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Butterfly outburst at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras
Theivaprakasham Hari
[email protected]
Every year, we used to observe southward butterfly migration during the second
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras
week of July. But to our surprise, this year, we began to notice butterfly migration a
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
few weeks before (i.e. 26 June 2019) that it was also in a northerly direction that
opposed the overall trend. The large scale butterfly migration persisted for almost
four weeks. After two weeks later, when I visited south Chennai (Siruseri), I
observed a southerly butterfly migration which was another surprise this year. So
my conviction was that the butterfly’s origin is somewhere in-between Siruseri and
Anna Nagar(My place) where the butterfly movement are opposite in direction. By
slowly tracking down the origins of butterfly migration, I anticipated that the
location would be Guindy National Park or Nanmangalam Reserve Forest or even
both, as these areas were rich in biodiversity sandwiched inside the concrete
jungles of Chennai. The continuous butterfly migration observations of the
members especially Mr. Vikas Madhav and Ms. Mahathi in the Whatsapp group named ‘Chennai Butterfly group’ further
strengthen my anticipated places for the migratory butterfly origin. In order to explore the origin of butterfly migration, I
intended to visit my first place of conviction, Guindy National Park. I spoke to Mrs. Rama Neelamegam and she informed me
that she was also going to accompany me and get the necessary approval to explore IIT Madras.
The exploration day began and when I reached Guindy Bus stand, I could see few hundreds of butterflies flying high at
random directions. I met Mrs. Rama Neelamegam at the entrance of IIT madras and we were initially welcomed by the mud
puddling patches near the IN entrance gate of IIT. We could locate at least six patches of mud puddling with each patch having
not less than 50 butterflies (Lime butterfly, Common Emigrant and Mottled Emigrant). As we continued our drive inside IIT, we
witness 1000+ butterflies nectaring on Millettia pinnata (Pungai Maram) which was at it maximum bloom. As we moved
further, it was raining emigrants and limes on the roadways. It was a pleasant surprise to record plenty of Cassia sps plants
which serves as an host plant for Common Emigrant butterflies. This host plant abundance would have acted as a mass
breeding spot for butterflies. We stopped near the stadium and sighted Wrightia tinctoria plant filed with Emigrants, Dark Blue
Tigers, Blue Tigers, Common Crows and Double branded Crow on the white flowers. On the way to stadium, we sighted plenty
of Spot Swordtail just near its host plant Polyalthia longifolia.
We were fortunate to locate its caterpillar on its host plant. We
also witnessed the phase of emergence of Spot Swordtail from
chrysalis which were hidden under the leaf litters under its host
plant. Many freshly eclosed spot swordtails were noticed drying
out its wings under the bright sunlight. A few mating pairs (5+)
were also seen and some adults were exhibiting the courtship
behaviour with the freshly emerged Spot Swordtails. As we
reached the stadium, we were astonished to witness the
marathon of butterflies in the football arena. The whole
stadium's atmosphere were seen with erratic haphazard
movements of Lime butterflies and Common Emigrant. As a
surprise visit, Ms. Mahathi came to visit us for a brief period.
The butterfly mud puddling patches (not less than 50patches)
were scattered all over the stadium with Lime butterfly
dominating every patch along with Common Emigrants and
Spot Swordtails. Mrs. Rama Neelamegam was showing the
immense activity of Lime Blue under the Tamarind Tree. The
abundance of Lime Blue was due to the presence of dense and
abundant growth of Limeblue's host plant from the family
Rutaceae. On the way back we sighted the egg of Indian Palm
Bob, Lime butterfly, Common Cerulean, caterpillar of Common
Cerulean, Indian Palm Bob, Lime butterfly and chrysalis of Lime
butterfly and Indian Sunbeam. We also sighted a lone Painted
Lady, Lemon Pansy and couple of Common Leopards on the way
back. The walk ended by 12.00 PM with the valedictory
appearance of Common Banded Awl.
What else a butterfly enthusiast needs after seeing at
least 50000+ butterflies just within a span of 2hours and
30minutes. That was one memorable day in the journey of
tracking the origin of migratory butterflies from Chennai.
PATTAMPOOCHI
A TNBS MAGAZINE
WINGS 3 VEINS 4
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