Pattampoochi Butterfly Magazine - Wings 2 Veins 1 2018

2018 Quarterly Magazine of Tamil Nadu Butterfly Society Jan-Mar 2018

PATTAMPOOCHI

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Tarucus balkanicus nigra– A rare find from Tamil Nadu Participation in Shendurney WLS Survey Butterflies of Coimbatore Wetlands (A 5 years study) Butterfly Effect Thalamalai Butterfly Checklist of Coimbatore District Short Notes on Interesting Sightings A Status on the re-validation of species in Tamil Nadu TN Butterflies Facebook 2017– An Analysis From the Facebook Pages

Apefly

Dear Butterfly Lovers,

PATTAMPOOCHI

வணக்கம் [Greetings].

An eventful 2017 has just passed by. The year saw a good monsoon rains and revived Butterfly migration by Milkweed butterflies along with others and an interesting Emigrant migration of huge scale at various places from Kanyakumari to Chennai. Consequently the number of species shoot up in all places and October and November towards the year end was good. Pansies were one of the gainers of this monsoon.

In the current issue, based on the studies conducted by TNBS members and other member contributions in online forum, two significant outputs have been published. One is the first comprehensive checklist for the district of Coimbatore (with 266 species) and another is butterflies presence in the wetlands of Coimbatore. We sincerely hope the data made available in the newsletter will be useful for naturalists and planners. The year also saw a surprise addition to the checklist of Tamil Nadu in the form of Tarucus balkanicus nigra. With this and with a few more additions, the revalidated checklist stands at 309 species with 15 more to search for.

People have been to places from Eastern Ghats to Western Ghats and from plains to isolated hills. This issue shares experiences of a few on these. Mr. E. Arun Kumar reports from the Kaundanya Wildlife Sanctuary of how the place is painted with yellows and whites, while Mr. Amol Mande treks the Thalamalai to find how Red Pierrots are popping up to him every where. A few members like Prakash G, Nishanth CV and Ramanasaran Hari and Pavendhan A have been to Shendurney WLS and they share their survey participation experience here as well. Mrs. Rama Neelamegam has shared an interesting insight of “Butterfly Effect” and she admits it was an interesting preparation phase to her. Mr. Vikas Madhav Nagarajan narrates a rare sighting of Tree Flitter from Chennai surroundings.

We hope you enjoy going through the Newsletter and looking forward to your valuable feedback. We believe that the News Letter belongs to every one of us and expect more contribution from all our members going forward . Please write to tamilnadubutterflies@gmail.com

Editorial Team Tamil Nadu Butterfly Society Pattampoochi– A quarterly magazine of Tamil Nadu Butterfly Society Wings 2 Veins 1 Jan – Mar 2018. Issued on 01.01.2018 Issued from Coimbatore, TN For Private Circulation Only. Copy right is with TNBS. Please write to us for getting permission to use any of the contents Editor: A Pavendhan Editorial Team: Balakrishnan R, Gopalakrishnan S, Nishanth CV, Theivaprakasham H , Viswanathan S

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Tarucus balkanicus nigra– A rare find from Tamil Nadu

Tarucus balkanicus nigra, Bethune-Baker,1917, is a Lycaenidae butterfly belonging to the tribe Polyommatini. The butterfly is similar in appearance to the other species in the genus Tarucus on the underwings and the upper wings are the key identifying the species. The common names of the butterfly are Black-spotted Pierrot and Little Tiger Pierrot.

According to Paul Van Gasse, the following are the distribution of this species in India and elsewhere: Tarucus balkanicus (Black-spotted Pierrot) T.b.nigra: Fairly common from N Baluchistan (1000 to 1350m) and Sind through NWFP (north to Peshawar and Hazara) and Punjab (north to Murree) in Pakistan, east in N India (not recorded Uttar Pradesh or Bihar, but doubtless occurs) through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana to S and C West Bengal and NW and C Bangladesh, north to Himalayas, up to 1200m, from Kashmir east through Himachal Pradesh (Kullu and Simla) to Uttarakhand, and south to W Maharashtra (probably expanding its range, now recorded south to Ratnagiri and Satara), Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand.

[Given as T. nigra, Spotted Pierrot, in Evans, 1932]

A synoptic catalogue of the Butterflies of India by RK Varshney and Peter Smetacek describes the distribution of T. b. nigra as India North of Maharashtra to West Bengal. Butterflies of India, the BNHS field guide by Isaac Kehimkar, describes the distribution as India (Himachal– Uttarakhand, Bihar, W. Bengal, Central India including Gujarat, Maharashtra), Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Wynter Blyth, M.A., in Butterflies of the Indian Region mentions the distribution as Baluchistan, Saurashtra, Delhi, Peshawar, Simla Hills and Central India.

It is evident from the above descriptions that the species is not expected to occur in the South of India. Also, by carefully going through the records found in “ifoundbutterflies” website and various Facebook and other forums, no recent records of this species is found from the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

In this context, the sighting of a Tarucus balkanicus nigra from Singanallur lake, Coimbatore (by A Pavendhan), Tamil Nadu on 5th November 2017 assumes significance. It was a male specimen and both UP and UN were captured which were used to confirm the species identification with experts morphologically. Whether this is a range extension or a chance sighting will be known through subsequent sighting of this species consistently. Since, Coimbatore is abundant with the other Tarucus species, Tarucus nara, which looks the same in the UN, it is quite possible that some specimen earlier went as T. nara instead of T. b. nigra in the absence of open wings.

The butterfly is small in size, 21-24 mm, and is described to have black discal spots on the UPF and with dark blue above with narrow dark border. It is tailed and the UP is transparent. The female is however brownish grey with dark markings in the upper. Their habitat is scrublands and grasslands and is generally a species of dryland. Their host plants are Ziziphus species like Ziziphus jujuba and Ziziphus nummularia, both of which are found in Coimbatore. Tarucus balkanicus has multiple generations per year. Eggs are laid at the base of spines, rarely also on leaves. The larva has a characteristic feeding pattern with one to four mines strips in the longitudinal direction on the leaf.

Tarucus balkanicus, Freyer, 1843/44, has 4 known sub-species across the globe and they are following: T. b. balkanicus (Mauritania, Niger: Aïr region, Sudan, Uganda, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Algeria, southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, Middle East, Syria, Iran, North Africa) T. b. areshana Bethune-Baker, [1918] (Kopet-Dagh) T. b. alternatus Moore, 1882 (Ghissar, Darvaz) T. b. nigra Bethune-Baker, 1918 - black-spotted Pierrot References: 1. Annotated Checklist of the Butterflies of the Indian Subcontinent- by Paul Van Gasse 2. A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India– RK Varshney and Peter Smetacek 3. Butterflies of India, BNHS Field Guides, Isaac Kehimkar 4. Lepidoptera and their ecology- http://www.pyrgus.de/Tarucus_balkanicus_en.html 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarucus_balkanicus

Text, Analysis & Pictures: Pavendhan PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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Nilgiri Grass Yellow

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Participation in Shendurney WLS Survey

An Introduction of Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in the Western Ghats, India. It is located in Kollam district of Kerala and comes under the control of Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve. It was established in 25th August 1984 and comprises 172.403 square kilometres (66.565 sq mi). The name is a corruption of the Chengurinji, a tree endemic to the region (Gluta travancorica). The sanctuary is having an artificial lake of nearly 18.69Sq.km size and also surrounded by the reservoir of Thenmala Dam. The Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary is a treasure house of plant diversity. About 1257 species of flowering plants belonging to more than 150 families are reported from this sanctuary of which 309 species are endemic to Western Ghats. Birds from 267 species including migratory, endemic and endangered species have been reported here.

Tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forest cover a major area of the sanctuary.

[Source: WIKI]

Kerala Forest Department along with Travancore Natural History Society (TNHS) have been conducting Butterfly Surveys at the Shendurney Wildlife sanctuary from 2011. The first survey yielded as many as 176 species of butterflies with the highlights being Palmking, Travancore Evening Brown, Small Palm Bob, Golden Tree Flitter and Red-disc Bushbrown. During 2015 March survey, 185 species of butterflies were recorded with highlights being Travancore Evening Brown, Orange Awlet, Blue Oakleaf, Autumn Leaf, Wax Dart, Five-bar Swordtail, Golden Tree Flitter, Lesser Albatross, Tawny Rajah and Pointed Lineblue. During 2016, 176 species of butterflies were recorded with highlights being Tufted White Royal, Painted Courtesan, Alida Angle, Malabar Rose, Malabar Banded Swallow tail, Malabar Raven, Spot Puffin, Lesser Albatross, Red Disc Bush Brown, Malabar Tree Nymph, White Hedge blue, Rosy Oakblue, Tamil Oakblue, Common Tinsel, Siva sunbeam, Bicolour Ace and Golden Tree flitter.

