Pattampoochi Butterfly Magazine - Wings 4 Veins 3 - 2020

2020 Quarterly Magazine of The Nature and Butterfly Society Jul– Sep 2020

PATTAMPOOCHI

Q3

Lockdown Butterfly Discussions Tridax procumbens: A Butterfly Magnet Butterfly Mud-puddling What’s in a name?

Butterfly Mating In News From the Facebook Pages

Many-tailed Oakblue Thaduka multicaudata

Dear Butterfly Lovers,

PATTAMPOOCHI

வணக்கம் [Greetings].

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is impacting the life and economics of people across the globe. The devastation is more than what was imagined. The numbers scare us; end of June 2020, we have over 10 million people affected by the coronavirus and among them 500000 people have lost their lives. Our thoughts are with the suffering people and deceased one’s. India is also on the grip of this pandemic and the period April– June saw lockdowns of various degrees across the nation. Tamil Nadu was one of the states affected severely by this, and the Northern districts especially Chennai bore the brunt.

TNBS have utilised this lockdown time by discussing various topics of interest on daily basis, in their official WhatsApp group and interesting topics were selected among them to be developed as newsletter articles, starting from the current issue, we will be covering these in the next couple of issues too. In the current issue, we have covered four topics. An article also highlights how the whole discussion went and the feedback given by participating members. In the first of the topic, butterflies which use the plant Tridax procumbens as nectar plant are discussed and is amazing to know the large number of butterflies using them for their food from all families.

In the second article, mud-puddling of butterflies are discussed and interesting facts are placed before the readers. The third article briefs butterfly mating rituals and displays collection of various butterfly species mating pictures. The fourth article is aimed to introduce the meaning behind the common and scientific names of butterflies. This will run as a series for a while. We thank all the article authors, picture contributors for their wonderful work.

The nature continued its relentless march, and we had observed Danainae sub-family butterflies migrate from the Western Ghats to plains and the Easter Ghats, in April and May. At the start of the migration, reverse movement of these were observed, especially in Coimbatore regions. The quarter also saw emergence of Common Emigration in large numbers in the Ghats, especially in the foothills and the subsequent dispersal to plains. The reasonably good summer rain ensured this Emigration population is stable in the current year. The South West monsoon commenced without much delay over South India. Consequently, we look forward to a good season!

Editorial Team The Nature and Butterfly Society Pattampoochi– A quarterly magazine of The Nature and Butterfly Society

For Private Circulation Only. Copyright is with TNBS. Please write to us for getting permission to use any of the contents.

Cover : Red Helen (Pavendhan A) Back cover: Plains Cupid (Gopalakrishnan S) Full Page Picture Credits: Many-tailed Oakblue: (Gopalakrishan S) Tridax procumbens: (Nagaraj V) Emigrants & Common Emigrant: Nishanth CV White Four-ring: Pavendhan A

Editor: A Pavendhan Editorial Team: Balakrishnan R, Gopalakrishnan S, Nishanth CV, Theivaprakasham H , Viswanathan S and Ramanasaran H

Content disclaimer: The contents of the articles opinion expressed therein belong to the respective authors and TNBS does not take any responsibility over those.

Wings 4 Veins 3 Jul–Sep 2020. Issued on 01.07.2020 Issued from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

The Nature and Butterfly Society (259/2018) is registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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Lockdown Butterfly Discussions Pavendhan A appavu.pavendhan@gmail.com A virus called Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) appeared on the world map by December 2019, only to tiedown the humans around the world for the next 6-7 months at least. The virus is a strain of coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19), a respiratory illness. Colloquially known as coronavirus, it is contagious in humans, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern from an early localized outbreak. The disease affected more than 200 countries and territories and the numbers of affected patients have already crossed 10 million mark with deaths crossing 0.5 million mark globally (at the end of June 2020).

CDC/ Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM . Image in Public Domain

As the spread of virus expanded, countries have adopted various strategies to combat and especially control the spread. Travel restrictions have been placed on all forms including private and public transports, rail, ship and air. People have been advised to stay home (under the term that is now synonymous with the virus, Lockdown)

People were advised to cover the faces with mask, wash hands especially with soap/ apply sanitizers, not to touch people and other artefacts in the public, maintain social distance of at least 1m between individuals. Educational institutions were the first to close down preventing children and students from exposing to virus. All Industrial and commercial institutions followed suit.

Hotels and restaurants only supplied carry home food. All major events including sports were cancelled or postponed. People were allowed to come to street only to buy essential goods within prescribed time. The medical staff including para-medical and sanitary workers, police and government officials fought valiantly all over the world making lots and lots of sacrifices in the combat. Our sincere thanks to all these selfless people in making the world safer. Our thoughts are with the families of departed souls.

Mother Earth, again reminded humans that every life form is same and equal, and no one is superior. The Earth breathed a kind of fresh air during the lockdown periods with reduced level of air pollution and carbon prints. Incidences where animals were out into the roads, towns and citied reminded again that we have a responsibility to provide the rightful habitat to all the inhabitants of this biosphere.

As everyone were put into home lockdown, plenty of time were available to everyone to engage themselves with what they have been missing so far. Naturalists were no different, as they missed their weekend trips to sanctuaries, water bodies and their favourite hunting places.

Many nature groups engaged in exchange of knowledge, dissemination to larger audience through various online platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Webinars, Video Conferences, etc. Topics of all kinds were covered. It was an opportunity for many to know subjects that they were not familiar with, as usually one specializes with one or two subjects.

The new comers were the lot to benefit by this, as the experienced naturalists and seniors were there to educate and answer every single question in most cases.

TNBS (The Nature and Butterfly Society) had initiated a similar exercise for their members who were part of their WhatsApp group. The group has about 60 members and the purpose of the group is to discuss butterfly related, especially in the context of state of Tamil Nadu. During lock down, various topics were discussed over a period of 50 days. Each day is usually spent on a specific topic. Topics were announced for a week in advance so that members can do some preparation before the discussion.

The discussions were usually through the day, starting 7 AM and ending 6 PM usually, but at times extending to late evenings.

