Pattampoochi Butterfly Magazine - Wings 2 Veins 2 2018

2018 Quarterly Magazine of Tamil Nadu Butterfly Society Apr-Jun 2018

PATTAMPOOCHI

Q2

My Best Butterfly Moment 2017 Garden of Butterflies A Butterfly Walk to the Hills of Siruvani Life cycle of White Four-ring In News From the Facebook Pages

Painted Courtesan

Dear Butterfly Lovers,

PATTAMPOOCHI

வணக்கம் [Greetings].

The year 2018 began with dry and cool climate in most places. As expected, the species count have been at the lowest in many places compared to other parts of the year generally. There was a brief, but sharp spells of rain in the month of March and this triggered Danainae migration well ahead of its usual April journey. We will try to cover these in detail in the next issue. With that (rain), there seems to be increase in butterfly population.

Botanical Gardens situated within the TNAU campus in Coimbatore is one of the places where butterflies can be seen throughout the year in good numbers. In order to assess the species occurring in this place, a year long study is undertaken by TNBS and the results and findings are discussed under the section “ Garden of Butterflies”. Most members were more than happy to share their moments run in our FB forum under the campaign share your “My Best Butterfly Moment 2017”. These are consolidated and given as a section here; we thank members for their participation and sharing the same with all members.

Any number of walks that one undertakes in Siruvani Hills, one would never be tired of it and something will be on the offing always. This time around a few of the TNBS went for a walk with FD permission and they have netted a whopping 102 species in a session with some special catch like Painted Courtesan; more on the same is detailed in a session by Ms. Geethanjali. Another young member of the society, Ramanasran Hari, specialises on life cycle studies and this time around, he has shared the life cycle of White Four-ring. A new section” In News” has been added from the current issue; this will try to briefly reflect what our Society has been doing on awareness, studies and educative participation.

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 2 Apr – Jun 2018. Issued on 01.04.2018 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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My Best Butterfly Moment 2017

#Mybestbutterflymoment2017 The Tamil Nadu Butterflies FB Forum ran a “Mybestbutterflymoment� for a third year in running. The idea is to recollect the best moment an individual can remember and share with all members as a way of saying good bye to the year end. All in all, 23 responses were there and it was quite interesting to go through all of them. And we have reproduced the same here for everyone to go through!

Prakash Loganathan Though every moment of butterflying is best for the Butterfly chasers, some will never leave from our mind. One of such moment happened to me on 22.09.2017 when I went for butterflying at Anthiyur to Burgur road with my friend.

On the way we noted some butterfly activity in a rock and stopped the bike there and went near that spot, we were amazed to see a group of 8 Common Banded Peacocks there. They were rock puddling in the a very little water flow in the rock. Though I have seen CBP many times, this one was the first occasion witnessing a group of 8 in a spot. The more interesting in this moment is I could able to touch a CBP but it was not fearing with my presence near it and allowed me to fondle its wing. I was so happy and joyful at that moment. I could not forget that wonderful moment of butterflying ever.

Rama Neelamegam Agreed haven't been doing much buttering this year compared to last year. But among that, the memorable one was probably the mega migration that we observed for couple of weeks in July at Chennai. It was an unique experience. Till now it had been like a theory that western ghats people talked about and we plains people had no clue about! The second one was probably the tree flitter which gave darshan for like 5secs. The third would be black rajah which I had seen till then on the topmost branch of the tallest tree at an oblique angle :). Fourth would be seeing common baron in Bangalore enjoying mango pulp which was a lifer to me then. Fifth would be bush hopper which was also a lifer for me. Looking back in retrospect I actually have lots of memorable events! Thanks TNBS for being part of this moments and memories!

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My Best Butterfly Moment 2017 Prakash Gururajan

For me #Mybestbutterflymoment2017 is mainly from two occasions. In both surveys I encountered many lifers.

1. Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary - #KWLS - I am really excited and enjoyed seeing the endemic butterfly species like Palani Fritillary, Palani Four Ring, Nilgiri Clouded Yellow, Red-disc Bushbrown, Indian Cabbage White, Common Tinsel Tamil Yeoman, Dingy Scrub Hopper, White Hedge Blue etc.

2. Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary - #SWS Butterfly Survey - Though I represent the survey on Birds front, I enjoyed seeing lot of Butterflies along with my team mate Mr. Ramanasaran Hari during the count. The Orange-tail Awl, White Banded Awl, Common Nawab, hundreds of Common Emigrants, Blue Mormon, Southern Birdwing, Brown King Crow, Blue Banded Pierrot, Malabar Rose, Clipper and many more were stole my heart!

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My Best Butterfly Moment 2017 Ganeswari Chandrasekaran Its one fine day as usual we started our journey towards Alagar hills in search of butterflies. In the mean time my friend Kavi Bharathi and i noticed a butterfly suddenly with lot of excitement i screamed its a COMMANDER but my co-fellows (Preethi Selvaraj, Meena Valli) didn't notice that and to the surprise they didn't believed us so that we started searching it for more than 30 mins but sadly we couldn't find it then we started moving from that place with heavy hearted unexpectedly a brightly coloured commander came and sat near us for merely 10 secs :) Sorry for the poor quality it was flashed during flight!

Sathya K Selvam The best butterfly moment for me in 2017 was a plain tiger butterfly laying eggs in a tropical milkweed plant, which i brought from Kolli hills for their beautiful flowers. The plant grown and gotten a little bunch of flower buds. At the same time the eggs started hatching and the young caterpillars started munching the flower buds. At first i was bit disappointed but then some magical things were started happening. A small caterpillar moult into a larger one then pupation finally eclosion of a plain tiger butterfly. It was an awesome experience to observe their stages...now almost 4 batches are successfully eclosed...waiting for the next batch and planning to bring some other host plants hope 2018 will bring more...

