after it was first spotted in Sikkim in 1956. The sighting has been reported in the latest issue of Journal of Threatened Taxa and is authored by naturalists Sanjay Sondhi and Rachit Singh. This record also extends the known range of this species eastward by 350km from Sikkim to western Arunachal Pradesh. "My journey with butterflies and insects began in 2012, at Eaglenest wildlife sanctuary. I attended a camp conducted by Sondhi when I was studying in class IX. Tenga valley is an amazing place to study the microfauna and other forms of wildlife as it is right in the foothills of Eaglenest," Singh said. "After the camp, I used to go for field trips to study the biodiversity of the area. On one of those days, I found this butterfly and was told by other experts that it should be reported. Hence, I started working on it with Sondhi," Singh told The Telegraph. Singh was then a student of Army Public School at Tenga when he spotted the butterfly on May 21, 2014. He is now pursuing BSc (first year) in biotechnology, chemistry and zoology from Christ University, Bangalore. The butterfly was seen three times around a particular area along the forest streams in May 2014. The first sighting was on May 21, 2014 at 10am; the second sighting was on the next day. "The butterfly prefers shaded areas and takes small, swift flights staying 2-3 metres above the ground. While perched on leaves, it moves the hind wing to create an illusion of moving antennae using the tail, he said. Tenga valley is part of Tenga reserve forest at the northern edge of the Eaglenest wildlife sanctuary and Sessa orchid wildlife sanctuary in western Arunachal Pradesh. The specific locality where the species was sighted is Tseringpam village in Tenga valley at 1,626 metres and covered with thick green sub-tropical forest. The area is rich with variety of seasonal shrubs alongside the stream that flows through the valley, with a gradual fall in altitude. The wet patches along the forest form good mud-puddling grounds. The area is free of human disturbances and agriculture. Surveys in western Arunachal Pradesh landscape have resulted in the addition of several butterfly species that are new to India, including Gonepteryx amintha tibetana, Bhutanitis ludlowi and several butterfly rediscoveries and range extensions, including Calinaga aborica. Original News on The Telegraph

Moth of India website :: Updates September 2016

by Sanjay Sondhi

The moth website keeps chugging along, and with 510 species, 17 life cycles, 1169 images viewed by 3,002 unique visitors, we are off to a great start, given that the website  went live only a year ago in September 2015. What better way to celebrate this with an amazing moth, Dasysphecia bombyliformis which can be viewed through the link below. 

http://www.mothsofindia.org/sp/355781/Dasysphecia-bombyliformis

This clearwing moth is mimicking a bumble bee Bombus breviceps or perhaps the Hornet Vespa tropica. I mistook the same for a bee/hornet till Geetha Iyer pointed out that it may be a Sesiid. Ian Kitching confirmed that the Natural History Museum, London has only two specimens including the holotype. Type locality is in the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya collected in June 1895, described by Rothschild in 1911.

Enjoy viewing the moth, and we would welcome more contributions from people to the website.

Kaiser-i-Hind Teinopalpus imperialis imperialis from Arunachal Pradesh

By: Sanjay Sondhi

Here are photographic records of perhaps one of the rarest and most beautiful of Indian butterflies-the Kaiser-i-Hind Teinopalpus imperials imperialis on the IFB website.

http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/sp/2845/Teinopalpus-imperialis

The credit for this goes to Reddy Bei, Range Forest Officer, Pange, Talle Wildlife Sanctuary. For those of who don’t know Reddy Bei-he is a wonderful, committed forest officer and has done terrific things at Talle WLS to support conservation and its protection.

A report in the Arunachal Times on 25 August 2014 which stated that the Kaiser-i-Hind been photographed for the first time in Arunachal Pradesh from Talle WLS prompted Reddy Bei to call me. He said that he had photographed the same butterfly from Talle in 2012. He sent me some wonderful images for confirming the identification and indeed it was the Kasier-i-Hind!

Congratulations to Reddy Bei for this sighting and photographs. And for those of you who have not visited, Talle beckons.

As a side, I spotted the Brown Gorgon Meandrusa lachinus at precisely the same location at Talle in September, a few years ago.