The topics covered were can be grouped under “Species” (species from all six families were selected covering common and rare), “Butterflying” (preparation for a trip, do’s and do not’s, ethics), “Butterfly Photography” (tips to take a good and memorable pictures), etc. Members were asked to share their memorable trips, species, incidences and rare sightings.

Understanding of butterflies occupied significant time through topics such as Migration, Mud-puddling, Predator– prey relation, survival strategies, life cycles, host plants, etc. Other interesting topics included trying to decipher the common and scientific names, how one was drawn into butterfly watching, etc. The participation of most members were very encouraging through sharing of pictures and information, encouraging and answering queries.

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Lockdown Butterfly Discussions Dr. R. Bhanumathi pavaibhanu@gmail.com

The Nature and Butterflies Society (TNBS) WhatsApp group was initiated on 13th March 2017 to create awareness on butterflies among the group members. It was functioning by sharing/posting news, views, information along with photographers from the members on various aspects of butterflies. When the Government of India announced lockdown due to pandemic COVID-19, a new dimension opened up on 21st March 2020, when it was decided to take up the lockdown period to intensely share/post topic wise information on butterflies after getting consent from all members. Everyone unanimously showed interest with the new idea and started in full swing the very next day with Swallowtails being the first topic of discussion. Next four days were allotted for Pioneer, Nawabs, Monkey Puzzle, African marbled Skipper, and Indian Grizzled Skipper. The topics were announced in advance for members to prepare and post the information with photographs. As the daily interactions followed, few new members with passion towards learning about butterflies joined the group.

Every day, based on the allotted topic, an introductory post was shared first giving information on global distribution, speciality of the genus and species along with a global map and photographs of the species. Following this, members would start sharing their information and photographs relevant to the topic. For some topics, members also shared identification collage/plate.

Topics like mating behaviour, significant sightings, predators of butterflies, mythological names and scientific names, butterfly survival strategies, mud-puddling and Skippers under the leaves, garnered more observation data and relevant visuals from the members. Various species covered on different days apart from the first four days were Albatross, Leopards, Cupids, Gram blues, Awls, Tips & Arabs, Ceruleans, Grass yellows, Sailers, Pansies, Crows, Jezebels & Sawtooth, Flashes, Jays & Blue bottles, Ape fly, Line blues, and Rings (Ypthima spp.). Life cycle documentation collages wherever available for different species were also shared by members involved in such work.

Some topics were also announced keeping the suggestions from the members. These topics attracted more interactions from all members and kept everyone active in posting relevant photographs till late evening. Notable among them were `Butterfly photography and storing’, `Butterflies of Northeast’, and `Favourite capture’. While the topic on `Nectaring butterflies on Tridax flowers attracted many members to share their pictures. These posts were later counted, and total number went up to 90 species and some of the members even shared `Nectaring on Tridax’ in the form of collages. Similarly, butterfly mating pair tally came to good species count based on the photographs shared. The topic `Quiz on Butterflies’ was one of the most popular sessions with good response and participation.

As TNBS members were involved in Butterfly migration tracking since 2013, data along with statistics and species count were also shared one day adding valuable information and awareness for the members. The topic `How I got into butterflying’ gave an opportunity to members to recall their first butterfly walk and to acknowledge all the mentors, guides and motivators for inspiring them to the world of butterflies. On one of the days members also recalled and shared with visuals regarding `Interesting field trips’ for butterfly observation and exploration in many locations from different States of India. The topic `Butterfly books’ helped some members to share different publications on butterflies in their collection from the oldest to the present ones. One day was allotted to share TNBS’s timeline journey and milestones with their work and activities which was appreciated by all members.

Overall, a total learning, sharing and enriching experiences for 44 days during the lockdown period (21st March to 11th May 2020). There was total involvement and participation by 60 members of the TNBS WhatsApp group. Whenever any topic received low response it was ably motivated and encouraged to continue the thread with shares and posts. The outcome of this whole exercise resulted in a big repository of photographs, information on many aspects /topics, life cycle documents etc.

Realising this valuable input, it was decided to write articles on various topics to be published in the forthcoming issues of Pattampoochi – an online newsletter dedicated to butterflies published by TNBS regularly since 2017. The TNBS WhatsApp group is grateful to some members who have offered to collate the information for different articles in Pattampoochi.

The entire lockdown special discussions by the TNBS WhatsApp group was ably co-ordinated by founder Mr. A. Pavendhan with support from the admin of the group. He not only kept the topic thread going every day but also motivated many members with his responses and encouragements. The TNBS WhatsApp group extends its special thanks to all the members for their total dedicated participation and sharing during the lockdown discussions period.

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Lockdown Butterfly Discussions

“Really an excellent initiative by TNBS to discuss about butterflies everyday on a specific topic, from the start of the lockdown. It was well supported by senior and junior members of TNBS. It was like doing a course with interesting topics everyday. I gained more knowledge on different aspects of butterflies, ID keys, Lifecycles, LHPs, butterfly behaviour ,Butterflies from other states and other countries and many more. Really it was a very good learning experience for me and well spent the time during the lockdown.

“Utilised my lockdown days fruitfully by learning & sharing information through TNBS WhatsApp group.

Words may not be enough to appreciate and thank Pavendhan sir in coordinating, giving more inputs about each species, tirelessly appreciating others' contributions - from morning to evening - everyday. I thank all the senior members who have shared their knowledge and experience that will help the beginners like me. Very happy to be a part of this group. My sincere thanks to everyone in the TNBS family”

Dr. R. Bhanumathi, Chennai

M. Elavarasan “Among the miserable and paranoid filled lockdown days one thing I really looked for was our TNBS discussions on butterflies! In times where all regular week days were alike a new pansy day, sailer days and tridax days emerged as the new norm. Learnt so much from the days where real life social distancing lead way to online social closeness in the TNBS family! Thank you Pavendhan sir and all participants who took part in this lively discussion and imparted their knowledge without any reservations!”

Rama Neelamegam

It enriched my knowledge & skill further through many discussions on various topics covered everyday. Indeed a wonderful group for bonding and caring for the winged beauties.

Thanks Mr. Pavendhan for sincerely & patiently coordinating and guiding us everyday with your inputs & responses.