Amol Mande I have been to Kookal to Kudhiraiyur Dam trek in Kodaikanal and after returning Pavendhan Sir told me about Nilgiri Clouded Yellow which I might have missed due to its similarity with other grass yellow when it is in flight. Next time when I have been again in Kodaikanal for Butterfly & Bird Survey couldn’t see it in the two days. The second day we were all at FD guest house and everyone was waiting for the vehicle to go to FD office for the compilation of data. It was drizzling lightly and suddenly we have seen Kumaresan Chandrabose Ji & Rajesh Rkm Ji were running behind one yellow butterfly to capture it and when someone told that its Nilgiri Clouded Yellow 2-3 more people joined the marathon and certainly I was one of them. Finally got some record shot. It could have been awesome if someone had recorded all the action behind the scenes which we missed to do.

Ramanasaran Hari Silver Royal !! The pictures says the rest of the caption

Darshan M. Trivedi "Jezebel", 24-122017, Coimbatore.

Seen many times but today only able to click it.

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My Best Butterfly Moment 2017

Kavi Bharathi This year specially 18.11.17 COMMANDER, APE FLY, ACACIA BLUE. unforgettable day one day visit best moment and my favourite pic SNOW FLAT, COMMON SILVERLINE, INDIAN RED FLASH, SPOT SWALLOW TAIL, JOKER, also one day visit thanks to my friends Ganeswari Chandrasekaran Preethi Selvaraj Meena Valli Kumaresan Chandrabose anna

Pavendhan Appavu Mating of two different Ypthima species I have seen a few pictures of interspecies mating, but never had an opportunity to witness one. We were lucky recently to sight a phenomenon. A Common Four-ring (Ypthima huebneri) and a White Four-ring (Ypthima ceylonica) in mating here. I am not sure this will be a successful process.

The White Four-rings here are a multibreed here and can be seen anytime, while the Common Four-ring had a new brood in recent days.

Siruvani Hills, Coimbatore Dt. December 2017 PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 2

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My Best Butterfly Moment 2017 Darshan M. Trivedi

The spot was Mulli (TN-Kerala border) & it was 260th Birding visit of CNS and we went to Deep forest and river stream of Kerala after proper documentation process at Forest range.

First time i observed / seen Mud puddling of thousands of butterflies , Common Gull, Albatross, Lime Butterfly, Common Banded Peacock. First time clicked Banded Peacock there. It was really memorable and very first exciting experience for me.

Geethanjali Raghunathan After encountering this beauty for more than twice in a month...it was on a sunny day at TNAU Botanical garden with Mr. Pavendhan Appavu, Mr. Theivaprakasham Hari and Ramanasaran Hari, the butterflyGuava blue sat for nearly 10mins ..

Till date it was Siruvani and Kallar which was considered to be hotspots for butterflying and to that list, TNAU Botanical garden can be added as it never disappoints the enthusiasts..

ID: Guava blue, Location: TNAU Botanical garden, Date: October, 2017.

Vinithashri Gautam Spot Swordtail, Graphium nomius TNAU Botanical Garden, May 2017 PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 2

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My Best Butterfly Moment 2017 Gopal Krishnan It was cloudy when we arrived the spot on Aug 5 for Kodai survey . After an hour or so the sunlight came up and the movement started.. These two beauties came from nowhere and surprised us with their presence and co-operated for a wonderful photo session. We were exhausted and while having some refreshment, they came near to us to inspect our bags, T. shirt and caps!! It was a memorable moment indeed....

Amol Mande It was the refreshing morning of 15th August 2017 Independence Day inside a deep forest away from hustle and bustle of the city environment. I was eating a ready to cook MTR Pongal and suddenly I heard Sharan told me “Anna, Painted Sawtooth”. I couldn’t believe for a second but the very next moment I kept my plate down and ran to get my camera. The beauty was generous to give so many poses and was there for nearly half an hour. I had a long wish to capture this beauty and finally, it fulfilled @ Deviar Estate. It’s really an awesome place and TNBS should explore it.

Theivaprakasham Hari

Anamalai Tiger Reserve Memories 01 May 2017 This butterfly trip is one of my best butterfly memories of this year 2017. The trip started from Coimbatore with CV Nishanth, Kishore Kumaran, Muthu Vivek and Theivaprakasham Hari. The place welcomed us with mud-Puddling of 1000+ Emigrants. The walk started at 9.30AM and ended by 1.30PM due to lashing rains. The trip fetched us all Papilionidae of Tamil Nadu except Spot Swordtail. The place was full of butterflies and we ended up with 104 species (4 lifers for me) at the end of 4 hours butterfly walk. The lifers for me were Malabar banded Swallowtail, Five-bar Swordtail, Lesser Albatross and Fluffy Tit. Summer Migration of Pieridae was very active with Common Emigrant, Common Albatross, and Common Gull. They were seen in thousands moving in chains from the east direction towards west direction along the river streams.

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My Best Butterfly Moment 2017

Jeswin Kingsly Happy to share few of my Butterfly memories of the year. Had a great year with butterflies. Monitoring migration in Kallar, my first Swordtails, little surveys, all Sunday fun, etc. And finally a little documentary on butterflies which was released on October 1st. But couldn't spend the last three months there which had quite good sighting. Hoping to spend Monsoon in TN to continue to butterfly journey. Badly missing all the weekend funs.

