TWO MORE SPECIES ADDED TO INDIA’S LIST OF BUTTERFLIES

TWO MORE SPECIES ADDED TO INDIA’S LIST OF BUTTERFLIES

Lepidopterists in Arunachal Pradesh have helped add two species to India’s expanding list of butterflies

Striped Hairstreak was first recorded by Japanese entomologist in Hainan province of China. Elusive Prince, has a Vietnamese connection and was thought to be the more familiar Black Prince found in the Eastern Himalayas

Striped Hairstreak was located (Yamamotozephyrus kwangtugenesis) was located in Vijaynagar bordering Myanmar while the Elusive Prince was found in Miao on the periphery of the Namdapha National Park

Scientific name of the Elusive Prince is Rohana Tonkiniana, named after Tonkin in north Vietnam, where it was first recorded 

The discovery of the Striped Hairstreak, whose genus was broken into several genera by Japanese researchers, was more intriguing for the lepidopterists

Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths

Butterfly fossils date to the Paleocene

 

Butterflies are often polymorphic, and many species make use of camouflage, mimicry and aposematism to evade their predators

Majority of butterflies have a four-stage life cycle; egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis) and imago (adult)

Many butterflies are sexually dimorphic. Most butterflies have the ZW sex-determination system. Females heterogametic sex (ZW) and males homogametic (ZZ) 

Nearly all butterflies are diurnal

Many tropical butterflies have seasonal forms for dry and wet seasons

Butterflies are distributed worldwide except Antarctica 

Butterflies use their antennae to sense the air for wind and scents 

 

Vision is well developed in butterflies and most species are sensitive to the ultraviolet spectrum

Many species show sexual dimorphism in the patterns of UV reflective patches

Butterflies navigate using a time-compensated sun compass

Many butterflies migrate for long distances

Many migratory butterflies live in semi-arid areas where breeding seasons are short. The life histories of their host plants also influence butterfly behaviour

Queen Alexandra's birdwing is the largest butterfly in the world.