“It was a very nice interactive session hosted by TNBS and kudos to its members and Pavendhan sir for coordinating this! Though we didn't cover all topics, we did cover a lot of important topics and had a holistic understanding of butterfly ecology, from identification, to etymology, interactions inter and intra species or taxon.

I am eager to read this next NL as it will have a collation of all these valuable inputs by various members to provide a very informative guide!”

Vikas Madhav Nagarajan

“Lockdown was an unwelcomed guest for me, but everything changed once we started discussing about butterflies. What should be learned in field in future was discussed in detail in lockdown period.”

T. Nagaraj PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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Lockdown Butterfly Discussions

“It took a Lockdown to embark on a joy -ride on my personal Learning curve , after 7 years of passive Butterfly-watching .

Enjoyed the educative posts that ranged from adorable photos and Quizzes to insights on Butterfly behaviour . It was fun in the Group and more importantly, I feel really enriched. Thank you , Seniors and young guns , one and all!”

Mrs. Rosita Vasanthi “I share my experience of joining a WhatsApp group called TNBS, which specializes in documenting conserving observation of various species of Butterfly found in Tamilnadu. I joined the group few weeks back. I am a law student and nature lover. I am passionate and do amateur photography. Thanks to Mr. Arunkumar getting into this group and Mr. Pavendhan Appavu for adding me.

I must say, that I shoot butterflies found in garden. I had documented 15- 20 different common species found in my garden. But when i joined the group, the initial 2 days all messages were Latin and Greek to me . The short forms, the terms and the names, the scientific names and so on. I came to know that there exists hundreds of species, they inhabit different altitudes and different climate & temperature.

I came to know how butterflies give birth to offspring and that it differs from each other. I came to know that the species I have documented to be of a particular one differed from its reality, yes I am proud to say I am correcting my mistakes. I also came to know that monsoons and summer play a vital role in the breeding. I had the opportunity of collecting the pictures of various butterflies their names and scientific, where I could see them... And importantly since the group takes up a topic everyday and discusses them I learned how to differentiate one butterfly from other. And how intricately and minutely the creator has sculptured them!”

Sangeetha “I have learnt a lot about butterflies during this lockdown through TNBS WhatsApp discussion. Learning is exponential in these 30 days. I thank Pavendhan sir and entire TNBS family for this knowledge sharing.”

Sadheeskumar. K “Nature is a ocean of information where every trip, Every discussion, teaches something new. During the hard days of lockdown TNBS provided us with the right platform and became the perfect school for learning various aspects of the Butterfly world . Looking at so many beautiful clicks took us on a virtual walk to one of the best butterfly parks teaching all along every detail and identification process of different species of butterflies and the art of photographing them.

Hoping to continue my learning through my journey with TNBS.

Heartfelt thanks to every member of TNBS for sharing their experiences, Knowledge and images . A special thanks to the organizers of TNBS for making this happen. “ E. Arun Kumar, Chennai “The interactive sessions conducted by TNBS WhatsApp group was an eye opener for me. Every day a challenge to post the best, to learn something new and the fabulous interchange of knowledge was amazing. Not just about the butterflies, but their life cycle, their host plants, and their reactions to many circumstances was intriguing and interesting. With a little bit of interaction from all, we finally had treasure trove of information. Thank you TNBS . Made our lock down period worth while when in quarantine.”

Hema Mohandas “Discussion during lockdown was to the point and elaborative as per discussion depth. It was real experience not less than Nature walk. Shared pics and keys filled the discussion with understanding of species properly and made the flow colourfull.”

Darshan M Trivedi Both specific and general topics relating to butterflies and various aspects of their behaviour were discussed by TNBS members during lockdown discussions. The enthusiasm for discussion was palpable and sustained throughout the lockdown period and comments and posts that started as a trickle in the mornings would turn into a torrent through the day with late comers continuing to post late into the night.

Each day brought forth posts of brilliant photographs, questions, answers, explanations, clarifications, id keys and humorous asides from active members, all pertaining to the topic of the day. Going through a day's posts was akin to receiving a mini crash course on the subject of the day.

Experts and amateurs, all participated in make each day's learning focused and complete.

Dr. Kalpana Jayaraman “Being a new member I must confess that I was amazed by the sheer enthusiasm and the dedication of the group. The discussion was free-flowing yet the depth of information shared as astounding. Looking forward to more such discussions in the future.”

Sagarika “It was a wonderful initiative & happy to note lot many participated with full enthusiasm and zeal. It was fun filled knowledge sharing experience. Congratulations to each and every member who made a memorable & joyful experience in spite of lock down.”

Bala Krishnan

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Lockdown Butterfly Discussions

“I would rather say, this lock down is blessing in disguise. We got an opportunity to learn and share many interesting info, thanks to selfless expert and enthusiastic team who shared many points without any reservation.

Yes missed many walks, mud puddling and migration, but gained more knowledge than what we missed in the field.”

Sravan Kumar. K “Discussions on the TNBS’s online forums turned out to be one of those best areas I have invested my time in during the lockdown. Diverse topics ranging from identifying similarlooking species to sharing myriad life experiences tightly knit with butterflies were thought provoking as well inspiring. The passion and perseverance of all the members even at the time of a viral epidemic was amazing. Valuable inputs and the learning-friendly ambience together made the discussions rare and highly memorable.”

Saravanan S "I was fortunate enough to join TNBS in right moment, thank you. The enthusiasm of all members rubbed on me to share my images and gained more knowledge than bargained for.