This year around, four of us from Tamil Nadu Butterfly Society attended the survey conducted between 10th and 12th of November 2017. The long list of rarities present in the sanctuary was a good enough reason for the team to heed to the call of Dr Kalesh Sadasivan who is behind this long term initiative. We were looking forward to the survey, despite the North East rains in Tamil Nadu and the threat of rains in the sanctuary.

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Participation in Shendurney WLS Survey

Camp: Kattilapara Team: Pavendhan A, Nishanth CV, Rama Warrior, Baburaj PV Narration: Pavendhan A The team to Kattilapara consisted couple of us from Coimbatore and a couple from the city of Bangalore. Although most of them are familiar with birding, were primarily into butterfly chasing now and hence had to double up as both birders and butterfliers for the survey. The camp was a forest guest house with basic facilities.

Kattilapara derived its name from a couple of carved frame in a nearby rock (which resembled more like an attempt to carve some idols from the marked area). The area is a mixed deciduous forest with rubber plantation present here and there and the dam backwaters a short distance away. The very unique Myristica swamps a mile away.

As soon as we landed on the AN from Thenmala, we took a walk towards Kurunthotti road until the spot where the road to the right takes you to Myristica. We did not go to the swamp which was reserved for the transect, and rather we took the left path which is cutting the forest onto the backwaters. Being an afternoon, just into the evening, we could not get to see many a butterfly species, however, species like Common Cerulean, Indian Dartlet, Psolos fuligo, Chestnut Bob, Glad-eye Bushbrown and Rustic made their presence in reasonable numbers immediately. The water level in the backwaters was high too and not much is seen in the after noon within the forest. The light fade away quickly around 6 PM. On the day, narked for the transect, all of us were ready and were fortunate to witness a good number of birds on the high canopy of the tall trees present in the camp and that included species like Black Baza, Indian Paradise Flycatcher, Scarlet Minivet, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Bronze Drongo, Bulbuls, Flamebacks and Jungle Babblers. We were soon joined by couple of Beetle Research students and we began our 3 hours transect towards Myristica swamp.

Either side of the roads were the primary targets and we were concentrating areas where sun was sneaking through the canopy and that paid dividends as far as the sightings, and we could notice Coon, Chestnut Bob, Indian Dartlet, Common Snow Flat and a lone Pygmy Scrub Hopper which was really tiny. Common Cerulean was abundant and a few Banded Blue Pierrots were seen from the blues. Grass Yellows represented the Pierids. Chocolate Pansy, Dark-branded Bushbrown and Glad-eye Bushbrowns represented the Nymphalids. A few Tamil Yeomans were seen on the canopy. Malabar Rose and Malabar Banded Swallowtails were flying past. We have reached the point where we now need to take the path leading to Myristica Swamp.

We could add only a Brown Awl and a Malabar Tree Nymph to the list and the transect ended when we touched the road again.

Our decision (or rather my forced one) to walk towards Kurunthotti instead of the path to Choodal proved to be very effective as we were able to many species to the list. This was the most productive part of the survey. The walk was a further 4 Km. Immediately after we walked a few meters we saw a few Banded Blue Pierrots, Common Albatross and a Grass Yellow were feeding on a millipede carrion and that Grass Yellow later turned out to be the pricy Nilgiri Grass Yellow. Yellowjack Sailer was the next to make appearance and a quick and unsettled approach by it. Other species sighted and added to the list include Tamil Catseye, Grey Count, Tamil Lacewing, Long-banded Silverline, Commander, Clipper, Chestnut-streaked Sailer, Monkey Puzzle, Quaker, Lineblues, Angled Pierrot, Common Pierrot, Rustic, Southern Birdwing and Blue Mormon. The Ypthima species Common Four-ring and Common Five-ring were omnipresent.

We have reached the Forest Guest House at Kurunthotti and relaxed for a while. The debate of taking which route back to the base camp was finally in favour of the road on which we walked up, since the lunch time was nearing. It was a 6 Km walk again and we could add Yamfly and Tawny Rajah (which encircled all of us for a few minutes before vanishing). We witnessed the courtship act of Malabar Tree Nymphs. Immediately after the lunch, we were forced to take the Choodal path, which was through a Rubber plantation behind the campsite and this 5-6 Km total walk did yield just a solitary Dark-branded Bushbrown which actually looked different in the filed. Near the camp, we added species like Treebrown, Dingy Lineblue and Water Snow Flat. The day ended with a long 18 Km walk and about 50+ butterfly species. Malabar Trogon, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Indian Grey Hornbills were the significant addition to the birds list (we ended with 31 species of birds for the camp).

Our plan to walk on the road side/ dam side on the last day was changed since Dr Kalesh joined us and we took a different path to Myristica Swamp and Choodal. The focus on the walk on early stages of caterpillars and host plants and we were benefited greatly from the knowledge of Dr Kalesh. We could see caterpillars of Malabar Raven and Malabar Rose and a pupa of Blue Admiral. On the adults, only Notocrypta species were the additions. The rubber plantation however gave us species like Glassy Tiger, Grey Pansy, Tawny Rajah, Grey Count, etc. Our final attempt before leaving to Thenmala to locate Dark Pierrot sighted by the other team failed, but an Autumn Leaf was added to the list from the same location. After concluding meeting and discussion, we departed our way back to Coimbatore and the rest of the team members to Bangalore and Trivandrum!

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Participation in Shendurney WLS Survey

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Yellowjack Sailer

Idimuzhanganpara Yellowjack Sailer

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Participation in Shendurney WLS Survey

Camp: Idimuzhanganpara Team: Prakash G, Ramanasaran Hari, Biju and Akil Narration: Prakash G A brief opening meeting was conducted at the forest office 10 AM once everyone assembled. Dr. Kalesh Sadasivan addressed the survey volunteers along with forest officials and gave a brief introduction about the Sanctuary and explained the regions, geography, possible sightings along with the necessary documents.

Volunteers were split into 9 different teams to conduct a synchronised survey across the SWLS. Each team consisted of 2 bird and butterfly watchers each along with forest department staff.

After the meeting, SWLS Forest department arranged lunch for all. After the lunch, volunteers were taken to their assigned camps by road and water. By 7 PM all the volunteers have reached their respective camps. For some, reaching their camp itself was an adventure.

We were assigned to Idimuzhanganpara Camp. Along with Umayar Camp team, we travelled by boat for about an hour and reached our camp by 4 PM. On the way, we saw some birds on the shores of the backwaters like Red-wattled Lapwings, White -browed Wagtails; a sub-adult Crested Hawk Eagle and an Indian Guar quenching their thirsts; and some Indian black turtles were basking in the sun.

As soon as we reached our camp, we spotted some good butterfly movements. Ramanasaran Hari threw his baggage (like a boy returning from school) and rushed to see the butterflies fluttering around. Our camp was surrounded with tall trees, thick bushes and grasses on all the three sides. The front side of the camp is covered by backwaters with sub-merged grassland which gives a royal look.

On Day 1 (on Saturday), before starting our transect, we quickly had a check on the surroundings, where we found some bird & butterfly movements. Jungle babblers, Rufous babbler, Emerald Dove, Cattle Egrets, Pond Herons, Greater Racket-tailed and Bronzed Drongos were in good numbers along with a few Peahen and Brown Shrikes. Butterflies like Blue Tiger, Common Emigrant, Blue-banded Pierrot, Common Nawab, Common Albatross were seen in plenty along with some banded awls.

By 8 AM, we started our transect, by walking into the forest behind our camp using straight line method covering 3 kilometres.

Due to heavy rain on previous day night the path we followed was wet, but not slushy. Since our area is surrounded by water and thick canopy of moist deciduous forest, most of our survey route was covered under shadows. After walking down for about one and a half kilometres, we found an open area where we could see some good bird and butterfly movements. We stopped there for about 30 minutes and recorded a few birds like Purple-rumped sunbird, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Vernal Hanging Parrot, Malabar Parakeet, Bronzed Drongo, Ashy Drongo, Red-whiskered Bulbul and heard calls of Southern Hill Myna and White-cheeked Barbet; Butterflies like Blue Mormon, Rustic, Blue Banded Pierrot, Brown King Crow, Red Helen, Southern Birdwing, Malabar Rose, Clipper, Black-veined Sergeant, Malabar Banded Swallowtail, Malabar Rose, etc.