Thank you all for the great support for the whole year. Looking forward for the Butterfly Park project. Meet you all soon.

Merry Christmas and a Great New year ahead!

Theivaprakasham Hari 29 April 2017, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Coimbatore.

One of my best butterfly moments was at my college where I witnessed 1000 (0)'s of milkweed butterflies congregating on the bushes as a part of Summer Butterfly Migration. I saw similar kind of congregation in many parts of my college. The previous congregation was recorded during 25 September 2015 during westward migration of Milkweed butterflies. The species documented were Dark Blue Tiger (Tirumala septentrionis), Blue Tiger (Tirumala limniace), Common Crow (Euploea core), Doublebanded Crow (Euploea sylvester) and Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus).

Video Link: https://youtu.be/hlAjvJyYl38

Belliraj Singan Common Lime !!!

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My Best Butterfly Moment 2017 Rajesh Rkm My first best moment was the Aralam butterfly survey, Kerala. That was my first survey and i don't know anything about it!!! during that trip i met some great peoples. They taught me everything and looked after me while i was sick. we also went to all nearby wildlife sanctuaries and enjoyed a lot. still that was one of my greatest experience to me. We named our team as "Team Annae" Because of my Friend, we sighted many butterflies there and we all enjoyed is the Migration of Albatross. There's lakhs and lakhs of albatross were migrated, that was one great sightings there. Prakash Loganathan anna found the Five bar swordtail during mudpuddling and for the first time i saw that beauty and also saw many beauties there like Malabar tree-nymph, Redspot duke, Painted sawtooth. we enjoyed the night trips, sanctuaries and the survey a lot.

Rajesh Rkm My second best butterfly moments of 2017 was Kodaikanal Birds & Butterfly survey. At first i was afraid to come alone and before a week of survey, Sharan Anna asked me to come so then i decided to come. i arrived the day before the survey by afternoon with warm welcoming of drizzling in Kodaikanal and searched for DFO office by walked around 3 kms and i found it. I met my team mates. By evening the temperatures got lowered and other members also arrived. we went to our staying place and had a great dinner. And next day we went to the field around 8 only and till 10 we couldn't find many butterflies or birds. we went to the top of hills and sighted some rare butterflies like Palni four ring. and we also found Tiger's pug mark in that place, that was one unexpected surprise moments for all. around 1 pm, the hills were fully covered with mists. we take that as a photoshoot session . Next day we went to many places, and we saw Palni Fritillary, Nilgiri clouded yellow that fulfilled the survey. we saw many birds also and some rare too. At final day, we were ready to leave, there were also others teams. I saw Nilgiri Clouded yellow on our place and hurried to take my cam out of my bag. By seeing that, Some other also joined with me that was one fun moment by running here and there to capture it. Amol Mande bro still didn't forget that fun No words can express that moments. Lots of experiances and funs. That all made me to love butterflies more than ever. Memorable survey ever. i got more time to interact with everyone. i enjoyed to be there with all the people who attended the survey. I call it as "Butterfly Family".

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My Best Butterfly Moment 2017 CV Nishanth

My best butterfly moment was visiting North East for the first time. For each and every butterfly lovers it is a dream to visit North East. It was in my wish list for more than 2 yrs. and I was waiting for my right opportunity. Mr. Pavendhan sir notify us about the North East Butterfly Meet at Dzongu valley from September 3rd to 5th 2017. I got a wonderful opportunity to travel & spend time with Butterfly Man of India “Mr. Isaac Kehimkar “. He used to share his butterfly knowledge and his field experience with us. It was one of my #Mybestbutterflymoment2017# I took this opportunity to share some of my pictures from North East Butterfly meet.

Rajesh Rkm My another best butterfly moments was butterfly walk in Alagar hills. After so much long time i went to Alagar hills with my friend. That day were so quiet and peace in that area because of working day. We started our walk and in short time we saw many butterflies in mudpuddling and migrating.

I got so many good pics of my favourite butterflies (I attached it) and almost the checklist ended with 54 species. That was great day ever. During my second walk, i searched for commander all over the area but couldn't saw it. But i saw some other beauties that adds to my additions list (Banded blue Pierrot, Apefly, Tricolour pied flat). Whenever I go to Alagar hills, it never forgets to surprise me. Lovable place ever. Best Moments Compilation: Theivaprakasham H PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 2

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Apefly

Guava Blue

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Garden of Butterflies

Botanical Gardens, reportedly declared open in the year 1975, has a long history and is one of the last hiding places for the butterflies of the urban land. The Gardens set up over an area of 45-55 acres approximately belongs to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, situated on the Marudhamalai Road. The Gardens has more than 2000 plants falling under 800 species. The Garden is open to public but has fractured time schedule of 8AM to 11:15 AM in the morning and 2:45PM to 4:30 PM in the evening even on the week ends. While the entry fee is nominal and must, for the nature loving people who take a camera inside has to pay a fortune. However, this is truly a last escape for the butterflies of the city as not many places can claim such a natural set up proudly. The Butterflies, however, go the collections of students and university in significant numbers, to the dismay of butterfly lovers, now and then!

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In order to assess the number of species occurring in the Gardens, a year long study has been undertaken from Jan 2017 to December 2017. At least two visits were made during a month and a minimum of 2-3 hours have been spent on the data collection. Only regular permissible time slot has been used by paying proper entry fee for the person and camera. It is also stated and recorded here not a single specimen has been collected (which is totally against the principles laid down by TNBS). Photographic records have been created in most cases and a list of species observed is noted down at the end of the walk. The trail after a few walks have fallen onto a set pattern with certain areas on the path took more time depending on the activity at that point in time. The observations are primarily attributed to the author of this article and other members (who are acknowledged elsewhere) data have been used to record species not observed by the primary study data.