The lockdown series was purposeful and full of information which I never expected, honestly. Thanks all members of TNBS." Nagraj V, Bengaluru

“The discussions in the group provided a way to understand butterflies better setting a good example that there are many ways to learn if interests are supported by determination. In gratitude forever…”

Monika Gandhi

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White Four-ring Ypthima ceylonica PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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Tridax procumbens: A Butterfly Magnet Vikas Madhav Nagarajan madhavvikas@gmail.com

Tridax procumbens is a species flowering plant from the daisy family Asteraceae, well known to occur in the plains and foothills of Tamilnadu. Sunny, dry locations, especially sandy and rocky sites like roadsides, railways, dunes, and waste places, at elevations up to 1,000 metres seemed to be the preferred habitat for the plant. It characterises grasslands with its short stemmed nature and pretty white petals and yellow pollen. Known commonly as Coatbuttons or Tridax daisy, It is native to the tropical Americas, but has been introduced to tropical, subtropical, and mild temperate regions worldwide. In its native range, the flowers are known to be visited by butterflies like Northern Mestra (Nymphalidae), Coliadinae sub-family species including Southern Dogface (Pieridae), and Tropical Checkered Skipper (Hesperiidae). It is a very resourceful plant. The leaf juice possesses antiseptic, haemostatic, insecticidal and anti-parasitical properties. Its leaves have been used as a dietary source (can be cooked as vegetables). In Tamil this is called by vettukaaya poondu or thatha poo or kinatruppasan.

In the TNBS WhatsApp Lockdown series discussion, one of the members, Dr. Rama Neelamegam had initiated a discussion on butterfly nectar images on Tridax procumbens and encouraged members to post images of butterflies seen on their flowers.

Several members actively participated and contributed their findings on 29th April 2020. Discussions revealed that as many as 95 species of butterflies from the Tamil Nadu state boundaries use Tridax as a nectar plant. In this context, the plant assumes an extremely important position in providing food source to many butterfly species.

The family that visited the plant the most was Lycaenidae, followed by Nymphalidae, Pieridae, Hesperiidae and Papilionidae.

No Judies were observed, possibly due to the fact that the plant is not known to occur in their habitat. Apart from the commonly seen and expected species, some interesting observations such as nectaring of Spot Swordtail, Nilgiri Clouded Yellow, Scare shot Silverline and Pale Palm dart were observed. An annotated checklist of species recorded has been provided.

I sincerely hope with more intense observations in time to come, the count of 95 is expected to cross 100! Interestingly, the plant is also known to be a host plant for Tawny Coster (Acraea terpsicore) in Chennai.

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Tridax procumbens: A Butterfly Magnet

Ninety species have been identified as using Tridax procumbens as nectar plant. The checklist of the same is provided below, family wise: Papilionidae

31. Common Five-ring

63. Pale Grass Blue

1.

Common Jay

32. White Four-ring

64. Tiny Grass Blue

2.

Common Rose

33. Tawny Coster

65. Indian Cupid

3.

Common Mormon

34. Common Leopard

66. Red Pierrot

4.

Spot Swordtail

35. Joker

67. Bright Babul Blue

5.

Lime Butterfly

36. Angled Castor

68. African Babul Blue

Pieridae

37. Common Castor

69. Quaker

6.

One-spot Grass yellow

38. Painted Lady

70. Common Hedge Blue

7.

Three-spot Grass yellow

39. Blue Pansy

71. Gram Blue

8.

Small Grass Yellow

40. Yellow Pansy

72. Oriental Grass jewel

9.

Common Grass yellow

41. Chocolate Pansy

73. Grass Jewel

10. Common Emigrant

42. Grey Pansy

74. Plains Cupid

11. Mottled Emigrant

43. Peacock Pansy

75. Small Cupid

12. Small Salmon Arab

44. Lemon Pansy

76. Lime Blue

13. Crimson-tip

45. Danaid Eggfly

14. Small Orange-tip

Lycaenidae

15. Plain Orange-tip

46. Common Silverline

16. Large Salmon Arab

47. Plumbeous Silverline

17. White Orange-tip

48. Common Shot Silverline

Hesperiidae

18. Yellow Orange-tip

49. Scarce Shot Silverline

77. Common Banded Awl

19. Striped Albatross

50. Common Lineblue

78. Common Small Flat

20. Common Albatross

51. Tailless Lineblue

79. African Marbled Skipper

21. Common Gull

52. Angled Pierrot

80. Indian Skipper

22. Common Jezebel

53. Dark Cerulean

81. Chestnut Bob

23. Psyche

54. Common Cerulean

82. Indian Palm Bob

24. Pioneer

55. Forget-me-not

83. Bush Hopper

Nymphalidae

56. Pea Blue

84. Parnara Swift

25. Blue Tiger

57. Zebra Blue

85. Rice Swift

26. Dark Blue Tiger

58. Common Pierrot

86. Bevan’s Swift

27. Striped Tiger

59. Black-spotted Pierrot

87. Small Branded Swift

28. Plain Tiger

60. Rounded / Striped Pierrot

88. Common Grass Dart

29. Common Crow

61. Dark Grass Blue

89. Dart sp. (Potanthus sp.)

30. Common Three-ring

62. Lesser Grass Blue

90. Pale Palm Dart PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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Tridax procumbens: A Butterfly Magnet

Common Jay

Common Rose

Common Mormon

Spot Swordtail

Lime Butterfly

One-spot Grass Yellow

Three-spot Grass Yellow

Small Grass Yellow

Common Grass Yellow

Common Emigrant

Mottled Emigrant

Small Salmon Arab PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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Tridax procumbens: A Butterfly Magnet

Crimson-tip

Small Orange-tip

Plain Orange-tip

Large Salmon Arab

White Orange-tip

Yellow Orange-tip

Striped Albatross

Common Albatross

Common Gull

Common Jezebel

Psyche

Pioneer PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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Tridax procumbens: A Butterfly Magnet

Blue Tiger

Dark Blue Tiger

Striped Tiger

Plain Tiger

Common Crow

Common Three-ring

White Four-ring

Tawny Coster

Joker

Painted Lady

Common Five-ring

Common Leopard

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Tridax procumbens: A Butterfly Magnet

Blue Pansy

Yellow Pansy

Chocolate Pansy

Grey Pansy

Peacock Pansy

Lemon Pansy

Danaid Eggfly

Common Silverline

Plumbeous Silverline

Common Shot Silverline

Scarce Shot Silverline

Common Lineblue PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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Tridax procumbens: A Butterfly Magnet

Tailless Lineblue

Angled Pierrot

Dark Cerulean

Common Cerulean

Forget-me-not

Pea Blue

Zebra Blue

Common Pierrot

Black-spotted Pierrot

Striped Pierrot

Dark Grass Blue

Lesser Grass Blue PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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Tridax procumbens: A Butterfly Magnet

Pale Grass Blue

Tiny Grass Blue

Indian Cupid

Red Pierrot

Bright Babul Blue

African Babul Blue

Quaker

Common Hedge Blue

Gram Blue

Oriental Grass Jewel

Grass Jewel

Plains Cupid PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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Tridax procumbens: A Butterfly Magnet

Small Cupid

Lime Blue

Common Banded Awl

Common Small Flat

African Marbled Skipper

Indian Skipper

Chestnut Bob

Indian Palm Bob

Bush Hopper

Parnara Swift

Rice Swift

Bevan’s Swift PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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Tridax procumbens: A Butterfly Magnet

Small Branded Swift

Common Grass Dart

Dart sp.

