Pattampoochi - Butterfly Magazine Wings 3 Veins 4 2019 | Page 9

2 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 9