127 species A total of 127 species have been recorded during the 12 months observation period spanning 5 of the dominant families; the family to miss out is Riodinidae. This number is considered very healthy and a walk/ visit is expected to fetch an average of about 42 species. The dominant families were Lycaenidae and Nymphalidae by species counts.

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Garden of Butterflies

Papilionidae Out of 19 species that are found in Tamil Nadu, 12 of the swallowtail species have been recorded from the Gardens. The most common among them are Crimson Roses, Common Roses, Common Mormon followed by Lime Butterfly.

At specific periods of year, Common Banded Peacock and Blue Mormon make their appearance here. Red Helen is another not so common species recorded a few times.

The False Ashoka tree which is the host plant to the Jays & Bluebottles and Swordtail are good in number inside the garden and one would always see them fluttering and hurrying past the nectaring plants and resting on their host.

They include Southern Bluebottle, Common Jay and Tailed Jay. Spot Swordtail had also been recorded a few times from here, otherwise a rare species here.

The usual forest dweller, Southern Birdwing, have also made its appearance here a few times.

Pieridae 22 out of 32 target species have been recorded from the family of Yellows and Whites. Most species of plains are found here and the ones o miss out are the forest dwellers and higher elevation species.

On the Grass Yelllows, the One-spot, Common (2-spot) and Three-spot along with Small grass Yellows are found here. Emigrants at time are plenty , both Common and Mottled and they breed here. On certain months, they are extremely hard to find by. The Tips and Salmon Arabs are thoroughly represented here and in season, one would find White and Yellow Orange-tips dominating while Great Orange-tips are reasonably found throughout the year. Except Lesser, all other Albatross are found here including rare and elusive Chocolate. The Pioneers and Gulls are abundantly noticed during their peak breeding season.

Psyche is always fluttering around too. The wanderer is represented by Common while Jezebel too is sighted regularly if not in great numbers.

Nymphalidae From this big family, 36 out of 96 target species have been recorded. Most species found are dwellers are plains and they inhabit the forest too.

The Tigers and Crows are one constant reminder whenever one steps into the Gardens and the Plain Tiger is omnipresent. During migratory season and just before and after, one would find the Tirumala species and Euploea species are represented well by numbers and this when the flowering invasive shrub Chromolaena odorata is at bloom is a treat to watch. The Brown King Crow alone is the rare one with rest of them are reasonably sighted at ease. Plenty of Tamarind tree means the presence of Black Rajah is guaranteed but rare to spot. The Palms and Bamboos are plenty within the gardens and it is not a surprise when one finds a Southern Palmfly or a Bamboo Treebrown. The Grasses support the Evening and Bushbrowns and one can really find couple of dozen or more of different Dry Season Forms of Common Evening Browns.

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Garden of Butterflies

One can always spot the White Four-ring while the C3R and C4R are sighted not that often. However, it is the true land of the Tawny coloured Costers with plenty of their host plant available in the front of the gardens and one could easily spot 100s of them at times. Leopards and Sailers are other regulars here.

Baron, Joker and Castors are present but sparse. The Gardens then truly belong to the Pansies and Eggflies. Huge numbers of Pansies especially Lemon and Yellow can be seen at certain months while the Grey Pansy being the rarer. Both the Eggflies have well established here with Danaid being the dominant.

Lycaenidae The family of Blue is the second biggest by species count but dimensionally pretty small. There are 92 species estimated to occur in our state, while the Gardens have returned a value of 36 species, exact same numbers as the Nymphalidae species. Except a few months where they go down on numbers and species count, they are always regularly represented. In fact species like Zebra Blue, Lineblues and Tiny Grass Blues can be seen in hundred during their breeding seasons.

Plenty of mealy bugs around the hibiscus plants ensure that Apefly is regularly seen while Indian Sunbeam is not so often seen. If anyone is in love with Silverlines, this is the place they would not like to move on. The handsome Plumbeous, not so common Common-Shot and Common Silverlines are present here.

Because of their high numbers, one or two specimens with aberration characteristics are also seen.

Among the Pierrots, Common Pierrot is the most common while Banded Blue is the rarest. And species like Common Cerulean, Forget-me-not, Gram Blue, Zebra Blue, Pea Blue are always seen, while species like Indian Cupid, Dark Cerulean, Cornelian are seen infrequently. Except the Lesser, the other Grass Blues are well represented with varying degree of dominance between months. Monkey Puzzle is sighted once. The months are Dec-Feb is reserved for Guava Blues and this place should house probably the most number of them in a small landscape. The Indian Red and Slate Flashes and Redspot are other notables.

Hesperiidae Skippers are difficult to find. Although there are 83 species, most of them of course live in the forest environment, being smaller in size, dull in colour and crepuscular in nature, it is not a surprise any lists ends with least number of Skippers. Here too, we had recorded only 21 species, the poorest ratio among all families.

The Brown Awls can be found in good numbers at time while Common Banded Awl is the other possible one to sight. The flat is represented by only Water Snow Flat. The otherwise dominant African Marbled and Indian Skippers too are not well represented here. The Bush Hopper is seen during their season. The chestnut Bob is the only regular representative from this family, while Indian Palm Bob and Redeyes are seasonally represented. The Rice Swifts (Bevan’s being the dominant) and Straight Swifts are regularly seen. Pelopidas, Telicota, Oriens and Potanthus are represented by their commonest species!