Pale Palm Dart

Zebra Blue

Danaid Eggfly

Crimson-tip

Lesser Grass Blue

Peacock Pansy

African Babul Blue

Silverline sp.

Common Leopard & Yellow Pansy PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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Tridax procumbens: A Butterfly Magnet

References : http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Tridax+procumbens TNBS WhatsApp group for images and count of species www.ifoundbutterflies.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tridax_procumbens

Images Acknowledgement: Tridax flowers and plants (Pages: 4,5,11)- V. Nagraj. Tridax flower (Page 6): Sangeetha Madhavan.

Butterflies on Tridax: Amol Mande, Arun Kumar, Bhanumathi. R, Darshan M Trivedi, Elavarasan Malaiyappan, Gopal Krishnan S, Hema Mohandas, Kalpana Jayaraman, Leema Robert, Nagaraj T, Nagraj V, Nishanth CV, Pavendhan A, Pradeep Kumar VB, Rama Neelamegam, Ramanasaran H, Sadheeskumar, Sangeetha Madhavan, Saravanan, Sravankumar K, Supraja Narasimhan, Theivaprakasham H, Vikas Madhav Nagarajan

Assistance in making: Pavendhan A & Nishanth CV

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Butterfly Mud-puddling Dr Kalpana Jayaraman Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, Stella Maris College (Autonomous), Chennai-86 kalpanatrikkur@gmail.com

Butterfly enthusiasts will tell you about the delight they experience when during a trek, close to a stream, especially during the post-monsoon season, they suddenly come across a flare of bright colour on the stream bank. The colour shifts and wavers and takes flight and settles down again. The flare and sometimes, even the riot of colours, is butterflies ‘mud puddling’. Members of the TNBS WhatsApp group during one of the ‘lockdown discussion’ days, shared their insights on mud puddling through excellent photographs and information titbits.

In the tropical regions (also in some temperate regions), during the hot hours of the day, newly hatched butterflies are seen to gather in large numbers on damp sand or banks of streams, pools and rivers, or even on damp patches on the roads where a mammal may have urinated. These are said to be ‘mud puddling’. During this social activity, they can be observed greedily sucking from the substrate, their proboscis uncoiled.

Earlier butterfly-watchers believed that mud puddling satisfied the insect’s thirst but then puddling is common in tropical rainforests too where water is available in plenty. It cannot just be thirst; we find many mud puddling butterflies eject surplus water; if they were thirsty why would they get rid of water? As this activity is mostly seen in the tropics, could they be cooling off? An interesting observation is that almost all the ‘binge drinking’ insects are males. If this was a means to cool off, wouldn’t more females be there too? There is more to this behaviour than just plain sipping of water! What is it that they require so desperately from the substrate and why is it that it is mainly the males that show this behaviour?

In the life cycle of a butterfly there are two distinct feeding stages: larva and adult. The larva or caterpillar is a herbivore (except a few caterpillars), feeding on leaves of specific plants. The adult mostly feeds on nectar of flowers, but may derive nourishment from other sources too. The resources needed for survival and reproduction are present in different amounts in these two types of feed.

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Butterfly Mud-puddling

Some of the resources ingested during the larval stage are stored and made available in the adult phase. However, for all forms that feed only on plants, the diet is protein and sodium-deficient.

The acquisition of sodium is vital as it has a positive effect on survival, growth and reproduction and this important activity is undertaken by adult butterflies through mud puddling at wet sites. If the substrate is dry, the butterfly may even wet it with its excreta and then sip the salts. Butterflies are said to take in an amount of fluid that is many times their own weight in a single puddling session. The extra fluid is ejected from the anus as droplets or in jets, and the salts are absorbed.

If it is mostly the males that mud puddle for vital sodium then how do the females acquire it? Well, they get it from the male, and they thus avoid the risks associated with puddling. They can instead spend time and energy in looking for suitable sites to lay their eggs on.

Some of the sodium taken up by males may be used up in neuromuscular activity. Some other explanations for puddling for sodium include enhancement of sperm motility and better intake of amino acids in the insect gut for growth and reproduction.

The importance of sodium to Lepidoptera is suggested by the widespread occurrence of receptors for sodium ions on the legs of adults of many species. Besides sodium, the males may also be ingesting minerals such as calcium, phosphate and amino acids from such sites.

Sodium is an important component of the spermatophore that is transferred to females during mating.

The spermatophore or sperm packet contains sperms, secretions from male accessory glands, amino acids as well as toxins concentrated from plants. The males thus contribute more than just their sex cells to the female partner. The size and contents of the spermatophore differ in different butterfly species and are found to be dependent on how much time the insect has been able to spend on accumulating supplementary nutrients through puddling.

As the spermatophore contains substances that are useful to the female, it is considered a nuptial gift. The quality of a male’s spermatophore is gauged by the female. She can then either lay eggs fertilized with his sperm and ensure his succession or she may seek out another male who will give her a better nuptial gift. The nutrients from the male’s spermatophore are passed on to her eggs, so that their chances of hatching and surviving are better. Thus, the female may mate multiple times (polyandrous) to receive sufficient nutrients to pass on to her eggs. If the spermatophore size in a mating is large, the female may not mate for some time. Thus, the male strives to donate a large nuptial gift so that the female does not re-mate soon and lays eggs fertilized with his sperm. The male builds up on his store of the desired supplements through mud puddling, which he does along with many others of his species in huge gatherings, jostling with them for the best spot in the puddle. Males usually mate with more than one female, so after mating the older males need to puddle again to replenish lost salts.

