(Deepshikha Gautam, Intern Journalist) Nainital: Ambika Agnihotri, Junior Research Fellow in the Uttarakhand Forest Department, discovered Papilio alkylator, a rare species of butterfly. This species of butterfly is also known as Redbreast. It was seen in July this year in the Mukteswar area of Nainital after ten decades. Commonly found in the eastern-Himalayan region, this butterfly was first discovered in the Western Himalayas before 110 years. Around the same time, Arun Gaur, a resident of Devalasari near Mussoorie, also saw the flying insects, Achelura bifacial.
This insect was also seen for the first time after 1893. These scenes have excited the butterfly audience and experts in Uttarakhand. Peter Smetsek, a veteran entomologist from Bhimtal and the founder of the Butterfly Research Center, said that he has not seen such a high number of butterflies at low altitudes for the past several years, as seen this year. Redbreast was seen not only in Mukteshwar but also in Bhawali. He said that according to our research, this butterfly extends itself only during favorable years and absent from others. This year is definitely one of his most favorable years.
When asked about the cause of such a high number of butterflies this year, Smetasek said that the lockdown caused by Covid occurred this year, and also caused very few wildfire incidents this year. He said, ‘There is a direct connection between wildfire and butterfly population. I have documented examples of when a fire has wiped out the entire population of butterflies from one area and it returned several years later.
This year, there were very few fires in the forests of Uttarakhand, and hence, this may be the main reason why so many rare butterflies and birds appear in the state.” According to the Uttarakhand Forest Department, there were 134 forest fires in the state till June this year. This was significantly lower than last year’s figures, with more than 2,150 forest fires last year. About 3,000 hectares of forest were cut down. Butterfly Trust of Doon works on butterflies in Devanagari. Since the beginning of October, ‘a day-flying kite, a huge group of Achelura bifacial, has been seen in the Chiana itself area of Devalasari,’ he said. Apart from the insects, Tawni Rajah Butterfly, which is very rare in Garhwal and seen only a few times in the last several decades, was also seen. Sanjay Sondhi of Butterfly Trust said that these insects are seen on the trees during day time. This is seen only once in life. Normally this type of swarm does not appear. He said that more research should be done on this.
There should be data collection of rare butterflies seen this year.
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