Three new species pages, and notes on Erionota torus from Kerala

Krushnamegh Kunte reported on ButterflyIndia yahoo group:

We have three new and exciting species pages on the website:

Erionota torus – Rounded Palm-redeye: http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/293-Erionota/Erionota-torus

Lethe ramadeva – Single Silverstripe: http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/2755-Lethe/Lethe-ramadeva

Allotinus unicolor – Plain Mottle: http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/201-Allotinus/Allotinus-unicolor

Of these, E. torus is of special interest. This species was not known from peninsular India until now. The credit for this discovery goes to David Raju, who in August found its caterpillars devastating banana plantations around Thattekad in Kerala. Since then, several people have found the caterpillars in other parts of Kerala, so this is currently quite widespread in the coastal strip. Vivek is in the field surveying the current range of the species and damage done to the banana plantations, so we will know more about this soon. The case of Erinota torus is taxonomically interesting as well. People on Facebook have been using various names for it: Erionota acroleuca, Erionota acroleuca apex, Erionota hiraca, Erionota hiraca apex, Erionota hiraca apicalis, etc. I knew about the Kerala records from David’s first sightings and many people had asked me about this species in the past 40 days, but I wanted to confirm the species identity before I created the species page. I knew since last year after seeing specimens in the BMNH that Evans’s (1932, 1949) morphological key to Indian Erionota was not useful in separating the species. It is unfortunate that many people still blindly use these morphological keys without double-checking with other resources and without realizing that the only way to distinguish these species is by dissecting the male genitalia. To confirm the species identity, Kalesh and I recently dissected four males that we raised from caterpillars. Their genitalia match those of torus and no other species. Two of the dissections are available on the species page for your reference. From the variation that I have seen in torus in recent weeks and among all the species in the BMNH last year, it is clear that the external differences mentioned by Evans to separate torus, thrax, and hiraca (=acroleuca) are not reliable in distinguishing these species. The characteristics mentioned by Evans included the color of the UPFW apex, convexity of the FW termen and perhaps the color of the antennal club. That is, there is too much variation in these characters within species so that one cannot reliably distinguish between them from external characters alone. We will post images of male genitalia of other Indian Erionota on the website in due course.

Lethe ramadeva is very exciting due to the rarity of this species. I wonder whether this is the first ever photographic record of the species.

Congratulations to David and Anurag for these important and exciting discoveries!

Mystical Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis ludlowi) in India !

Dr. Krushnamegh Kunte reported on ButterflyIndia yahoo group today  (8th November 2012):


India now has two rather than one species of Bhutan Glory! I am very happy to report that the elusive Bhutanitis ludlowi, which was previously known only from E. Bhutan, has finally been spotted in India by Sanjay Sondhi, Pijush Dutta and Sujatha Padmanabhan:

http://ifoundbutterflies.org/54-bhutanitis/bhutanitis-ludlowi

Congratulations to those three on taking these very first Indian images of this very very rare butterfly, and for adding this species to the Indian butterfly fauna. You struck gold with this! These Indian records are particularly important because the species was rediscovered in Bhutan only in 2009 after the initial species description in 1942 based on the specimens collected in 1933-1934. You will find more information about this on the ludlowi species page under different tabs and on a few other websites.

I have now photographed all the five types of ludlowi at the BMNH London. Those images are also on the species page, with permission from the BMNH, along with Sanjay, Sujatha and Pijush’s images. Identification key to distinguish between lidderdalii and ludlowi is at:

http://ifoundbutterflies.org/54-bhutanitis/bhutanitis

For comparison, now we have a few images of wild butterflies and museum specimens on the lidderdalii page as well:

http://ifoundbutterflies.org/54-bhutanitis/bhutanitis-lidderdalii

I am sure that there will be more sightings of ludlowi in India in coming years. If you come across any, we would be pleased if you bring them to our attention and contribute good quality images to the above species pages. It will be good to build this resource for the benefit of the larger community.

Link to original message.