By walking further down for about one kilometre, we reached one side of the shores of backwaters and spent a few minutes there by seeing a banded fish with its red colour cute babies. While returning back, we saw a few more birds like Brownbreasted Flycatcher, Greater Flameback, Brown-caped Pygmy Woodpeckers, Indian Paradise Flycatcher and butterflies like White-banded Awl, Complete Paint-brush Swift and a few more. By 11:30 AM, we finished our transect with 25+ birds and butterfly species which was lesser than expected.

During afternoon our team members Ramanasaran Hari and Akil were recording some more butterflies and spiders around.

Again in the evening, we ventured into our nearby areas and saw a Lesser Fish eagle, a flock of storks in flight along with some more birds and butterflies like Extra Lascar and Tamil Lacewing. Vernal Hanging Parrots, Malabar Parakeets, Greater Rackettailed Drongos, White-cheeked Barbets, Malabar Grey Hornbills and Greenish Warblers were keep making calls around all the time there.

On the morning of Day 2 (on Sunday), we did not go much deeper into the forest as our boat was expected to pick up us at 9:30 AM. So, we spent our time in nearby areas from 7AM and saw a good amount of birds and butterflies like Common Woodshrike, Scarlet Minivet (both male and female), Vernal Hanging Parrot, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Flame-throated Bulbul, Brown Shrike, Greater Coucal, Malabar Parakeet, Emerald Dove, Greenish Warbler, Indian Paradise flycatcher, Jungle Babbler, Little Egret etc; butterflies like Orange Awlet, Orange-tail Awl and Blue Mormon.

The boat, however, reached only by 10:45 AM. On the way down, we saw Great Egret, Black Eagle, Whiskered Tern, Redwattled Lapwing, White-browed Wagtail. We could hardly see any migratory and resident waders during our trip. Overall the trip gave us a good experience and introduction to many fellow bird and butterfly enthusiasts of Kerala. The hospitality, arrangement and stay were excellent, thanks to Kerala Forest Department and Dr. Kalesh Sadasivan for giving us this wonderful opportunity!

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Participation in Shendurney WLS Survey

Pictures: Nishanth CV, Pavendhan A, Prakash G and Ramanasaran Hari

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Butterflies of Coimbatore Wetlands– A 5 Years Study

Wetlands of Coimbatore Coimbatore is blessed with many wetlands dotted along the Noyyal River fed system. There are about 30 plus wetlands. There are also specific numbers of wetlands which are not Noyyal fed. These wetlands have been the lifeline for many centuries for the people of Coimbatore Region.

From the pristine Ukkulam (near Semmedu, Siruvani foothills) to the large Sulur lake, the 45 Km stretch dots many waterbodies. Some of the water bodies like Ukkadam, Perur, Singanallur and Kannampalayam are famous for the birding. Asian Waterfowl Census 2017 conducted on 22 wetlands returned 127 bird species with 7079 bird counts. This indicates that the water bodies are home to both resident and migrant birds.

Except a few wetlands in the upper western originating region, the quality of water in the wet lands are far from satisfactory and will not be part of the scope and description here. Various steps are being taken up on the wetlands like desilting, strengthening the bonds, improving the inlets and outlets, clearing off encroachments, etc. We only like to mention and record the fact that whenever desilting and clearing activities are taken up, they have to be scientifically managed so that the eco system prevailed is not drastically altered leaving the birds nowhere to land and wiping out the micro fauna and flora, some of them could be very rare and local and may never stage a comeback.

Kannampalayam, Pallapalayam, Ravuthar Road (Irugur), Achankulam, Sulur, Singanallur, Kumarasamy lake, Selvampathy Lake, Krishnampathy Lake, Kolarampathy Lake, Ukkulam, Senkulam, Perur Puttuvikki, Valankulam, Ukkadam, Selva Chinthamani, Kurichi, Narasampathi, Vedapatti, Nandankarai, Perur-chettipalayam and Kalapatti are the wetlands of importance, found in Coimbatore.

In fact, some wetlands like Singanallur are attempted now to manage well. Singanallur Tank and the area around it have been declared as biodiversity conservation zone. A press release from the Coimbatore Corporation recently declared the area as a conservation zone. The release said that the objective was to protect the 288-acre water body that was home to 720 species of flora and fauna, including 10 endangered species birds, 200 herbs and fresh water tortoise by declaring the place a conservation zone, because urbanisation threatened its ecology. The work of NGOs in this initiative is commendable and we hope all wetlands are similarly focused.

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Butterflies of Coimbatore Wetlands– A 5 Years Study

Butterflies & Wetlands Wetlands are home to several specialist species, especially the trees and plants. In a city landscape, the wetlands assume much significant role, as elsewhere in the city, the native trees and plants are under threat and are replaced by exotic, ornament and non native species. So, for some species of flora, the wetlands and areas around them seem to be the last of hiding place and so too the faunal life which is dependant on them, especially the butterflies. It is no exaggeration that some butterflies are seen only around the wetlands (because of their host plants are still around) and a few hundred meters away, we may not find the same species until we touch the next wet land. This may also put severe pressure on the butterfly population and gene flow because of fragmentation of habitat. Any adverse impact on wetland can temporarily/ permanently wipe out the species from the location. Coimbatore wetlands are always home to butterflies and Pieridae are the family which truly enjoys their presence.

Study Details Between the period 2013 and 2017, nature walks to the wetlands were undertaken at different points in time to the wetlands that was discussed earlier. During every visit, family wise, species occurring along with its count are noted down. The walks were almost throughout the years and were mostly on Sundays. The duration of walks was 2-3 hours depending on the climate and species availability. From the early data, it was clear after a while that some wetlands house more number of species and rarities than others; such wet lands were covered more often. In the last 6 months, all wetlands are covered at least once as part of the study. The results were tabulated, analysed and discussed below:

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Butterflies of Coimbatore Wetlands– A 5 Years Study

Results & Discussion For the convenience of the current discussion, we have selected key wetlands of about 13. The wetlands in the core city area are not anymore supporting the agricultural activated as that of the wetlands situated slightly away from core city areas. We have for the convenience grouped these into Eastern complex of wetlands and Western complex of Wetlands. The Eastern complex of wetlands include Singanallur, Ravuthar Road, Pallapalayam, Kannampalayam, Sulur, Achankulam & Kalapatti. The Western complex of wetlands include Vedapatti, Kolarampathy, Perur, Senkulam, Ukkadam and Ukkulam

93

A total of 93 species from 5 out of 6 families of butterflies have been recorded in the wetlands. This total, 93, is considered significant considering the total species occurrence of 324 for the state. Species from Nymphalidae family (29) and Lycaenidae (26) have dominated the occurrence while Pieridae family is well represented with 20 out of 32 species occurring on these wetlands. Hesperiidae and Papilionidae are represented on a lower side with 11 and 7 respectively.

Papilionidae family, called Swallowtails, are represented only by commonly seen 6 species and they include Common Rose and Crimson Rose, Common and Blue Mormons, Lime Butterfly and Tailed Jay. The 7th being a surprise Red Helen Special mention need to be made with respect to Pieridae species, called Whites and Yellows, as these species are truly dominating the wetlands by numbers and one would always find more than a few of them. Species from these include Common Gull, Pioneer, Albatrosses, Salmon Arabs, Orange-tips, Grass Yellows and Emigrants. Large Salmon Arab and Striped Albatross are species to note.

Nymphalidae, which represented the most number of species, was represented by Castors, Costers, Tigers, Crows, Jokers, Pansies and Eggflies. Special sightings include a Tailed Palmfly and other species to note were Sailers, Black Rajahs, Bushbrowns and Evening Browns Lycaenidae, was again represented well with Grass Blues, Silverlines, Lineblues, Zebra Blue, Grass Jewels, Pierrots, Pea Blues, Forget-me-nots, and Gram Blues. Special sightings include Red Flash, Cornelian, Redspot, Guava Blue, Acacia Blue and Peacock Royal.

Hesperiidae, called Skippers, are represented by 11 species that include the most dominant of them, the African Marbled Skipper, and species like Rice Swifts, Branded Swifts, Indian Skipper, Pale Pam Dart and Dart sp. Special sightings include a Bush Hopper.

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Butterflies of Coimbatore Wetlands– A 5 Years Study

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Eastern Complex of Wetlands

The Eastern complex of wetlands including Singanallur, Ravuthar Road, Pallapalayam, Kannampalayam, Sulur, Achankulam & Kalapatti has yielded a total of 80 species.

