Arunachal Pradesh: 85 Butterfly Species Spotted at Tale Wildlife Sanctuary

Our correspondent

Itanagar: A lepidopterist from Mumbai has recorded as many as 85 butterfly species during a four-day expedition to the Tale Wildlife Sanctuary in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. Fahim Khan, the butterfly enthusiast, spotted the new species of the winged insect from August 20 to 23. He was accompanied by Koj Mama, a local butterfly enthusiast, during the expedition, according to a communiqué.

“The duo successfully completed the expedition with a count of 85 different species of butterflies, including the three jewels of the sanctuary: Kaiser-i-Hind, Bhutan Glory, and Brown Gorgon,” the communiqué said. The motive of their expedition was to ascertain the probability of finding the most elusive butterfly species, ‘Kaiser-i-Hind’, the state butterfly of Arunachal Pradesh. The sighting of the Kaiser-i-Hind butterfly is said to be very rare by butterfly experts and enthusiasts all over the world. However, the local sighting of them is not that rare, it can be easily seen during the peak season, it said.

The first live photography was done in India during the first edition of the Ziro Butterfly Meet in 2014, organized by Ngunu Ziro. Since then, every year, this butterfly is photographed and recorded in different districts of the state at different times of the year. The Kaiser-i-Hind, Bhutan Glory, and Brown Gorgon were sighted and photographed on the same day in different locations of the sanctuary. Previously, nowhere in the state were these three rare butterfly species recorded at the same time, said Mama, who has been carrying out conservation activities for birds and butterflies for a decade. To mark the joyous accomplishment, they planted three nectaring plants—Viburnum cyclindricum, a local shrub that attracts several species of butterflies and birds in the Pange-based camp of the sanctuary.

Also read: Arunachal Pradesh: Lepidopterists discover butterfly species Neptis philyra in Ziro (sentinelassam.com)

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