New species of moth found in Arunachal

Jairampur, Nov 6 (ANI): After sighting of Bhutan Glory, a rare butterfly in Ziro last September, the region has once again drawn the attention of the researchers.

The nature enthusiasts of Ngunu Ziro under the leadership of Dr Tage Kano, unknowingly photographed a new species of moth during their field trip to Talley Valley Reserve in September 2010.

The photograph was sent to Bombay Nature History Society (BNHS) education officer Dr V Subhalaxmi for identification, which she identified to Genus level. On consultation with international moth experts in British Natural History Museum and experts from Hong Kong, it was confirmed that this is a new species for science.

This day-flying moth possibly mimics Bhutan Glory butterfly and thus shares same habitat. Dr Shen-Horn Wen from Taiwan University, who has been specializing on this genus of moth, has agreed to collaborate in describing this species.

There are currently an estimated 1,12,000 to 1,65,000 described species of butterflies and moths within 131 families on this planet.

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order and about ten times the number of species of butterfly, with thousands of species yet to be described. Most species of moths are nocturnal, but there are many day flying moths also.

India including the North East is a home of approximately 15,000 to 17,000 species of moths. But of late, the numbers of these Lepidopteron or insects with four wings have dwindled drastically. Around a hundred species of the butterflies are on the verge of extinction in India. The decline has been so rapid, especially in the Third World, that if allowed to go unchecked, it will be irreversible.

"Butterflies are almost always treated as non-target species in wildlife conservation and management programmes. The Protected Area Network set up by the government is directed towards "iconic" fauna like the tiger, the Asiatic lion, the elephant and the rhinoceros. While no one has an agenda against butterflies, these small, beautiful and agriculturally important creatures are often ignored," said Surya Prakash, a famous lepidopterist and conservationist.

"Butterflies are an indicator of environmental health. Few are aware of the crucial role the butterfly plays in pollination of a large portion of economically important crops and flowering plants, which is second only to the honeybee. The millennia-old silk industry is also dependent on the butterfly. Should the butterfly diversity decline, it will directly affect the country's agriculture," added Prakash.

Unfortunately, conservation of forest and wildlife is the most gruelling or discarded effort to perpetrate in this rapidly progressing world. Because 80 percent of the local population in Arunachal, the home of many unknown species of smaller world, is directly or indirectly dependant on forest and forest bi-products for livelihood, the laws should be amended carefully to reform deforestation or afforest the barren land.

If negligence endure and mindless deforestation continues than the fury of nature will devastate civilization in near future. Common flora and fauna will vanish and those rarest categories will be an example of the past.

The developed countries like US where many butterflies are endangered, as are their host plants because of depletion in forest cover; the US is now importing live butterflies to rehabilitate them.

"As the lepidoptera fauna is not thoroughly explored in Arunachal and that there are potential of recording new species for science, an extensive project will be planned for the region by the BNHS in near future" said BNHS pincipal investigator Dr Subhalaxmi, who visited the Ziro and Talley Valley Sanctuary September last in pursuit of collecting the type specimen of the Zygaenid moth.

"Many of the moth species are possible new for India and as the unidentified moths are being further studied, we may encounter new species for science as well" she added.

In this short survey conducted by BNHS in Siro Village and Talley Valley reserve of Lower Subansiri, the team recorded close to 385 moth species and 68 butterfly species. Of the 385 moth species recorded, 278 species have been identified and remaining 107 species are yet to be identified.

During this 10-day short survey, BNHS team also witnessed some of the rare butterflies like Tytler's multi-spot flat, Bhutan Glory, Brown Gorgon, Powdered Green Hairstreak, Singe stone, Striped Punch, White edge bush brown, White Commodore, Bhutan Sergeant, Great Yellow Sailor, Grand Duchess, Manipur Jungle Queen a uncommon one and a Khaki Silver line, a very rare butterfly. (ANI)

Full Story

What are India's citizen scientists looking for?

Lhendup G Bhutia

Computer geeks, school children and professionals from different fields, who have otherwise no inkling of science and research, are turning into its latest foot soldiers. Meet the country's citizen scientists.