Western Complex of Wet lands

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The Western complex of wetlands including Vedapatti, Kolarampathy, Perur, Senkulam, Ukkadam and Ukkulam has yielded a total of 64 species

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Butterflies of Coimbatore Wetlands– A 5 Years Study

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Butterflies of Coimbatore Wetlands– A 5 Years Study

Text, Analysis & Pictures: Pavendhan A

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Butterfly Effect Rama Neelamegam ramaneelamegam@gmail.com

“Butterfly effect� is a well known theory in chaos and dynamical systems wherein a small disturbance in the initial conditions have a dramatic change in the outcome which has no relation none so ever with the actual living insect that we are interested here!. Well, what that has got to do with this newsletter, you may ask! In retrospect actually it does have a parallel situation with the real time ecosystem in which we all are part of!

Butterflies are part of the lower pecking order in the food chain. Insects, birds and small reptiles like garden lizards have butterflies as part of their menu, sometimes even monkeys! They also help in pollinating flowers which later form the vegetables and fruit which we eat. The lifecycle of a butterfly depends on different kind of flora at different stages. Usually they have a very specific larval host plant which may or may not be their nectaring plant. So in general we essentially need all kind of flora for a healthy butterfly population (numbers and species wise) which acts like a green marker of the environment!

Ok, so a butterfly is very important part of the food chain. So is it be all and end all of its existence? Has nature given them any tricks to survive from getting predated so that they reach adulthood to ensure their species survive are the questions one might ask! Well yes! Mother Nature always equips her every creation with some surprising tricks up their sleeve. Primary one is that at a time a female butterfly lays hundreds of eggs in the hope that at least few tens survive and she certainly doesn't lay them in the same basket (host plant).

Pictures: Rama Neelamegam

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Butterfly Effect

At each stage a butterfly has found its own strategy to survive. For example a caterpillar is a very soft and slow moving juicy looking morsel of food. So it is an easy game for birds, wasps and even mammals. So how do they protect themselves?

Would you believe they have 5 major aces up their sleeve? The first one is their choice of host plants like the milk weed caterpillars (plain/striped tigers) which make them obnoxious and unpalatable to eat. The second method is camouflage. They blend in with the host plant leaf texture like the common baron or look like inedible bird droppings at least up to few instars (lime butterfly). The third is having a big eyespot rendering them a look of miniature snakes making them look bigger and scarier. The fourth is emitting a bad smell which wards of parasitic wasps which use their bodies to lay eggs. But recently it has been seen that they have an even more interesting way to ward of their predators! That is by taking the camouflage to the next level. In 2011, a study on butterflies from Ecuador showed that 4 different species caterpillars have the same look 1!

Till this time it was only thought that the adult butterfly followed mimicry. Quite a revelation it turned out to be.

In the chrysalis/pupa stage they either stay out of view by forming pupa under the leaf (common crow) or be in camouflage colours of green (leaf/stem) or brown (branch/twig/bark) essentially keeping a low profile.

Common Baron Caterpillar

Common Mormon false eyes

In adult stage they ward of predators by their speed or flight pattern or by perching under the leaves. But the most formidable one is their art of mimicry. Mimicry is where two different species have the same wing markings/patterns. There are two forms this mimicry can take. A non-poisonous butterfly mimicking the poisonous one (Batesian Mimicry) to avoid being eaten and poisonous butterflies resembling each other so that only few of them need to be sacrificed to teach the predators a lesson (Mullerian mimicry). And how they do it is mind blowing to say the least!

According to research in an Amazonian butterfly, scientists found that these butterflies have 3 versions of chromosomal patterns existing in the same butterfly species2! By controlling the gene sequence which controls the wing pattern, a butterfly can essentially tailor make its wing pattern to resemble the milkweed butterfly with which it co-habits to escape predation! How cool is that!

Now going back to the title of this write up “Butterfly effect”, it could essentially be interpreted as “Small causes have larger effects”! By conserving a teeny weeny beautiful butterfly we are essentially conserving earth for our generations to come!

That’s how much an important part butterflies play in nature!

References: 1. https://www.livescience.com/17647-caterpillar-mimicry-predation.html 2.https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110814141410.htm

Common Mormon pupa green and brown in colours based on surrounding colour

Blue Oakleaf resembling dead leaf

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Thalamalai Amol Mande amol.mande17@gmail.com

Thalamalai hills is located about 65 km from Trichy on the way to Namakkal. At the top of the hills there is Arulmigu Thaana Valarntha (Suyambu) Perumal Temple, which attracts thousands of worshippers during the Tamil month of Purattasi. It also attracts trekkers equally during this period. The hill is just above 700 m from MSL. The landscape is filled with scrubs and a natural spring can also be found here.

Picture Credits: Google Maps

I have been to Thalamalai couple of times before, with my trekking group from Trichy called Trichy Trekkers. On the Sunday, 19th November 2017 my friend Anand & me decided to trek to Thalamalai. My only purpose of trekking to Thalamalai was to capture maximum number of butterflies I can, because this time due to good rain it is quite green there.

With some initial transportation issues we reached the base of the hill by 10.15 am and started our journey. I could see most of the common butterflies were flying around. Due to clear sunlight it was getting difficult to climb and we were really feeling tired. But as we proceed little further I was too happy to see Monkey Puzzle on the way because I have seen it before not more than 3-4 times. As we proceed further to my surprise Monkey Puzzle were in large number. After very short distances I was seeing Monkey Puzzle and I even doubted whether they are following us.

There were other butterflies which we saw were common Three-rings, Common Silverline, Lime blue, Brown awl and other common butterflies. As we were about to reach the top, I have seen some beautiful butterfly with open wing and it was none other than Red Pierrot, my second sighting till now. Soon I realized that its not alone and two more joined, and their courtship display was a joy to watch. All the way of our trekking, we were the only trekkers and after reaching the top we came to know that temple is closed. .

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Thalamalai

There is a small temple and a pond before the main temple where we saw a Zebra blue mud-puddling and an Evening brown sitting quietly in the shade. After simple and delicious lunch which was served by the priests, we started towards the peak, which is around half a Km and we could see many butterflies. I could see many Red Pierrots again which I have never seen before in so many numbers. After climbing up the steps, we reached the temple and my attention was grabbed by another beautiful butterfly with different patterns and as I observed carefully it was a Moth. Tired, we have taken a quick nap at the top outside the temple, and we soon started getting down. Red Pierrots were wandering in good numbers still. Further down I have seen a butterfly perfectly camouflaged on the rock and it was Malabar spotted flat which I am seeing for the first time.

My friend Anand drew my attention to a sparkling blue colour open wing which happened to be an Indigo Flash. Since it was getting late and being only two people on the whole hill we started climbing down by 3.15 pm on a different route which is exactly opposite to our route we used for climbing up. On the way we have seen again a few Monkey Puzzles, Red Pierrots, a mating pair of common Jay and an Albatross. After two hour of climbing down, we finally reached the base point which was exactly at the opposite side of our starting point. It was really a good experience. I think the place is les frequented by naturalists and more visits by them can unearth many new species.

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The Road to Mordana E. Arun Kumar arunekumar@yahoo.com

Kaundanya wildlife sanctuary is a part of the Eastern Ghats that cuts across both Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh. These unique hills are sandwiched between the Seshachalam ranges in the north and the Jawadhu hills in the south. This sanctuary is unique for the reason that the Deccan plateau ends here and slopes down into the plains of Tamilnadu creating a rich eco system consisting of valleys , ghats and rivers. Three major rivers originate from these forests and flow as tributaries of River Palar.

Picture Credits: Google Maps

The major river being Kaundanya which also shares its name with the sanctuary. A dam across River Kaundanya is built at Mordana to sustain the water level throughout the year. This has not only helped the Humans for their drinking and irrigation purpose, it also has become a major water source for animals which has made this forest their home. The forest hosts a good number of Elephants , Leopards , Sloth Bears etc. The presence of these animals has reduced the human intervention inside the forest which in turn has made this place into a heaven for butterflies.

The road to Mordana dam is about 7 Km into pristine southern tropical, dry deciduous and thorn forest. The road is peppered with small streams and ponds that form a perfect spot for the mud puddling butterflies. Every turn is decorated with the mud puddling yellow orange tips making it a riot of colours.

About 43 species of butterflies were spotted along the road dominated mostly by Pieridae family - Yellows and White butterflies like Great Orange-tips , Yellow and White Orange-tips , Crimson-tips , Small and Plain Orange -tips , Pioneers and Common Gulls , Common Grass Yellow , Common Albatross , Emigrants, etc. The other dominating species were from Nymphalidae family (Brush footed butterflies) like the Common Crows, Plain and Striped Tigers , Blue Tigers and the most prominent among all were the Anomalous Nawabs who were spotted in pretty large numbers.

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The Road to Mordana

Among the swallowtails it was the turn of the gentle giants among butterflies the Blue Mormon to colour the landscape with its mesmerizing beauty.

