A report published in the latest issue of a quarterly newsletter for research on life forms, Bionotes, states that two insects have been recorded by citizen scientists (non-professionals who contribute to scientific research and data collection) for the first time in the country in the neighbouring countries. As per the report, the butterfly ‘Spialia zebra’ was found in Dungarpur district of Rajasthan, miles south of its known home, comprising Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab province of Pakistan. The dragonfly ‘Atratothemis reelsi’ was recorded in southern Arunachal Pradesh’s Namdapha Tiger Reserve, about 1,170 km west of its previously known nearest locality of Xiaoqikong Park in China’s Guizhou Province. Thus, the winged ‘Pakistani’ has become the 1,328th Indian of its kind around the same time while another winged creature from China also earned a similar status.
The Spialia zebra or zebra skipper has added to the richness of Rajasthan’s orchid belt, comprising Phulwari ki Nal Wildlife Sanctuary and Sita Mata Wildlife Sanctuary. The spotter collected a specimen of the zebra skipper and provided photographs for the Butterfly Research Centre at Bhimtal in Uttarakhand to record it as the first of its kind in the country. Thus, India now has 1,328 species of butterflies. It is difficult to be observe because of its quite small size and rapid low fly over the ground. In Pakistan, it has been recorded from areas where plants need very little water, and from cultivated areas in lowlands or arid foothills.
On the other hand, a dragonfly was spotted during a butterfly-spotting trip along the Miao-Vijaynagar road through the Namdapha Tiger Reserve in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, which represented the westernmost range of its species and added to the Indian Odonata fauna, which is an order of predatory insects, consisting of dragonflies and damselflies. It was a bonus find, as it was never before recorded in the eastern Himalayas, and augurs well for the biodiversity of this region.
As per a Goa-based entomologist (specialist of butterflies and dragonflies), Atratothemis reelsi, was found to resemble other blackish dragonflies, one of them confined to Australia, which can be distinguished from others on the basis of its genital section.
Courtesy: The Hindu