Dr Ceaser Sengupta, a pathologist and General Manager with what's considered to be the world's largest thyroid testing laboratory, Thyrocare Technologies Limited, leads a busy life. When he's not at his Turbhe office, his attention is divided between his six year-old daughter, his father and wife, with whom he resides in a swanky highrise in CBD Belapur.


Researchers belonging to Lost Amphibians of India look for amphibians
in the remote area of Latpanchar in North Bengal. The group that
comprises mostly individuals from non-research backgrounds is
 undertaking a pioneering project in trying to locate Indian amphibian
species that are feared to have gone extinct. Pic/ Caeser Sengupta

All this might seem terribly ordinary if you didn't know about Sengupta's parallel life. Occasionally, the 37 year-old takes off to far flung areas of the country, especially forests and swamps, carrying with him a sleeping bag, a supply of dry fruit, and  a pair of leather boots that reach his knees, protecting him from snake bites. If unable to locate a cow shed to sleep in, the sleeping bag comes in handy.


A volunteer at one of BNHS's Be a Scientist For A Day programme

On these trips that often last between four days to a month and a half, Sengupta, along with other skilled urban professionals from a variety of career fields, transforms into a 'citizen scientist' or amateur researcher.
Sengupta's task is as ambitious in nature as it is vital. He, along with 500 urban professionals, mostly from non-science and research backgrounds, are part of Lost Amphibians of India (LAI), a group that is searching for 50 Indian amphibian species, mostly frogs and caecilians, that are thought to have gone extinct. While several species have been sighted in the last 10 years, some have eluded researchers for over 169 years.

"It is an extremely important programme. Most Indians are concerned about certain 'prestigious' animals, and hardly ever give a thought to amphibians. Some of the species we are searching for have not been sighted for years. We need to see if they are still around," says Sengupta.

LAI, which was launched in November 2010, has seen an excited response from common citizens. With its 500 members, it has already conducted 30 expeditions, one of which lasted a month-and-a-half in Arunachal Pradesh. The next one, which will be led by Sengupta, is days away and will take him to Maharashtra's Phandsad Wildlife Sanctuary.

LAI is not the only science programme that has seen support from commoners. Snigdha Kar, a 27 year-old Delhi-based employee of UNESCO, who is involved in the coordination and organising of various research programmes for the body, is a researcher in her own right. For the last four years, she has been part of MigrantWatch, a programme with over 1,300 members across the country, that is tracking one of nature's most spectacular events -- the migration of birds.

The programme hopes to ascertain if climate change is affecting the migratory patterns of birds. Kar earlier worked for the Delhi chapter of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and, despite being an amateur, has a keen interest in birds and has been keeping track of 20 different species that regularly fly into Delhi.

To spot these birds, Kar often continues her research when she travels out of Delhi on vacation, and consults books by experts, apart from looking up birds' features on websites. Out of the 20 species of migratory birds that she frequently reports about, Kar finds one particularly tough to spot. "The Greenish Warbler is very tough to identify. It's a small forest bird and we (bird watchers) have hours of discussion just to reach a consensus that it's the Greenish Warbler."

According to Suhel Quader, founder of MigrantWatch that is run by the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, the growing number of Indians from non-research backgrounds getting  interested in the natural world provides a great opportunity for both, professional and amateur researchers, to work together.

"For many ecological changes, in particular, documenting what is happening over large spans of space and time is most effectively done through a participatory approach, where interested people volunteer their time and effort in working towards a common goal even though they are distributed throughout the country. When we started, it was obvious that seeking the help of bird watchers was the best way forward," says Quader. 

While many have spoken about how eclipses affect the behaviour of animals, few have ever sought to ascertain if this claim is true. Earlier last year, during the January 15 solar eclipse, NCBS tried to do just that.

Over 100 volunteers took part in EclipseWatch, from locations as diverse as Itanagar, Thiruvananthapuram to Mumbai, to find that the only clear change in animal behaviour occurred in areas where the maximum eclipse was almost complete (more than 88 per cent coverage of the sun). In these areas, there was a marked reduction in the activity of birds and animals.