Further exploring into this unique landscape will surely throw up many surprises to the butterfly world. The forest department officials have shown lot of interest in protecting this rich eco system which in turn would let this place remain a heaven for Butterflies. The road to Mordana is indeed a gateway to the butterfly land of eastern ghats.

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Butterfly Checklist of Coimbatore District

District- An ideal habitat profile for Butterflies Coimbatore District, with 4723 sq.km area, is blessed by the presence of Western Ghats on their Southern and Western side.

Except Valparai and a few other areas (where plantation dominates), these riches are unspoilt mostly. The varied elevation are ideal habitats for different altitude specific butterflies. The foothills are especially rich in butterfly density and any place near a foothill is a butterfly hotspot. The dominant agriculture activities around the foothills also support certain specific butterfly species. Dwelling on the agriculture activities, crops such as Rice and Sugar and Coconut, Plantains and Palm, all are interestingly host plants to many butterfly species. These crops and plants are grown in the Coimbatore District. The Noyyal river fed water system which encompasses about 30 water bodies around the core Coimbatore area alone and numerous active waterbodies in the district from other rivers and tanks, are again a butterfly rich habitat they are. The Singanallur lake alone within the city limits of Coimbatore has recorded 64 butterfly species. The district also possesses significant dry and arid area, and the trees and plants from these areas are abundant with Pieridae family butterflies which prefer these habitats. Even the urban landscape, wherever dotted with little unspoilt green cover with native plants return good number of species. Despite the faster growth and the pressures of habitat loss to the urbanisation, industrialisation, real estate needs, etc, we find the presence of butterflies are not yet under severe threat. But from what we are already seeing from a few closely monitoring sites, we are losing significant habitat for some of the iconic butterflies of Coimbatore and the state like Joker, Common Threering, Baronet, Orange-tips, etc. The Common Three-ring which is abundant in areas like Peelamedu live on the common grass that grows on the streets. These are elsewhere rare.

Coimbatore also is an important destination and route migrating butterflies. The annual migration of Milkweed butterflies is well observed and recorded. The current year saw a return of migration of these was almost nil in the last couple of years. This year we also witnessed large scale Emigrants species migration and Albatrosses, both within the ghats as well as from plains to the ghats. We also saw some reverse migration from ghats to the plains. Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Siruvani Hills, Anaikatti Hills and areas closer to the Nilgiri Hills are all important migratory spots.

It is evident from the above discussion that the District of Coimbatore is an ideal habitat for butterflies from Karamadai to Pollachi taluks.

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Butterfly Checklist of Coimbatore District

The Numbers In India, there are about 1500 butterfly species reported and a recent catalogue account pegs this at 1318 with most of them occurring in the North East. The Peninsular India and Western Ghats checklists place the count closer to 330 and 340. Tamil Nadu, which benefits from the Western Ghats checklists and the plains and Eastern Ghats, estimated to have 324 species of butterflies. Tamil Nadu Butterfly Society, which keeps account of butterfly species sighted in the state from the year 2012, has so far re-validated 309 species. These 309 species are recorded by members of TNBS, and other naturalists from elsewhere in the state. Coimbatore District, an ideal replica of the state habitat, except the coastal arrangement, is expected to have all these 324 species. However, there are certain species which are seen only in specific locations and they are not to be found elsewhere. Such species (like Red-eye Bushbrown, Red-disc Bushbrown, Nilgiri and Palni Fritillary, Palni Bushbrown, Palni Fourring, etc) are likely to reduce the species seen in Coimbatore. Also, it takes decade and more by scientists, naturalists and amateurs to cover an area in detail, and we have just covered 5 years on the path. These are likely to have an impact on the numbers we have in hand today– 266.

This will be probably the first district wise data getting out recently to the public view. There are other districts too which can challenge this number and even better it. They include Nilgiris, Dindigul, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Dharmapuri, Trichy, Salem, etc.

Most of these districts can easily touch 200 species and even more. The Eastern Ghats which is very much present in the districts of Salem, Trichy, Madurai and Northern Tamil Nadu Districts are equally good with the presence of butterflies as its Western Ghats counterparts. Naturalists in these and other districts are currently and actively recording the species occurrence.

2 6 6 Arriving the numbers and the family wise details Butterfly walks were held almost every week either exclusively or part of other nature walks during 2012-2017. The species seen are photographed and noted down by the members of Tamil Nadu Butterfly Society. Most observations are by the members of TNBS and the TNBS on-line forum records by others are also included after due validation.

Important Species- Discussion Among the six families, Papilionidae is fully represented with all possible 19 species were spotted in the district. This includes rarities such as Five-bar Swordtail, Malabar Banded Peacock, Malabar Banded Swallowtail, and Malabar Rose. Common Banded Peacock and Spot Swordtail are the attractive species seen in good numbers in most places of forest. Common Rose, Crimson Rose and Common Mormon are the species that we encounter in the city scape very regularly. Blue Mormon and Red Helen, which are fairly large butterflies belong to this family along with the largest butterfly of Indian- the Southern Birdwing. These are found in the forest habitats.

29 out of 31 possible species are seen from the Pieridae family. This family is pretty strong in our state of Tamil Nadu and Coimbatore too is well represented, missing out on the two high altitude species. Species of importance include Lesser Albatross, Painted Sawtooth, Plain Puffin, Spot Puffin and Lesser Gull on the hills and Orang-tips, Striped Albatross, Salmon Arabs, Common Gull and Pioneer in the plains. Commonest are the Grass Yellows and Emigrants which are seen in all habitats. The Wanderers and Chocolate Albatross are very attractive from this family.

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Butterfly Checklist of Coimbatore District

Nymphalidae: This is easily the dominant family in terms of species count. 77 species are recorded from the District of Coimbatore which includes rarities and species of importance like Southern Duffer, Brown King Crow, White-bar Bushbrown, Tamil Catseye, Tamil Lacewing, Small Leopard and Short-banded Sailer. Some of the attractive species from this family which are seen from the district include Clipper, Cruiser, Map Butterfly, Joker, Blue Admiral, Indian Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Painted Courtesan and Baronet. The Milkweed butterflies (Tigers and Crows) along with Pansies and Eggflies are commonly seen.

The Blues, the Lycaenidae family species are generally called, equal in terms of species count with Nymphalidae and stand at 76 species. These species are relatively smaller to medium in size. In fact, the smallest butterfly found in India, the Oriental Grass Jewel has a good presence in the city. Two recent finds to the state are from this city recently and they are White Tufted Royal and Black-spotted Pierrot. Species of importance and rarity include Many-tailed Oakblue, Common Onyx, Common Tinsel, Plane, Silver Royal, Silver-streaked Acacia Blue, Large 4-lineblue and Abnormal Silverline. The attractive Many-tailed Oakblue, Red Pierrot, Shiva Sunbeam and Silverlines are seen in good numbers. Grass Blues and Lineblues are the commonest.

The Riodinidae family is represented by just one species- Double-banded Judy.

Skippers are smaller in size, comparatively duller and are active in mornings and evenings and can fly faster. The District has 64 species from this Hesperiidae family. Rarities and specialities include Madras Ace, Tree Flitter, Wax Dart, Bicolour Ace, Angled Flat, Orange Awlet and Orange-tail Awl. Commoners include Indian Skipper, African Marbled Skipper, Palm-Darts, Branded Swifts, Rice Swifts and Straight Swifts. Because of their smaller size, cryptic appearance, they tend to go unnoticed unlike the other families. They are seen from low elevation to very high elevation.

Butterfly Hotspots Hotspots are those places where the species richness is easily felt not only during their peak season, but throughout the year.

Many places in Coimbatore District easily falls into these categories and some of them like Kallar are known for naturalists thronging for rarities throughout the year. In Coimbatore District, Siruvani tops the list (with more than 220 species sighting), followed by Kallar (175 species), Valparai, Ettimadai, Anaikatti, Ponnuthu and Top Slip. There are many hotspots are yet to be explored as not every place is accessible for the public and needs Forest Department permission.

The lists were compiled by TNBS members including Theivaprakasham H, Nishanth CV, Gopal Krishnan, Viswa Nathan and Balakrishnan apart from the author. Thanks are due to all those who have made the sightings and reported to us and in our online forum. Thanks, are also due to the Forest Department who gave us permission to visit certain places.

Coimbatore District gets only an average of 59 cm rain in a year, both from South West Monsoon and North-East Monsoon combined, and the butterfly season is from October to December, many a species are seen during these months than in any other months and in good numbers.

Disclaimer: People who would like to use these checklist should acknowledge Tamil Nadu Butterfly Society.