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Garden of Butterflies

Melanitis leda, Common Evening Brown, the species from the Nymphalidae family is known for its varied colour forms especially in the Dry Season Forms; it has, however, just one Wet Season Form. They are active in the dusk and you could find them resting under bushes or on the dry leaves on the floor in its many cryptic forms. Botanical Gardens is the best place to observe this species. We have recorded more than 24 dry season forms with some of them are very closely resembling but varies by a minimal degree in a very short range which is really amazing. Most of them are reproduced below:

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Garden of Butterflies

The maximum number of species that is sighted in a single visit is 65 in the month of December while the minimum sighting was in the month of February with just 23 species. The average sightings stood at 42 species. The months of OctoberDecember is the most productive with an average sighting of 57 species. May is the other month where reasonable sighting was reported.

However, there are certain number of species, which were present throughout the year and except an odd month or so. This indicated that there exists conducive habitat for these species to thrive in this Garden and they indulge in multi-brood. These species include the following: Common Rose, Crimson Rose, Common Mormon, Lime Butterfly, Common Grass Yellow, Common Emigrant, Mottled Emigrant, Common Gull, Psyche, Pioneer, Blue Tiger, Plain Tiger, Common Crow, White Four-ring, Tawny Coster, Chocolate Pansy, Lemon Pansy, Common Lineblue, Forget-me-not and Tiny Grass Blue

Conclusion and Suggestions For the naturalists and butterfly loving community, the Botanical Gardens is a definite regular stop and one can not only watch these amazing life forms but also indulge in some breath taking pictures. We sincerely hope the TNAU understands the importance of butterflies occurring here and take all steps to ensure their host plants are not removed and enough nectaring plants are regularly planted. It may be useful to bring out a Pictorial Guide to this Botanical Gardens which can benefit common visitors and can influence them to understand the nature in depth. We also request the camera fees are reduced to affordable levels at least to the naturalists. We do understand collecting specimens are integral part of curriculum but at time, the no of specimens collected by students are heart breaking. Even the most successful and very common species like Plain Tiger takes time to recover from this imbalanced collection.

Acknowledgement The one-year study was primarily done by A Pavendhan and he is thankful to Mr. Darshan M Trivedi, Mr. CV Nishanth, Mr. Theivaprakasham H, Mr. Ramanasaran H, Ms. Geethanjali R and Ms. Vinithashri G accompanying him at various point in time.

Whenever the walk is undertaken as a team, the checklists correspond to the team as a total was prepared. Special thanks are due to Ms. Vinithashri G who has shared her personal account of 74 species. Darshan M Trivedi had contributed with two rare sightings here– the Chocolate Albatross and Painted Lady. Our thanks are also due to the staff of Botanical gardens who understood our love of butterflies and for the encouragement.

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Garden of Butterflies

Family: Papilionidae S. No

Scientific Name Graphium teredon

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide) Southern Bluebottle

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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Graphium doson Graphium agamemnon Graphium nomius Pachliopta aristolochiae Pachliopta hector Troides minos Papilio polytes Papilio helenus Papilio polymnestor Papilio demoleus Papilio crino

Common Jay Tailed Jay Spot Swordtail Common Rose Crimson Rose Southern Birdwing Common Mormon Red Helen Blue Mormon Lime Butterfly Common Banded Peacock

Sahyadri Birdwing

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

Lime Swallowtail

Family: Pieridae S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

13

Eurema andersoni

One-spot Grass Yellow

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Eurema blanda Eurema brigitta Eurema hecabe Catopsilia pomona Catopsilia pyranthe Colotis amata Colotis danae Colotis etrida Colotis aurora Colotis fausta Ixias marianne Ixias pyrene Hebomoia glaucippe Pareronia hippia Appias libythea Appias lyncida Appias albina Cepora nerissa

Three-spot Grass Yellow Small Grass Yellow Common 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 Common Wanderer Striped Albatross Chocolate Albatross Common Albatross Common Gull

32 33 34

Delias eucharis Leptosia nina Belenois aurota

Common Jezebel Psyche Pioneer

Lemon Emigrant

Little Orange-tip

Indian Wanderer Western Striped Albatross

Family: Nymphalidae S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Tirumala limniace Tirumala septentrionis Danaus genutia Danaus chrysippus Euploea sylvester Euploea klugii Euploea core

Blue Tiger Dark Blue Tiger Striped Tiger Plain Tiger Double-branded Crow Brown King Crow Common Crow

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

King Crow

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Garden of Butterflies

Family: Nymphalidae S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

42

Common Nawab

Indian Nawab

54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61

Polyura athamas / Charaxes bharata Charaxes solon Elymnias caudata Melanitis leda Lethe europa Mycalesis perseus Mycalesis mineus Mycalesis subdita Ypthima asterope Ypthima ceylonica Ypthima huebneri Acraea violae/ Acraea terpsicore Phalanta phalantha Moduza procris Neptis hylas Neptis jumbah Euthalia aconthea Byblia ilithyia Ariadne ariadne Ariadne merione

62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70

Vanessa cardui Junonia orithiya Junonia hierta Junonia iphita Junonia atlites Junonia almana Junonia lemonias Hypolimnas bolina Hypolimnas misippus

Painted lady Blue Pansy Yellow Pansy Chocolate Pansy Grey Pansy Peacock Pansy Lemon Pansy Great Eggfly Danaid Eggfly

43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53

Black Rajah Southern Palmfly Common Evening Brown Bamboo Treebrown Common Bushbrown Dark-brand Bushbrown

