Congregation of butterflies sighted in Wayanad

A rare and fascinating convergence of Dark Blue Tiger butterflies has been sighted in Kerala’s Wayanad district, a major biodiversity hot spot of the Nilgiri biosphere.

The congregation of the ‘winged jewels of nature’ was sighted in the Mullanpara hills, a patch of natural forests, adjacent to the Pookod lake, by a group of National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers during a trekking expedition recently.

“We have sighted a host of Dark Blue Tiger and a few Malabar ravens roosting on the branches of shrubs on the Mullanpara hills”, Jose Mathew, NSS programme Coordinator from St Catherine’s Higher Secondary School at Payyampally, said.

Although the roosting was so common in many parts of the district a few years ago, it was a rare sighting nowadays, Mr. Mathew said.

“The congregation might be part of their hibernation after the post monsoon migration,” Mohammed Jafer, Scientist, Zoological Survey of India, Kozhikode told PTI.

The Kerala Forest Department sighted as many as 197 butterfly species in Wayanad district during a survey of the area.

Mr. Jafer said migratory path of mixed danine butterlies including Dark Blue Tiger (Tirumala Sepatentrionis), Blue Tiger (Tirumala Limniace), Common Crow (Euploea core) and Double Branded Crow (Euploea Sylvester), typically takes place from the South West to North East Direction during April-May and North East to South West direction during October or November.

Normally the migrations take place immediately after a shower (South West monsoon or North East monsoon), Mr. Jafer said.

The sighting of mass migration had not been reported elsewhere in Kerala over the last two years, he said.

However, massive migrations of butterflies have been reported in recent months from various parts of Kerala including from Parambikkulam, Athirappally, Chinnar, Aralam, Periyar, Kottiyoor forests and Wayanad, he added.