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How do butterflies identify suitable puddling sites? Typically, one or two males may chance upon a suitable spot and as other butterflies fly past, they recognise members of their kind on the ground and join them. It is seen that brightly coloured butterflies from the families, Pieridae and Papilionidae use the presence and number of other conspicuous butterflies of their

own families as cues to locate puddling sites rich in salts. Seeing the colourful, highly visible group, more and more males join them in this activity. Visual orientation is of importance to them in site location as resources such as sodium cannot be detected by chemoreceptors from a distance. Puddling is therefore a phenomenon of social facilitation where a particular behaviour is intensified due to the presence of others performing the same behaviour.

Some Skippers (from Hesperiidae family) such as the Awls and Awlets are usually the earliest to arrive at the puddling sites to take their fill at day break. As the day grows, smaller butterflies such as the Lycaenids fly in and as the day gets hotter, the Pierids and Papilionids join in. The Nymphalids join late. It is interesting that the Lycaenids, Pierids and Papilionids can be found in same-species as well as in mixed-species puddling groups. By early evening, the puddlers start dispersing.

Mud-puddling is a time- and energy- consuming activity, not without risks. Puddling butterflies are so focused on this activity that a human could easily pick them up as they puddle. There is a predation risk, both from insectivorous birds as well as other arthropods on the ground such as spiders and ants. Puddling in large gatherings, however, could reduce this risk to individual butterflies. In fact, predation by birds has rarely been reported during puddling. The risk, however, must be taken, as without the extra salts and nutrients, males stand little chance of mating and so of passing on their genes.

Female butterflies have been observed to mud puddle, though in very few numbers. In certain African Nymphalids, the spermatophore does not contain enough sodium and so the females puddle. In the Nymphalid, Cymothoe sp., both sexes puddle but the males do not transfer much sodium during copulation and so the females have to puddle. Puddling by females may also occur frequently in areas that are deficient in sodium. Puddling need not always be in gatherings. Male and female butterflies have also been observed to puddle singly.

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Among the Swallowtails (Family Papilionidae), all Indian species except the Southern Birdwing and the Tailed Jay have been observed to mud puddle. They form large single-species congregations but may also be found puddling with other papilionids.

Joint Papilionid and Pierid gatherings have been observed frequently at mud puddling sites.

The Whites and Yellows (Family Pieridae) are found in large swarms of hundreds of individuals forming a ‘mud puddling cloud’.

The Common Jezebel has not been observed to mud puddle.

Almost all brush-footed butterflies (Family Nymphalidae) are mud puddlers. The Crow butterflies and the Tiger butterflies may form large groups while puddling.

All Blues (Family Lycaenidae) puddle. This may be in single species or mixed species congregations.

Almost all Skippers (Family Hesperiidae) puddle. Some can be seen mud puddling regularly such as the Brown Awl while others are observed but rarely.

Not all species puddle regularly. In some species, puddling is uncommon in both sexes and the sodium donated to the female may be derived from larval feeding, for e.g., in the Hesperid, Thymelicus lineola.

Butterflies seek salt and nitrogenous substances like amino acids and ammonium from other sources too such as excrement of predatory vertebrates, tears, nasal secretions, perspiration and even blood, open wounds and carrion. They have also been observed to puddle on wet shoes and wet or sweat soaked towels and handkerchiefs! Nature does have wonderful means of ensuring that these insects get the nutrients they seek from so many alternative sources.

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When there is so much salt on the sea shore, why aren’t butterflies seen there? The sea shore is basically unexploited by butterflies. One guesses that this may be due to strong sea breezes and waves that would disturb the frail butterflies or due to predatory crustaceans lurking on the shore! However, direct drinking of sea water has been observed in specimens of Papilio polytes (Common Mormon) at low tide, on the reef shelf off the island of Guam. The butterflies were observed extending their proboscis directly into the sea while standing on green algae floating mats or on exposed coral structures at a distance from the shore ranging from 0.3 to 15 m (Pola and Garcia-Paris, 2005).

Butterflies are the most conspicuous puddlers but moths, honey bees, ants, leaf hoppers and some bugs are also known to puddle. In locusts, both sexes are known to puddle. It appears that those species with diets low in sodium (e.g., folivorous larvae) puddle for sodium whereas those with diets low in nitrogen (e.g., detritivores) puddle for nitrogen.

There is still much to be investigated about this behaviour. More experiments and observations are necessary for us to add to existing knowledge. Habitats with mud puddling sites need to be protected.

If during a trek, you happen on this fluttering kaleidoscope of colours, have your camera ready to document and enjoy the visual treat of mud puddling butterflies!

References: Agnihotri, A.R., A.A.Roy and R.S. Joshi (2016). Gustatory receptors in Lepidoptera: chemosensation and beyond. Insect Molecular Biology.

25(5): 519-529 Beck, J., E. Muhlenberg and K. Fiedler (1999). Mud puddling behaviour in tropical butterflies: in search of proteins or minerals? Oecologia. 119: 140-148 Boggs, Carol L. and Lee Ann Jackson (1991). Mud puddling by butterflies is not a simple matter. Ecological Entomology. 16: 123-127 Ghosh, Dipanjan and Souvick Mukherjee (2016). Quenching the Thirst. Science Reporter. September 2016. pp 43-46 Kehimkar, Isaac (2008). The Book of Indian Butterflies. Bombay Natural History Society. Oxford University Press.

Kunte, Krushnamegh (2000). India, A Lifescape – Butterflies of Penin-

sular India. Universities Press.