Tailed Palmfly

Dark-branded Bushbrown Tamil Bushbrown

Common Three-ring White Four-ring Common Four-ring Tawny Coster Common Leopard Commander Common Sailer Chestnut-streaked Sailer Common Baron Joker Angled Castor Common Castor

Baron

Family: Lycaenidae S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

71

Curetis thetis

Indian Sunbeam

72

Spalgis epius

Apefly

73 74 75 76 77 78 79

Spindasis vulcanus Spindasis schistacea Spindasis ictis Anthene lycaenina Prosotas nora Prosotas dubiosa Discolampa ethion

Common Silverline Plumbeous Silverline Common Shot Silverline Pointed Ciliate Blue Common Lineblue Tailless Lineblue Banded Blue Pierrot

80

Jamides bochus

Dark Cerulean

81

Jamides celeno

Common Cerulean

82

Catochrysops strabo

Forget-me-not

83

Lampides boeticus

Pea Blue

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

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Garden of Butterflies

S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106

Leptotes plinius Castalius rosimon Tarucus nara Zizeeria karsandra Zizina otis Pseudozizeeria maha Zizula hylax Everus lacturnus Acytolepis puspa Euchrysops cnejus Freyeria putli Freyeria trochylus Chilades pandava Chilades parrhassius Chilades lajus Arhopala amantes Zesius chrysomallus Tajuria cippus Rathinda amor Virachola isocrates Deudorix epijarbas Rapala iarbus Rapala manea

Zebra Blue Common Pierrot Rounded Pierrot Dark Grass Blue Lesser Grass Blue Pale Grass Blue Tiny Grass Blue Indian Cupid Common Hedge Blue Gram Blue Small Grass Jewel Grass Jewel Plains Cupid Small Cupid Lime Blue Large Oakblue Redspot Peacock Royal Monkey Puzzle Guava Blue Cornelian Indian Red Flash Slate Flash

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

Striped Pierrot

Oriental Cupid

Oriental Grass Jewel

Common Red Flash

Family: Hesperiidae S. No

Scientific Name

Common Name (as per BNHS Field guide)

Other Common Names (as per IFB website)

107 108

Badamia exclamationis Hasora chromus

Brown Awl Common Banded Awl

109 110 111

Tagiades litigiosa Gomalia elma Spialia galba

Water Snow Flat African Marbled Skipper Indian Skipper

112 113

Ampittia dioscorides Iambrix salsala

Bush Hopper Chestnut Bob

114 115

Suastus gremius Gangara thyrsis

Indian Palm Bob Giant Redeye

Oriental Palm Bob

116 117

Matapa aria Parnara bada

Common Redeye

Common Branded Redeye

118

Borbo cinnara

Rice Swift

119

Borbo bevani

Bevan's Swift

Lesser Rice Swift

120

Pelopidas agna

Little Branded Swift

Obscure Branded Swift

121

Pelopidas mathias

Small Branded Swift

122

Caltoris kumara

Blank Swift

123

Taractrocera maevius

Common Grass Dart

Oriental Grass Dart

124

Oriens goloides

Indian Dartlet

Smaller Dartlet

125

Potanthus sp.

126

Telicota colon

Pale Palm-Dart

127

Telicota (ancilla) bambusae

Dark Palm-Dart

Indian Grizzled Skipper

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A Butterfly Walk to the Hills of Siruvani Geethanjali R It was 07:30 in the morning; it was a compelling weather for a perfect birding session! Some sightings of the session were Wood/Bay back/brown shrike, Vernal hanging parrots, Plum-headed parakeets, Black-hooded Oriole, Jungle/ Rufous babblers, Scarlet Minivets and lots of Drongos (Black/Bronze).

The place started warming up and the activity of butterflies began rapidly, starting with a beautiful Gram blue with early morning dues on it. As we went on, an explosion of the Common sailor was found with an approximate count of ten. It was 09:00 am when we found a fresh specimen of Grey pansy accompanied by Obscure branded swift and Common lascar many in numbers. Travelling near the check dam, few commoners like Common/Dark blue tigers, Common/Double branded crows were found in abundance! Suddenly, there came the pride Black Rajah and transparent six-line blue for mud-puddling. Meanwhile, Short-banded sailor made a visit along with Pointed ciliate blue, Common/Tailless line blue and few Common Cerulean. The tiny and confusing Lycaenidae family was considered satisfactory as we’ve recorded three Hedge blues (Plain/White/Common), four Grass blues (Dark/ Lesser/Pale/Tiny), three Cerulean (Common/Dark and Metallic was seen).

Some interesting ones were also found, such as the Dingy line blue, Pierrot, Quaker, Forget-me-not, Lime blues and the lovable Indian Cupid. Advancing to the dam, few Striped tigers were drinking the Eupatorium nectar and the Many-tailed Oakblues were found 10+ in numbers. Here comes the visitor, Tree flitter, who gave us few seconds to click him! This is a usual place for the Lycaenids to mud puddle but to the contrary, we found Blue Tigers on the ground (quite disappointing). Planning for a return, we found a pretty skipper, the Fulvous pied flat and the Lesser Gull, who got tired after a strong and active flight. The interesting part was watching the shiny-fresh Gaudy baron (first record in Siruvani) fly, giving us few seconds to identify it and the Indigo flash was sighted deep inside the bushes, but the best part is yet to come! Time for PAINTED COURTESAN! We initially found it difficult to photograph, but as time went on, the butterfly settled for mud-puddling, giving us a heavenly experience of noticing the features closely. Pea blue and Hedge blues were photographed along with a Tamil grass dart.