Banking on such models, another programme is being run across Kerala schools, before it can be replicated across the country. And it invites adult participation too. Called SeasonWatch, the programme that launched in November 2010, seeks to learn if climate change is affecting the seasonality of trees.

A total of 100 different trees are on their list, and volunteers monitoring them, regularly update findings on the programme website, including the timing of the flowering, fruiting and leaf-flush of the trees. Arun Elassery, SeasonWatch's programme manager, says, "We often hear of trees blooming before hand, or summers lasting longer. We are trying to learn more about these happenings by taking the help of volunteers."

More often than not, volunteers come with a keen interest in nature. Kar, for instance, was troubled to see how a large number of jackals were being run over by vehicles whenever she drove down the narrow Suraj Kund Road that cut across Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, connecting Tuglaqabad to Kant Enclave, "I spotted at least six jackals being run over.

I would always get out of my vehicle, and photograph them while others would continue running over them. Using the photos, I requested the sanctuary officials to lower speed limits on that road but it hardly helped." Later on June 1, when the Nature Conservation Foundation launched a two month-long survey to find out about the numbers and location of Golden Jackals in India, Kar was able to make an invaluable contribution with her notes and photographs.

LAI's team of amphibian scientists are working and using several scientific parameters to identify the Lost! Amphibians of India. Announcements of rediscovered species are expected very soon. In the case of MigrantWatch, it is too early for results of any kind to emerge. As Quader explains, "We have begun formally documenting existing migration timings -- and this will form a baseline against which future patterns can be compared."

Even in Mumbai, smaller programmes that are as much educational in nature as they are research-oriented, are emerging. For instance, Dr V Subhalaxmi, general manager at BNHS -- Education Department, helped launch in February this year, their Be A Scientist For A Day (BASFAD) programme. Here, a few professional researchers lead a group of volunteers into the 33-acre BNHS Nature Reserve in Goregaon to conduct field trips.

Sachin Chogre, an educational officer who conducts research programmes on moth studies, says, "Here, once every month, we organise research groups to study moths, amphibians, birds and flora of the region. We started it, knowing that we'd get a good response. Besides, it's a great way to document changes unfolding in these regions."

Sameer Patil, a freelance computer programmer from Thane, who attended a session of bird spotting, is planning to join another one soon. "Earlier, I could hardly ever identify birds. That day, we were taught about various species and how to identify them from their calls and features. We spread out and were able to document various species that frequent the area," he says. After a period of time, all findings made during the BASFAD programme, will be compiled into a report.

Dr Sengupta says, "When I return home from exhibitions, my body is marked with mosquito bites. But it is all worth it."

Full Article

‘Bhutan Glory’ spotted in Ziro

Arif Siddiqui
ITANAGAR, July 10: Bhutan Glory–a rare and beautiful butterfly of the region– was discovered in Arunachal Pradesh.

This three tailed insect which is generally found in Bhutan, Southeast Asia and other Northeastern states was unknowingly discovered by Punyo Chada of Siiro village, a teacher by profession and an avid nature lover, in Ziro recently.

Listed under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention), but not in the Red Book of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources), the status of the butterfly has been recorded as rare by some authorities and "Insufficiently known" in the IUCN Red Data Book on Swallowtails.

Both sexes of the Bhutan Glory are identical in looks, having long rounded forewings with convex termen and many-tailed hind wings. This fine insect was first discovered in May 1868, near Buxa, in the Bhutan Himalayas, at an elevation of 5000 feet, by Dr R. Lidderdale, of the Bengal Army. Dr Lidderdale obtained two specimens from the same locality in 1872.

Bhutan Glory flies at tree-top with a slow, drifting, unpredictable flight. It’s transparent greyish underside makes it difficult to distinguish in the shadows. During rain, it sits on leaves with the fore-wings dropped over the hind wings, concealing its bright upper coloration. The butterfly has a habit of hill-topping and visits flowers of diverse species.  Apart from teaching, Chada, runs a Home Stay accommodation for visitors. He is also an avid nature lover and often visits Talley Valley with his friends in his leisure time.