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Butterfly Checklist of Coimbatore District

Family: Papilionidae S. No

Scientific Name

1

Graphium teredon

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide) Southern Bluebottle

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Graphium doson Graphium agamemnon Graphium antiphates Graphium nomius Pachliopta aristolochiae Pachliopta pandiyana Pachliopta hector Troides minos Papilio clytia Papilio polytes Papilio dravidarum Papilio helenus Papilio polymnestor Papilio liomedon Papilio demoleus Papilio paris Papilio crino Papilio buddha

Common Jay Tailed Jay Five-bar Swordtail Spot Swordtail Common Rose Malabar Rose Crimson Rose Southern Birdwing Common Mime Common Mormon Malabar Raven Red Helen Blue Mormon Malabar Banded Swallowtail Lime Butterfly Paris Peacock Common Banded Peacock Malabar Banded Peacock

Other Common Names (as per IFB website) Narrow-banded Bluebottle

Sahyadri Birdwing

Lime Swallowtail

Family: Pieridae S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

20

Eurema andersoni

One-spot Grass Yellow

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48

Eurema blanda Eurema brigitta Eurema hecabe Eurema laeta Catopsilia pomona Catopsilia pyranthe Colotis amata Colotis danae Colotis etrida Colotis aurora Colotis fausta Ixias marianne Ixias pyrene Hebomoia glaucippe Pareronia ceylanica Pareronia hippia Appias libythea Appias lyncida Appias albina Appias wardii Appias indra Pieris canidia Cepora nerissa Cepora nadina Prioneris sita Delias eucharis Leptosia nina Belenois aurota

Three-spot Grass Yellow Small Grass Yellow Common Grass Yellow Spotless Grass Yellow Common Emigrant Mottled Emigrant Small Salmon Arab Crimson-tip Small Orange-tip Plain Orange-tip Large Salmon Arab White Orange-tip Yellow Orange-tip Great Orange-tip Dark Wanderer Common Wanderer Striped Albatross Chocolate Albatross Common Albatross Lesser Albatross Plain Puffin Indian Cabbage White Common Gull Lesser Gull Painted Sawtooth Common Jezebel Psyche Pioneer

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

Lemon Emigrant

Little Orange-tip

Indian Wanderer Western Striped Albatross

Asian Cabbage White

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Butterfly Checklist of Coimbatore District

Family: Nymphalidae S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

49

Libythea myrrha

Club Beak

50

Libythea laius

Southern Beak

51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61

Parantica aglea Parantica nilgiriensis Tirumala limniace Tirumala septentrionis Danaus genutia Danaus chrysippus Euploea sylvester Euploea klugii Euploea core Idea malabarica Polyura athamas / Charaxes bharata Polyura agraria/ Charaxes agrarius Charaxes psaphon Charaxes solon Discophora lepida Elymnias caudata Melanitis leda Melanitis phedima Melanitis zitenius Parantirrhoea marshalli Lethe europa Lethe rohria Lethe drypetis Mycalesis anaxias Mycalesis perseus Mycalesis mineus Mycalesis subdita Mycalesis patnia Zipaetis saitis Orsotrioena medus Ypthima asterope Ypthima baldus Ypthima ceylonica Ypthima huebneri Acraea violae/ Acraea terpsicore Cethosia mahratta Phalanta alcippe Phalanta phalantha Vindula erota Cirrochroa thais Cupha erymanthis Moduza procris Athyma perius Athyma ranga Athyma selenophora

Glassy Tiger Nilgiri Tiger Blue Tiger Dark Blue Tiger Striped Tiger Plain Tiger Double-branded Crow Brown King Crow Common Crow Malabar Tree Nymph Common Nawab

62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

Lobed Beak

King Crow

Indian Nawab

Anomalous Nawab Indian Tawny Rajah Black Rajah Southern Duffer Southern Palmfly Common Evening Brown Dark Evening Brown Great Evening Brown Travancore Evening Brown Bamboo Treebrown Common Treebrown Tamil Treebrown White-bar Bushbrown Common Bushbrown Dark-brand Bushbrown Glad-eye Bushbrown Tamil Catseye Nigger Common Three-ring Common Five-ring White Four-ring Common Four-ring Tawny Coster Tamil Lacewing Small Leopard Common Leopard Cruiser Tamil Yeoman Rustic Commander Common Sergeant Black-vein Sergeant Staff Sergeant

Indian Plain Tawny Rajah

Tailed Palmfly

Dark-branded Bushbrown Tamil Bushbrown Malabar Glad-eye Bushbrown Banded Catseye Medus Brown

Sahyadri Lacewing

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Butterfly Checklist of Coimbatore District

S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

96

Colour Sergeant

97

Athyma nefte inara/ Athyma inara Pantoporia hordonia

98 99 100 101 102 103 104

Pantoporia sandaca Neptis hylas Neptis jumbah Phaedyma columella Parthenos sylvia Euthalia aconthea Euthalia lubentina

Extra Lascar Common Sailer Chestnut-streaked Sailer Short-banded Sailer Clipper Common Baron Gaudy Baron

105

Symphaedra nais

Baronet

106

Cynitia lepidea/ Tanaecia lepidea Dophla evelina Cyrestis thyodamas Byblia ilithyia Ariadne ariadne Ariadne merione Rohana parisatis Euripus consimilis Vanessa indica Vanessa cardui Kaniska canace Junonia orithiya Junonia hierta Junonia iphita Junonia atlites Junonia almana Junonia lemonias Hypolimnas bolina Hypolimnas misippus Kallima horsfieldi

Grey Count

107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

Common Lascar

Redspot Duke Common Map Joker Angled Castor Common Castor Black Prince Painted Courtesan Indian Red Admiral Painted lady Blue Admiral Blue Pansy Yellow Pansy Chocolate Pansy Grey Pansy Peacock Pansy Lemon Pansy Great Eggfly Danaid Eggfly Blue Oakleaf

Baron

Map Butterfly

Sahyadri Blue Oakleaf

Family: Lycaenidae S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

126

Curetis thetis

Indian Sunbeam

127

Curetis acuta

Angled Sunbeam

Acute Sunbeam

128 129 130 131 132 133 134

Curetis siva Spalgis epius Spindasis lohita Spindasis vulcanus Spindasis schistacea Spindasis ictis Spindasis abnormis

Siva Sunbeam Apefly Long-banded Silverline Common Silverline Plumbeous Silverline Common Shot Silverline Abnormal Silverline

Shiva Sunbeam

135

Spindasis elima

Scarce Shot Silverline

136

Anthene lycaenina

Pointed Ciliate Blue

137

Petrelaea dana

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Butterfly Checklist of Coimbatore District

S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

138

Nacaduba pactolus

Large 4-lineblue

139 140 141 142 143

Nacaduba kurava Nacaduba beroe Prosotas nora Prosotas dubiosa Prosotas noreia

Transparent 6-lineblue Opaque 6-lineblue Common Lineblue Tailless Lineblue White-tipped Lineblue

144

Caleta decidia

Angled Pierrot

145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188

Discolampa ethion Jamides bochus Jamides celeno Jamides alecto Catochrysops strabo Lampides boeticus Leptotes plinius Castalius rosimon Tarucus nara Tarucus balkanicus nigra Zizeeria karsandra Zizina otis Pseudozizeeria maha Zizula hylax Everus lacturnus Talicada nyseus Azanus ubaldus Azanus jesous Neopithecops zalmora Megisba malaya Acytolepis puspa Celastrina lavendularis Udara akasa Celatoxia albidisca Euchrysops cnejus Freyeria putli Freyeria trochylus Chilades pandava Chilades parrhassius Chilades lajus Arhopala centaurus Arhopala amantes Thaduka multicaudata Surendra quercetorum Zinaspa todara Zesius chrysomallus Amblypodia anita Iraota timoleon Pratapa deva Tajuria jehana Tajuria cippus Creon cleobis Hypolycaena nilgirica Chliaria othona/ Hypolycaena othona Zeltus amasa

Banded Blue Pierrot Dark Cerulean Common Cerulean Metallic Cerulean Forget-me-not Pea Blue Zebra Blue Common Pierrot Rounded Pierrot Black-spotted Pierrot Dark Grass Blue Lesser Grass Blue Pale Grass Blue Tiny Grass Blue Indian Cupid Red Pierrot Bright Babul Blue African Babul Blue Quaker Malayan Common Hedge Blue Plain Hedge Blue White Hedge Blue White-disc Hedge Blue Gram Blue Small Grass Jewel Grass Jewel Plains Cupid Small Cupid Lime Blue Centaur Oakblue Large Oakblue Many-tailed Oakblue Common Acacia Blue Silver-streaked Acacia Blue Redspot Leaf Blue Silverstreak Blue Tufted White Royal Plains Blue Royal Peacock Royal Broadtail Royal Nilgiri Tit Orchid Tit

