Butterfly makes a rare call in Himachal

  • October 22, 2023
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Butterfly makes a rare call in Himachal

Subject :Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

  • A butterfly that is rare in the western Himalayas, the paintbrush swift, has been photographed and documented for the first time in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district.

Details:

  • This butterfly species is sighted at lower hills of the Dhauladhar mountain range.
  • Himachal Pradesh is home to about 25% of the total number of butterfly species found in India.
  • The butterfly species was photographed during a field survey conducted under the Wild Bhattiyat Project initiated by the Bhattiyat Forest Range of the Dalhousie Forest Division of the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department.
  • The species was discovered in 1878 in the Eastern Himalayas, but never photographed in H.P. earlier.
  • Other butterfly species sighted in H.P. are: Anomalous nawab, blank swift, tailed jay, siren, etc.

Paintbrush swift (Baoris farri):

  • A butterfly species of the Hesperiidae family.
  • It is identified based on two separated spots in the upper forewing cell.
  • Other closely related species like the blank swift have no cell spot while the figure-of-eight swift has two conjoined cell spots.
  • The species’ larvae feed on bamboo and some other grass species.
  • Paintbrush swift’s habitat distribution is common in northeast, central and south India, and rare in Uttarakhand.

Source: TH

Butterfly makes a rare call in Himachal Environment