Martin, Dino. J. (2006). ‘Mud puddle’ – or be damned. SWARA. January – March 2006. Pp 66-68 Molleman, Freerk, Roy H.A Grunsven, Martje Liefting, Bas J. Zwaan and Paul M. Brakefield (2005). Is male puddling behaviour of tropical butterflies targeted at sodium for nuptial gifts or activity? Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 86(3): 345-361 Molleman, Freerk (2009). Puddling: From natural history to understanding how it affects fitness. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 134(2): 107-113 Otis, G.W., B. Locke, N.G.Mc Kenzie, D. Cheung, E. MacLeod, P. Careless and A. Kwoon (2006). Local enhancement in mud-puddling Swallowtail (Battus Philenor and Papilio glaucus). Journal of Insect Biology. 19: 685-698 Pola, M and M. Garcia-Paris (2005). Marine puddling in Papilio polytes (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae). Florida Entomologist. 97: 211-213

Images Acknowledgement: Amol Mande, Arun Kumar, Bhanumathi R, Darshan M Trivedi, Elavarasan M, Gopal Krishnan S, Hema Mohandas, Kalpana Jayaraman, Leema Robert, Monika Gandhi, Nagaraj T, Nagaraj V, Naveen T, Nishanth CV, Pavendhan A, Pradeep Kumar VB, Rama Neelamegam, Ramanasaran H, Sadhees Kumar, Sahithya S, Saravanan S, Smitha Anand, Subiksha M, Supraja Narasmihan, Sravan Kumar K, Vishvajit Kadam & Vikas Madhav.

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What’s in a Name?

Rama Neelamegam

Whenever a person looks at a butterfly, two things strike them-their beauty and then, their name! No other flora or fauna on earth has names like Commander, Rustic or Yeoman as their common name! As if that is not enough, they have names like Jezebel, Courtesan, Pierrot etc.

Well, before we get down to the reason why the poor butterflies got saddled with such weird common names, lets first look at what a common name means. Does that mean it has other names? For example, let us take Brinjal, the vegetable. It is known as kathrikai in Tamil and baingan in Hindi. Kathrikai and baingan are what are known as vernacular names-that is the name it is known to a layman who speaks only that language which is of that region. Brinjal on the other hand is its common name (the name by which it is known far and wide) or rather one of its common name, others being aubergine (Europe) and eggplant (USA). So even a common name is not universal or common! So, to make sure an uniformity is maintained Swedish botanist and naturalist Carolus Linnaeus devised a system in the 18th century. He catalogued every known plants and animals then known, in a new method called the binomial sometimes trinomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy. So, coming back to our brinjal example, the binomial name for brinjal is Solanum melongena. Here the Solanum is the genus to which it belongs (the nightshade family) while melongena is its species.

Back to butterflies, so why such strange names to these winged beauties? To answer this we need to go back to 18th century.

At that time lots of amateur hobbyists began collecting butterflies, due to which the use of common names became more important. These names were coined by layman enthusiasts and amateurs most of them being British so they could identify with them easily.

Since the majority of Britishers at that time were military people who were stationed in India, most of these names are of

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Military Ranks (Admiral, Sergeant, Lascar, Yeoman, Commander, Sailer etc.,)

Extra Lascar

Common Sailer

Titles (Rajah, Nawab, etc.,)

Black Rajah

Common Nawab

British peerages origin (Duke, Baron, Earl, Baronet, Viscount, etc.,)

Baronet

Common Baron

However many butterflies have also been named based on their wing pattern/design/colour. We will take a look at few of them in the next article …

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Butterfly Mating Elavarasan Malaiyappan and Pavendhan A

Butterfly Mating Every life form in the world has two important purposes- survive and reproduce. This is no different for the ones which are always in their flight- the butterflies. Butterflies undergo a structured life cycle- from egg to adult stage through caterpillar and pupal stages. Once an adult butterfly emerges, their life purpose revolves around these two fundamental requirementsseeking food and finding a mate, despite many other survival hurdles to overcome.

Butterflies use colours to find their mates. As most butterflies fly daytime, the colours are not difficult to find in each environment. However, a butterfly looks for a totality of colour, size, shape, and wing structure to identify an opposite sex from their own species. Butterflies also exhibit sexual dimorphism in significant number of cases, where in the male and female look different. In case, they look same, usually we find the females have bigger abdomen to store eggs.

In the darkness of forest, or in the night, when most moths are active, and some butterflies, the use of pheromones help the adults to find mates. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to impact the behavior of the receiving individuals, according to WIKIPEDIA. Pheromones or scent is also used by butterflies to identify potential mate. In fact, some of the female pheromones of moths could be sensed by miles away by their male counterparts and they navigate their way through to find their female counterpart. Members of Danainae sub-family males have scent pouches on the wings and hair pencils at the end of their abdomen (Tigers and Crows). Males extrude the hairpencils from the abdominal cavity and pheromones are fanned towards the female when they are nearby.

Many butterfly species follow a courtship ritual; some of them even travel long distances for their acrobatic courtship dance and display, to impress the female mate. Males are not always lucky, given the competition and potential rejection by females.

Sometimes, females just emerged out of chrysalis are subjected to mating by the waiting males.

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Butterfly Mating

Males of Plain Tiger Danaus chrysippus can be seen here extracting pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Heliotropium indicum to produce pheromones useful for mating. The scent pouches can be seen on the hindwings.

Butterflies when eventually mate, males transfer their sperms and many along with spermatophore which is a capsule containing essential nutrients for the female to produce fertile eggs. Lepidopteran males use clasping organs to grip females.

Some butterfly species (like Tawny Coster) add a postcopulatory plug, called the sphragis, to the abdomen of the female preventing the female from further mating.

Lockdown discussion

During the Lockdown, TNBS members had a useful discussion and knowledge sharing in their WhatsApp group about various aspects of butterflies. One of the discussions was on Mating of Butterflies, held on 4 May 2020, initiated by Mrs. Rama Neelamegam. Members enthusiastically shared the mating pictures of different butterflies during the day. The total count of the pictures of mating butterflies was 88. The family wise breakup is given below. These pictures are reproduced in the following pages.

Males of Plain Tiger Danaus chrysippus can be seen here extracting pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Heliotropium indicum to produce pheromones useful for mating. The scent pouches can be seen on the hindwings.