189

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

Striped Pierrot Little Tiger Pierrot

Oriental Cupid

Common Quaker

Oriental Grass Jewel

Purple Leaf Blue

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Butterfly Checklist of Coimbatore District

S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

190

Ancema blanka

Silver Royal

191 192 193 194 195

Loxura atymnus Horaga onyx Rathinda amor Cheritra freja Catapaecilma major

Yamfly Common Onyx Monkey Puzzle Common Imperial Common Tinsel

196

Virachola isocrates

Guava Blue

197 198 199 200 201

Deudorix epijarbas Bindahara moorei Rapala iarbus Rapala manea Rapala varuna

Cornelian Blue-edged Plane Indian Red Flash Slate Flash Indigo Flash

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

Blue-bordered Plane Common Red Flash

Family: Riodinidae S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

202

Abisara bifasciata

Plum Judy

Double-banded Judy

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

Family: Hesperiidae S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

203

Badamia exclamationis

Brown Awl

204

Bibasis sena

Orange-tail Awl

205 206 207 208 209

Burara jaina Hasora chromus Hasora taminatus Hasora vitta Tapena thwaitesi

Orange Striped Awlet Common Banded Awl White Banded Awl Plain Banded Awl Angled Flat

210

Coladenia indrani

Tricoloured Pied Flat

211

Gerosis bhagava

Common Yellow-breasted Flat

212

Tagiades japetus

Common Snow Flat

213

Tagiades gana

Suffused Snow Flat

214 215

Tagiades litigiosa Odontoptilum angulatum

Water Snow Flat Chestnut Angle

216

Caprona ransonnetti

Golden Angle

217

Celaenorrhinus ambareesa

Malabar Spotted Flat

218

Celaenorrhinus leucocera

Common Spotted Flat

219

Celaenorrhinus putra

Bengal Spotted Flat

Restricted Spotted Flat

220

Tamil Spotted Flat

Dusky Spotted Flat

221

Celaenorrhinus ruficornis/ Celaenorrhinus fusca Pseudocoladenia dan

222

Sarangesa dasahara

Common Small Flat

223

Gomalia elma

African Marbled Skipper

Orange Awlet

Black Angle

Dakhan Spotted Flat

Fulvous Pied Flat

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Butterfly Checklist of Coimbatore District

S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

224

Spialia galba

Indian Skipper

Indian Grizzled Skipper

225 226 227 228

Baracus subditus Baracus hampsoni Ampittia dioscorides Aeromachus pygmaeus

Hedge Hopper Hampson's Hedge Hopper Bush Hopper Pygmy Scrub Hopper

Yellow-stripped Hedge Hopper Malabar Hedge Hopper

229

Sovia hyrtacus

Bicolour Ace

White-branded Ace

230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244-45 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260-64 265 266

Thoressa honorei Halpe porus Halpe hindu Iambrix salsala Psolos fuligo Notocrypta paralysos Notocrypta curvifascia Udaspes folus Suastus gremius Cupitha purreea Hyarotis adrastus Gangara thyrsis Erionota torus Matapa aria Parnara sp.

Borbo cinnara Borbo bevani Pelopidas agna Pelopidas subochracea Pelopidas mathias Pelopidas conjuncta Polytremis lubricans Baoris farri Caltoris kumara Caltoris philippina Taractrocera maevius Taractrocera ceramas Oriens concinna Oriens goloides Potanthus sp.

Telicota colon Telicota (ancilla) bambusae

Madras Ace Moore's Ace South Indian Ace Chestnut Bob Coon Common Banded Demon Restricted Demon Grass Demon Indian Palm Bob Wax Dart Tree Flitter Giant Redeye

Sahyadri Orange Ace Bispot Banded Ace Sahyadri Banded Ace

Common Redeye Rice Swift Bevan's Swift Little Branded Swift Large Branded Swift Small Branded Swift Conjoined Swift Contiguous Swift Paintbrush Swift Blank Swift Philippine Swift Common Grass Dart Tamil Grass Dart Tamil Dartlet Indian Dartlet

Dusky Partwing

Oriental Palm Bob

Rounded Palm-redeye Common Branded Redeye

Lesser Rice Swift Obscure Branded Swift

Complete Paint-brush Swift

Oriental Grass Dart Tawny-spotted Grass Dart Sahyadri Dartlet Smaller Dartlet

Pale Palm-Dart Dark Palm-Dart

Text & Pictures: Pavendhan A

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Short Notes on Interesting Sightings

Tree Flitter makes appearance in Kanchipuram District Vikas Madhav Nagarajan madhavvikas@gmail.com

On the morning of 16th November 2017 , Rama Neelamegam and I had been to Karikili bird sanctuary in Kanchipuram county. We were on the western part of the bird sanctuary looking at Tawny bellied babblers. Suddenly we spotted a brown coloured skipper sitting on a plant.

There was palm around the place it sat. There also was shady and had lots of thickets. The palm did look like a species of the Calamus genus. I went to photograph it. Unfortunately the camera wasn’t focusing well , hence I obtained blurry images. While approaching closer , it got disturbed. It was later identified to be a Tree Flitter. The Tree Flitter is thought to a species normally associated with dense forests in the western Ghats. Its host plant is Calamus species . This plant was seen in good numbers in the bird sanctuary. This finding changes the way we look at distribution and again shows that Chennai and northern Tamilnadu is a place full of surprises waiting to be found.

Aberration A Pavendhan Aberration, by word, is defined as a departure from what is normal, usual, or expected, typically an unwelcome one. In Butterflies, aberration is a butterfly with abnormal appearance. The causes for them are usually extreme climatic changes, genetic mutation or pathogens . The two specimens provided here are aberration form of a Common Silverline and Forget-me-not and in both the cases, it is observed from places where they were abundant (increasing the probability of finding one with aberration).

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An update on the re-validation of species in Tamil Nadu

At the end of June 2017, we have reported 306 species as part of revalidation exercise (Ref: Pattampoochi Wings 1 Vein 3 for more details).

S. No

Subsequent to this, until December 2017, we have added 3 more species taking the numbers to 309. During the year, a total of 11 species have been added to the revalidation list.

One of the species (Tarucus balkanicus nigra) added to the list is outside the 323 species, thus revising the target checklist species to 324 from 323. Another 15 more species are yet to be revalidated from the target list of 324.

Family

Target

Available

1

Papilionidae

19

19

2

Pieridae

32

31

3

Nymphalidae

96

91

4

Lycaenidae

92

87

5

Riodinidae

2

2

6

Hesperiidae

83

79

324

309

Total

95%

Naturalists, Butterfly enthusiasts and others are out in field regularly to map the remaining 15 species for the state and it is very well possible that some of them may not even occur and some new species may just expand to our area. Systematic and regular exploration and survey of not only plains but core area of Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats will really help! It is just a matter of time, we feel species like Nilgiri Grass Yellow, Small Long-brand Bushbrown, Long-brand Bushbrown, Palni Sailer are spotted while the other species may continue to be elusive for some time to come.

The following table provides details of the 3 species sighted along with person who recorded it and date and place since June 2017 (the last time we have provided an update on this. The details of all of them can be found in our official Facebook page.

S. No

Species Name Autumn Leaf Kanara Swift Black-spotted Pierrot (Tarucus balkanicus nigra)

1 2 3

Person recorded Santhosh Kshathriya SRK Ramasamy A Pavendhan

Place Rajapalayam Nilgiris Singanallur, Coimbatore

Date September 2017 30.10.2017 05.11.2017

The following table provides the names of remaining 15 target species S. No

Scientific Name 1 2 3

Eurema nilgiriensis Amathusia phidippus Mycalesis igilia

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide) Nilgiri Grass Yellow Palmking Small Long-brand Bushbrown

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

4

Mycalesis visala

Long-brand Bushbrown

Long-branded Bushbrown

5

Lasippa viraja

Yellow Jack Sailer

6

Neptis (soma) palnica

Creamy Sailer

7

Anthene emolus

Common Ciliate Blue

8 9

Tarucus indica Arhopala bazaloides

Pointed Pierrot Tamil Oakblue

Indian Pierrot Dusted Oakblue

10

Arhopala abseus

Aberrant Bushblue

Aberrant Oakblue

11

Tajuria maculata

Spotted Royal

Spotted Royal

12

Hasora badra

Common Awl

13

Thoressa sitala

Sitala Ace

14

Zographetus ogygia

Purple Spotted Flitter

15

Hyarotis microstictum/ Hyarotis coorga

Brush Flitter

Sahyadri Long-branded Bushbrown

Palni Sailer

Nilgiri Plain Ace Kodagu Brush Flitter Text: Pavendhan A PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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TN Butterflies Facebook 2017– An Analysis

From Oct 2nd 2014-2016 Between the period, 2nd Oct 2014 and Dec 2016, we saw the TamilNadu Butterflies (https://www.facebook.com/groups/373700319460990/) grow and establish as one of the top group in show causing the butterfly related information with respect to Tamil Nadu landscape. The years saw increase in contribution from year to year basis too. In 2015, there were 3211 posts with 271 representative species and in 2016, there were 3580 posts with 277 representative species . No of districts represented were 26 and 29 respectively for 2015 and 2016 respectively. The top contributing districts for these period are Coimbatore, Theni, Virudhunagar, Nilgiris, Chennai ,Madurai, Tirunelveli, Erode and Trichy.