Thanneerpallam is a paradise for butterfly chasers. The first encounter was with the Grey Count butterfly, later with the female specimen of the Black Prince, basking in the11am sunlight. Few iconic Siruvani flutters were found, such as the Common baron, Rustic and the floating Malabar tree nymph. The sunlight was getting harsh and we were about to start when we saw the Clipper butterfly basking. On the way to the grassland, we found a Blank swift, beautifully opening its wings along with a Coon/Dusky Partwing and a dart spp. Reaching the grassland, we found few Chestnut-headed bee-eaters busy catching the bees and to enlighten us, five Nilgiri Langurs were jumping on the tree branches!

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A Butterfly Walk to the Hills of Siruvani

Finally, on the way home, we found Many-tailed Oakblues laying its eggs on the bare Euphorbiaceae (Trewia nudiflora), which will help the newly born caterpillars to feed on the sprouting leaves during the spring season. Last but not the least, it was the Slate flash in the regular spot showing off its ‘flashy’ wings.

The session ended with a spicy Biriyani!

Finally, the much-awaited announcement for the team (by the team too), how many numbers of species we have seen! Before revealing the count, it is important that the place is satisfyingly appreciated by the team. Coimbatore is known for Siruvani water and its taste which naturally enriches the banks thereby helping our fellow travellers (the butterflies and birds) build a beautiful sanctuary of their own. Siruvani is the Eden for the mortal men and crossing 80 species in the butterfly count is common, but 100 is extraordinary and the team has got 102!

Words are beyond the emotions we had then. Leaving such a place is hard and I always remember Robert Frost’s saying “Miles to go before I sleep and Miles to go before I sleep”. A never ending demand in a naturalist’s life and responsibilities call us.

Coimbatoreans, always have the privilege of owning the place. 250+ and still counting.

Highlights of the walk: For this period of the year, we have recorded a good count of 102/324 Butterflies (31.5% butterflies of Western Ghats). Some very rare sighting of the butterfly Painted Courtesan and Lesser Albatross butterfly was seen for the first time in Siruvani Range.

The butterflies of the family Nymphalidae dominated the most with 40 species. Some rare species like Painted Courtesan, Tree Flitter and Gaudy Baron were sighted in Water Treatment Plant Check dam area, Grey Count, Malabar Rose and Black Prince at Thanneerpallam Shola Forest. Entire stretch of Roadside from Check dam till TN- Kerala was filled with Common sailers (300+).

Huge population of Blue and Dark Blue Tigers, Common and Double Banded Crows were seen nectaring on Eupatorium flowers and Mud puddling. Glassy Tigers and Striped Tiger were more in numbers everywhere and No Plain Tiger was seen during the entire trip.

Followed by the family Nymphalidae, the family of Lycaenidae dominated with 25species with some rare sighting like White Hedge Blue, Indigo Flash, Many-tailed Oakblue and Dingy Line Blue. From the family Pieridae, Common Albatross and Rare Lesser Albatross were seen in huge numbers. Being the end of Butterfly season, the family Hesperiidae was seen declining in numbers with only 13 species sighted.

Date: 16th January 2018 Duration: 08:00 AM – 02:30 PM.

Team Members: Mr. Theivaprakasham Hari, Mr. Ramanasaran Hari, Ms. Geethanjali. R, Ms. Monica Gandhi.

S. No Family

Target

Sighted

1

Papilionidae

19

10

2

Pieridae

32

14

3

Nymphalidae

96

40

4

Riodinidae

2

0

5

Lycaenidae

92

25

6

Hesperiidae

83

13

Total

324

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A Butterfly Walk to the Hills of Siruvani

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Life Cycle of White Four-ring Ramanasaran Hari

Butterflies go through a life cycle. A butterfly has four stages in its life cycle. Each stage is different. As they grow, they undergo one terrific transformation – a process known as “metamorphosis“. The life cycle process can take a month to year. White Four Ring Butterfly is used an example to explain the process.

The different Stages are, Egg, Caterpillar/Larvae, Pupa/Chrysalis and Adult

Egg A butterfly starts life as a very small, round, oval or cylindrical egg some may be ribbed while others may have other features.

The egg shape depends on the type of butterfly that laid the egg. Each species of butterfly has its own host plant range and while some species of butterfly are restricted to just one species of plant, others use a range of plant species, often including members of a common family.

For White Four Ring Butterfly, eggs are usually laid on the Grass Leaves. So if you are actively searching for these very tiny eggs, you will have to take some time and examine quite a few leaves in order to find some

Caterpillar/ Larvae The egg hatches into caterpillar (larvae). The caterpillar eats leaves and flowers constantly. It will start its eating process by eating its own eggshell. The caterpillar moults and loses its old skin many times as it grows. The caterpillar will increase in size several times before pupating.

Caterpillars mature through a series of stages, called instars. Near the end of each instar, the larvae undergo a process called apolysis (the caterpillar sheds its old skin then gets new skin).

A caterpillar shedding its outgrown skin is called Moulting/Instar Change.

There are 5 Instar Stages.

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Life Cycle of White Four-ring

Chrysalis/Pupae The caterpillar forms into the Chrysalis or Pupae at the end of the 5th Instar (a kind of vessel in which the caterpillar changes into a butterfly). It takes several hours for the caterpillar to form the complete chrysalis. They usually do this on twigs or safe, hidden areas around the host plant. Once it has turned into the chrysalis, it will rest. It will remain in this chrysalis for few weeks. The chrysalis is usually incapable of movement, although some species can rapidly move the abdominal segments or produce sounds to scare potential predators. Within the chrysalis the old body parts of the caterpillar will undergoing a remarkable transformation, called ‘metamorphosis’ to become the beautiful parts that make up the butterfly that will emerge.