Apart from Bhutan Glory he has shot another rare butterfly “Brown Gorgon.” There so many unknown moths & wild flowers in his collection which were witnessed by this author during his stay at his home.

He has opened the Gateway of “Butterfly Tourism” in Ziro.

Isaac Kehimkar, the famous author from BNHS (Bombay Nature History Society) already started asking for his pictures for upcoming Book on Indian Butterflies being published by BNHS.

Chada’s Butterflies pictures made a stir among the butterfly enthusiasts across the country and many are now willing to visit Ziro valley soon.

Full Story

BIM ends with ‘breakfast with butterflies

MIAO, July 23: The Butterfly India Meet, Namdapha 2010 ended with a Conservation program named, “Breakfast with Butterflies” here at Miao yesterday. The five-day assembly of Natures mates finally comes to an end with around 183 findings of flying beauties and innumerous Moths apart from the sightings of some glittering beetles like Golden Tortoise Beetle.

Twenty numbers of selected school children from five schools around the Miao attended the program --“Breakfast with Butterflies,” a unique program on awareness with the theme ‘Lets Create a Flutter’. Experts took the children to nearby fields as rain God restricted the movement to distant areas, to give them some basic information about the beautiful creatures living around us. Some senior photographers provided opportunity to school children to try their tiny hands on their long zooms and describe the shooting techniques. Children had never imagined believing their luck when they got the chance to actually shooting with cameras which they were only watching in TV Channels. “This was an encouraging indicator for existence of many other species of the butterflies in the core area and beyond that when type of forests and profile of hill changes, if count touches a figure of 183 in the buffer area” explained Dr. Alfred, Former Director, Zoological Survey of India.  J. M. Garg who is an Indian icon in Wikipedia for his submission of more than 8000 pictures of different Nature categories was amazed to see the diversity of Arunachal Pradesh. “For sure I am taking another trip to this wonderland soon where ecology appears still intact while people from other part of the country struggling to breathe in fresh air in polluted environment” he added.  

While speaking on the occasion of ‘Lets Create a Flutter’ Mrs. J. Jugli, Chairperson, Changlang Zila Parishad expressed the need of carrying the conservation awareness to deep inside the villages with help of Anchal members. “More programs like this should be organized in future on regular intervals to educate the ignorant masses” she added. Lauding the spirit of participants and initiations of organizers of the meet, Mrs. Jugli said, ‘We were not aware of our rich biodiversity which have been highlighted’

“The event was held for the thirteenth time at the various locations of India and this is the second time we have got the opportunity to explore Arunachal Pradesh in North East” explained Butterfly India Group Moderator Vijay Barve in his introductory speech. He thanked  Arif Siddiqui, program coordinator whose butterflies’ pictures draw the attention of Nature Enthusiast towards the Arunachal Pradesh worldwide.  “Still people are desperate to come to Arunachal Pradesh for its wonderful wildlife but we could not entertain many due to limitations in accommodation” he added.

Colonel Sandeep Chaudhury of 18 Assam Rifles, Jairampur speaking to the gathering urged for controlling hunting of animals and birds in the area. “Poachers should be suing for the killing animals in the similar manner as the murderer are treated in civil societies” he added. S.J. Jongsam Namdapha national park filed director, cherished the efforts of participants and regret for the bad weather since last three month which restricted the movement of visiting experts to the inner areas of Park. He also assured to provide all support and help to any research scholars and teams coming for studies in the park in future also.  

“Despite belonging to a completely different profession, Col Choudhury has shown his appreciation for nature and affection for the people of this area,” said Nimbong Sena. Assam Rifle was one of the main supporters in organizing the Butterfly India Meet. All the participants were extremely happy and expressed their gratitude to the peoples of Arunachal Pradesh for the hospitality they received here. “This will be an inerasable moment of our life and we are much thankful to organizing NGO NSEWC and SEACOW” said Siddarth Edake of Madhya Pradesh.

The event was witnessed by officials of various departments including department of Forest and Environment, GeoEnpro, Assam Rifles,  local administration and local leaders.

Story