2017 They year 2017 saw a total of 4147 posts from Jan 1 to Dec 27th. Comparing this number with 2015 and 2016 numbers at 3211 and 3965 (revised from last year postings), the current year number proves that the steady growth of the online forum and increased popularity The first 4 months were poor. The reason for the first four months poor show was due to failed monsoon on the previous year and the species struggled to find their way in. This only improved after a good rain show in April. The month of October saw a record number of 593 posts. On an overall basis, 196 members have made their contribution by way of posts and 335 members were associated with comments and 944 members were associated with appreciation. Happy to see more than 50% of the total members were active with our forum and we expect this to go up. We also urge and request members to post their observation more freely which all add up to the knowledge of us on understanding the butterflies.

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TN Butterflies Facebook 2017– An Analysis

District wise species representation 27 out of 32 districts were represented in the forum at least by a post minimum in the year 2017. The districts which missed out are the Delta districts Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur and Karur and Tuticorin. However, all the districts had representation if we consider the period 2014-2017. Districts with maximum no of species representation and contributions are Coimbatore, Chennai, Erode, Dindigul (thanks to the Kodai survey), Tiruvannamalai and Sivagangai. Other significant contributions are from Trichy, Tiruppur, Salem, Madurai and Virudhunagar. The contributions from Theni and Tirunelveli have gone down noticeably. Some districts have benefitted by a few diehard butterfly lovers.

Family wise– Month wise species representation The graph below shows clearly correlates with the weather pattern of the state. A poor monsoon in 2016 resulted in the drop of species being reported for the first six months in general. The rains from April helped shoot up the counts, and some species gained undue advantage like Common Emigrants in terms of mass outburst from April to July. The momentum picked up from July for all species and peaked in October. The butterfly season for Tamil nadu is between September and November and the data truly reflects the same!

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TN Butterflies Facebook 2017– An Analysis

Family wise counts representation Papilionidae had more representation between the months July and September. The Pieridae maintained their dominance from May to October. The other three families, Nymphalidae, Lycaenidae (including Riodinidae) and Hesperiidae were well represented from August through November and tapering out in the month of December. March seems to be the worst month with respect to species presence and representation.

Total Species Counts A total of 239 distinct species images have been posted in the FB forum.

The Nymphalids and Lycaenids dominating with 75 species each. Papilionidae and Pieridae were represented in almost full strength. The real drop out is however on the Hesperiidae with just 44 species made into the pages. New species images posted this year include Five-bar Swordtail, Autumn Leaf, Lesser Albatross, Kanara Swift, Black-spotted Pierrot and Palni Fritillary. Compared to last year, there is a drop of 38 species and the bulk of drop was attributed to Skippers followed by Blues and Nymphalids.

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TN Butterflies Facebook 2017– An Analysis

Data Collection: Nishanth CV Analysis Team: Nishanth CV, Pavendhan A, Theivaprakasham H Report by : Pavendhan A PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Grey Pansy by Gandhi Sankar

Peacock Pansy by Dharini Varadharajan

Joker by Balaji P Balachandran

Common Banded Awl by Geethanjali Raghunathan

Glad-eye Bushbrown by Gopal Krishnan

Common Banded Peacock by Gunasekaran

Common Emigrant by Hema Mohandas

Apefly by Kavi Bharathi PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Silverstreak Acacia Blue by Divya Barathi Ramamurthi

Rounded Palm Redeye by Lakshmi Kumar

Southern Birdwing by Madhu Jagdish

Pale Palm Dart by Maheshvar E

Common Castor by Manohar Daniel

Baronet by Maxim Subhiksha

Tawny Coster by Muthu Krishnan

Tree Flitter by Nishanth CV PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Striped Pierrot by Prakash Loganathan

Dark Wanderer by Rajesh Rkm

Orange Awlet by Ramanasaran Hari

Silver Royal by Sahithya Selvaraj

Autumn Leaf by Santhosh Kshathriya

Common Crow by Vicky Chinna

White Four-ring by Vinithashri Gautam

Bamboo Treebrown by Vishwa Nathan PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Great Eggfly by Dr Minal Jani Prajapati

Silverline sp. by Anand Sundaram

Common Grass Yellow by Anusha Somu

Common Wanderer (F) by Arumugam Chandrasekaran

Common Sergeant by Belliraj Singan

Plains Cupid by Bhanu Mathi

Pale Palm-Dart by Civin Solomon

Common Lascar by Darshan M Trivedi PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Chocolate Pansy by Franklin Sukumar

Black Rajah by Jee Jeevith

Double-banded Judy by Kalai Selvan

Black Prince by Kalmadi Rajiv

Common Lineblue by Kumaresan Chandrabose

Common Castor by Leema Robert

Danaid Eggfly by Muniraj Palanisamy

Grass Demon by Pamela Sai PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Blue Mormon by Preethi Selvaraj

Indian Sunbeam by Rainold Lazar Thekkey Edath

Bush Hopper by Rajdeep Jhala

Striped Albatross by Ravi Muthusamy

Chocolate Pansy by Sankar R

Painted Courtesan by SRK Ramasamy

Common Five-ring by Sugan Saravanan

Grass Jewel by T a Natarajan PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Red Pierrot by Amol Mande

Lime Blue by Andipatti Pandi

Apefly by Ankita Aruna-Dilip Tarade

Plumbeous Silverline by Aravind Amirtharaj

Anomalous Nawab by Arun Kumar

Common Evening Brown by Aswin Simman

Chestnut Bob by Devika Devi

Lime Butterfly by Edward Gnanaraj PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Redspot Duke by Felix Nirmal Dev

Anomalous Nawab by Firos AK

Crimson Rose by Govind Raj

Fulvous Pied Flat by J K Velu

Grass Yellow by Jaysree Venkatesh

Yellow Pansy by Jegathesh Kumaran

Plain Puffin by Jeswin Kingsly

Commander by Kalmadi Rajiv PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Striped Tiger by Karthikeyan Ponnambalamoorthy

Common Map by Kavin Manoharan

Leaf Blue by Kumaresan Chandrabose

Southern Duffer by Lenin Raj

Common Grass Dart by Maheshvar E

Tamil Lacewing by Manohar Daniel

Dark Grass Blue by Meena Valli

Common Banded Peacock by Mohamed Anif Rajjan PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Common Three-ring by Monika Gandhi

Common Jezebel by Mymoon Moghal

Danaid Eggfly by Nandyz Nandini

Mottled Emigrant by Osborn Iniyan

Indian Skipper by Pradeep Kumar

Common Three-ring by Preethi Anu

Forget-me-not by Radhakrishnan Sadasivam

Dark Grass Blue by Rajesh Gopinath PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Golden Angle by Rajesh Ramnarayan

Lime Butterfly by Sasikumar Appu

Common Evening Brown by Rama Neelamegam

Common Banded Peacock by Ramesh Thiyagarajan

Gram Blue by Ruchi Dave

Indian Red Flash by Rushiraj Puwar

Danaid Eggfly by Saba Ramasamy

Common Evening Brown by Samrat Karthick PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Common Cerulean by Sathya K Selvam

Peacock Royal by Satya Seelan

Common Shot Silverline by Senthil Raju

Indian Skipper by Sethu Vishnu

Blue Tiger cats by Shankar Balasubramanian

Mottled Emigrant by Smita Anand

Pale Palm-Dart by Sundaram Thiyanes

Lime Butterfly by Soundar Ells PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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From the Facebook Pages...

Spotted Small Flat by Thalavai Pandi

Great Eggfly by Theivaprakasham Hari

Crows by Vinslin Vincent

Common Baron by Subramaniam DTM

Lime Butterfly by Vasanthakumar Masilamani

Common Wanderer (f) by Senguttuvan Subburathina

Dark Wanderer by Rama Warrier

Brown King Crow by Pavendhan A PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1

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Tiny Grass Blue

Long-banded Silverline