88 Species

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Butterfly Mating

Common Jay

Tailed Jay

Crimson Rose

Common Rose

Common Mormon

Lime Butterfly

Spot Swordtail

Small Grass Yellow

Common Grass Yellow

Three-spot Grass Yellow

Common Emigrant

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Butterfly Mating

Little Orange-tip

Plain Orange-tip

White Orange-tip

Yellow Orange-tip

Great Orange-tip

Chocolate Albatross

Striped Albatross

Common Gull

Psyche

Pioneer

Blue Tiger

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Butterfly Mating

Striped Tiger

Plain Tiger

Common Crow

Double-branded Crow

Common Evening Brown

Dark-branded Bushbrown

Common Bushbrown

Glad-eye Bushbrown

Common Three-ring

Common Four-ring

White Four-ring

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Butterfly Mating

Common Leopard

Rustic

Common Sailer

Extra Lascar

Common Lascar

Common Baron

Baronet

Joker

Angled Castor

Common Castor

Peacock Pansy

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Butterfly Mating

Chocolate Pansy

Danaid Eggfly

Great Eggfly

Apefly

Common Silverline

Tailless Lineblue

Dark Cerulean

Common Cerulean

Forget-me-not

Pea Blue

Zebra Blue

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Butterfly Mating

Black-spotted Pierrot

Rounded Pierrot

Indian Pierrot

Tarucus sp.

Dark Grass Blue

Lesser Grass Blue

Pale Grass Blue

Tiny Grass Blue

Bright Babul Blue

African Babul Blue

Gram Blue

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Butterfly Mating

Plains Cupid

Small Cupid

Lime Blue

Red Pierrot

Brown Awl

Common Banded Awl

Golden Angle

Grass Demon

Chestnut Bob

Kanara Swift

Dark Branded Swift

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Rice Swift

Butterfly Mating

Potanthus sp.

Potanthus sp.

Monkey Puzzle

References : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheromone TNBS WhatsApp group discussions on 4 May 2020 http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170227-butterflies-perform-a-beautiful-courtship-dance Honda, Keiichi et al. “Uptake of plant-derived specific alkaloids allows males of a butterfly to copulate.� Scientific reports vol. 8,1 5516. 3 Apr. 2018, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-23917-y

Images Acknowledgement: Amol Mande, Bhanumathi R, Darshan M Trivedi, Elavarasan M, Gopal Krishnan S, Hema Mohandas, Nagaraj T, Nagaraj V, Naveen T, Nishanth CV, Pavendhan A, Saravanan S, Smitha Anand, Theivaprakasham Hari & Vikas Madhav Nagarajan.

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In News Butterfly Migration in the Western Ghats

Butterfly Migration in the Western Ghats. The Hindu Metro Plus Online Ed. 29.05.20 An article about the Butterfly Migration in the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/winged-beauties-start-seasonal-migration-in-western-ghats/article19883738.ece

Butterfly Migration Data Collection

Citizen Science Initiative- Butterfly Migration. The Hindu Coimbatore Ed. 10.06.20 The lockdown across nation due to COVID-19 virus has limited observing butterfly migration in detail during the months of April and May. A WhatsApp group, running exclusively for this purpose "Butterfly Migration India" was active in capturing the information from across the country, especially during this period from KL, KN and TN. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/whatsapp-group-comes-handy-for-butterfly-enthusiasts-to-track-pre-monsoon-migration-of-wingedbeauties/article31790238.ece

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In News Webinar on Importance of Butterflies in our eco-system.

Rathinam Institutions. Coimbatore. 16.06.2020

Change Makers of the Environment-2020. Rathinam College of Arts & Science. 16.06.20 Mr. A. Pavendhan of TNBS took a session on the “ Importance of Butterflies in the eco-system� for the participants of the online short-term course on the above topic. Session content included brief introduction to eco-system, bio-diversity and food web, introduction to butterflies and the values of butterflies. The session was attended by about 200 online participants.

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From the Facebook Pages...

Common Silverline by Amar Bharathy

Great Eggfly by Amol Mande

Yellow Pansy by Bala Krishnan

Joker by Bhanu Mathi

Dark Blue Tiger by Bhupathi Vignesh

Lime Butterfly by Darshan M Trivedi

Golden Angle by Devika Devi

Tamil Yeoman by Franklin Sukumar PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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From the Facebook Pages...

Small Salmon Arab by Gopal Krishnan

Common Evening Brown by Hari

White Orange-tip by Hema Mohandas

Zebra Blue by Janani L

Golden Angle by Jee Jeevith

Plains Cupid by Lakshmi Kumar

Lobed Beak by Makesh Kumar

Common Five-ring by Manoj Prabagaran K PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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From the Facebook Pages...

Plumbeous Silverline by Nagaraj

Striped Tiger by Nishanth CV

Common Banded Peacock by Pamela Sai

Small Salmon Arab by Pavendhan A

Plains Blue Royal by Prakash Loganathan

Bright Babul Blue by Prawin Ap

Striped Tiger by Rahul Naidu

Common Crow by Ramanasaran Hari PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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From the Facebook Pages...

White Four-ring by Rohini Ramalingam

Tarucus sp. by Sathya K Selvam

Common Crow by Soundar Ells

Apefly by Sravan Kumar K

Lime Blue by Subash Jeyan

Common Grass Yellow by Subhashree

Plain Tiger by Sun Raja

Striped Albatross by Sundara Manikkam PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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From the Facebook Pages...

Common Castor by Supraja Narasimhan

Crimson Rose by Sayed Kaleel

Little Orange-tip by Theivaprakasham Hari

Red Pierrot by Um Vi

Red Pierrot by Vinithashri Gautam

Striped Pierrot by Vinod Sadasivam

Common Cerulean by Vishwa Nathan

Southern Birdwing by Sakthivel K PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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From the Facebook Pages...

Peacock Royal by Nagaraj Veeraswami

Common Banded Peacock by Shakthi M R

Common Three-ring by Rengaraj Bettai

Common Grass Yellow by Arumugam Chandrasekaran

Baronet by Vijay

Lime Butterfly by Selvaraj Rangasamy

Tamil Yeoman by Rajanna Venkatraman

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Common Emigrant Catopsilia pomona PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 4 VEINS 3

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Back Issues

Back Issues From the first issue released on Jan 1, 2017, we have released 14 issues so far including current issue, every quarter, and all the back volumes may be found in the following link: https://sites.google.com/view/tamilnadubutterflies/

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Plains Cupid Chilades pandava

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