Adult Once the butterfly is ready to emerge, the case around the pupa splits open.

But it’s not time for takeoff just yet, as the wings are at first wet, soft and wrinkled against its body. The butterfly waits for its wings to dry, and pumps a liquid called hemolymph into them so that they become fit for flying. During which time it is extremely vulnerable to predators. Some butterflies wings may take up to 3 hours to dry while others take about 1 hour.

Most butterflies will excrete excess dye after hatching. This fluid may be white, red, orange or yellow is called as Meconium. When it can fly, it will go look for food. The butterfly will also go look for a mate. It will soon find a mate. It will then lay eggs. The lifecycle will start all over again.

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In News

Malai malar– Pongal Issue– Jan 2018 Malai Malar, part of the popular Tamil vernacular Daily Thanthi covered an article about butterflies in general and especially those occurring in the Coimbatore District. This found a place in the Pongal Malar (Magazine) covering 2 pages. Release date: 13.01.2018

Short Survey in Siruvani Hills– Jan 2018

A few members of Tamil Nadu Butterfly Society with prior approval of DFO, Coimbatore District, explored part of Siruvani Hills on a day in January 2018. The results of the exploration was shared with FD and 102 species in a day is so encouraging and the news is shared with press too. The Times of India and Dinamalar dailies have covered the same in their Coimbatore Edition.

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In News

A Session on Butterflies at CASFOS, Coimbatore– Mar 2018

Based on the initiative of Ms Ruchi Dave, a session on Introduction, Identification and Conservation of Butterflies was held to the batch of FRO trainees at Central Academy for State Forest Service, Coimbatore comprising Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka cadres.

Our best wishes to the FROs!

Empowering Tribal Youth– Mar 2018

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in association with TNFD (Tamil nadu Forest Department) as part of empowering the Tribal Youth to prepare themselves as tour guides invited us to conduct a day’s program on Butterflies and Birds. Field and class room interactions were held at Top Slip, ATR. 20.03.2018 PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 2

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From the Facebook Pages...

Common Crow by Lenin Raj

Great Eggfly by Pamela Sai

Common Baron by Darshan M Trivedi

Common Wanderer by Arun Kumar

Indian Sunbeam by Sugan Saravanan

Large Oakblue by Rainold Lazar Thekkey Edath

Tawny Rajah by SRK Ramasamy

Apefly by Gandhi Sankar PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 2

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From the Facebook Pages...

Common Crow by Amol Mande

Tawny Coster by Arumugam Chandrasekar

Common Grass Yellow by Bhanu Mathi

Clipper by Ramanasaran Hari

Coorg Forest Hopper by Ashok Sengupta

Extra Lascar by Nishanth CV

Grey Count by Geethanjali Raghunathan

Striped Tiger by Kalmadi Rajiv PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 2

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From the Facebook Pages...

Nilgiri Fritillary by Felix Nirmal Dev

Pioneer by Sahithya Selvaraj

Plain Tiger by Andipatti Pandi

Gram Blue by Preethi Anu

Striped Pierrot by Gopal Krishnan

Lesser Grass Blue by A N Suresh Kumar

Apefly by Ankita Aruna-Dilip Tarde

Common Cerulean by Belliraj Singan PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 2

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From the Facebook Pages...

Common Gull by Harish G Mallaya

Common Jezebel by Hema Mohandas

Common Map by Ruchi Dave

Pea Blue by Lakshmi Kumar

Blue Tiger by Maheshvar Elavarasan

Danaid Eggfly by Monika Gandhi

Plumbeous Silverline by Theivaprakasham Hari

Common Mormon by Soundar Ells PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 2

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From the Facebook Pages...

Common Silverline by Prakash Loganathan

Blue Mormon by Sundara Manikkam

Indian Sunbeam by Vicky Chinna

Palm Dart by Surendiran Ryan

Common Evening Brown by Subramaniam D

Striped Tiger by Arun Giri

Common Sailer by Arun Kumar Raman Maran

Common Pierrot by Bala Krishnan PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 2

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From the Facebook Pages...

Common Banded Peacock by Balaji P Balachandran

Common Jay by Gowri Sankar Marudhachalam

Common Lascar by JK Velu

Zebra Blue by Dharini Varadharajan

Plain Tiger by Edward Gnanaraj

Psyche by Franklin Sukumar

Nilgiri Fritillary by Jee Jeevith

Pioneer by Kalai Selvan PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 2

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From the Facebook Pages...

Pea Blue by Meena Valli

Common Shot Silverline by Merlin Selvan

Common Leopard by Muniraj Palanisamy

Tawny Coster by Muthukrishnan

Common Sailer by Radhakrishnan Sadasivam

Southern/ Tailed Palmfly by Rajesh Ramnarayan

Chocolate Pansy by Rama Neelamegam

Common Evening Brown by Ravi Muthusamy PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 2

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From the Facebook Pages...

Joker by Viswa Nathan

Striped Tiger by Vishvajit Kadam

Cornelian by Vinithashri Gautam

Yellow Pansy by Udayakiran Koorapatti

Gram Blue by Sathya K Selvam

Tawny Rajah by Saravanan Chandrasekaran

Lime Blue by Rohit Girotra

Zebra Blue by Sasikumar Appu PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 2

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Bamboo Treebrown