Three
new butterfly records for peninsular India: Dusky Yellow-breasted Flat Gerosis phisara(Moore) (Hesperiidae), Common Gem Poritia hewitsoniMoore (Lycaenidae) and Great Nawab Polyura eudamippus(Doubleday) (Nymphalidae) from SimilipalHills, Odisha, India
Manoj V. Nair
Divisional
Forest Officer, Hirakud (WL) Division, Brook’s Hill, Sambalpur, Odisha 768001, India
Email
: manojnair74@gmail.com
Date of publication (online): 26 March 2011
Date of publication (print): 26 March 2011
ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: Krushnamegh Kunte
Manuscript details:
Ms
# o2635
Received
25 November 2010
Final
received 01 February 2011
Finally
accepted 09 February 2011
Citation: Nair, M.V.
(2011). Three new butterfly records for peninsular India: Dusky Yellow-breasted
Flat Gerosis phisara(Moore) (Hesperiidae), Common Gem Poritia hewitsoni Moore
(Lycaenidae) and Great Nawab Polyura eudamippus(Doubleday) (Nymphalidae) from SimilipalHills, Odisha, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 3(3): 1624–1628.
Copyright: © Manoj V. Nair 2011. Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium
for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate
credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Acknowledgements:I am most thankful to Dr. K.A Subramanian for improving the draft, and
the staff of Similipal Tiger Reserve for their
wonderful support in the field.
For figure, images -- click here
SimilipalHills (21055’N & 85059’E) in MayurbhanjDistrict of Odisha borders the states of Jharkhand
and West Bengal, and harbours within its limits both
a tiger reserve (with an area of 2750km2) and a biosphere reserve
(with an area of 5569km2). The terrain is undulating and hilly, the altitude ranges from 300 to
1,200 m, and forest types range from dry deciduous and moist deciduous to semi-evergreen. Some consider Similipalas part of the Eastern Ghats (Sinha 1971), while
others treat it as the south-eastern extension of the Chota Nagpur Plateau (Ray 2005). The area falls under the province of Chhotanagpurin Deccan Peninsula bio-geographic zone (Rodgers & Panwar1988).
During the course of an ongoing study
on butterflies initiated in March 2006, intensively covering seven forest
ranges within the core area of Similipal Tiger
Reserve, out of a total of 188 species recorded, three species hitherto known
only from the Himalayan region and northeastern India, viz. Dusky
Yellow-Breasted Flat Gerosis phisara(Moore) Hesperiidae, Common Gem Poritia hewitsoniMoore Lycaenidae and Great Nawab Polyura eudamippus(Doubleday) Nymphalidae were also encountered, which
constitute significant new locality records and range extensions for peninsular
India (Evans 1932; Wynter-Blyth 1957; Haribal 1992; Smith 1994; Kunte2000; Kehimkar 2008). All three species were photographed in the field, while dead
individuals of the last two were collected and deposited in the Regional Museum
of Natural History, Bhubaneswar. Here, I describe the known distributional range of these species in
India, the specific locality records during the present study, broad habitat types
and microhabitats where observed, interesting ecological/behaviouralobservations, their flight periods and status in the study area (Fig. 1).
Dusky Yellow-breasted Flat Gerosis phisara (Moore) (Hesperiidae: Pyrginae) (Images
1 & 2)
This uncommon hesperiidis known within Indian limits only from the foothills of the Himalaya and
northeastern India, ranging from Himachal Pradesh in the west to Arunachal
Pradesh in the east (Evans 1949). There were three records during the course of this study. A freshly emerged individual was
photographed on 26 August 2007 near Joranda FRH, Nawana North range on a flowering Stachytarphetathicket. A second record on 20 July 2008 was from Satnalia,Pithabata range, where a rather worn individual was
seen mud-puddling near a
hill-stream. When disturbed, it
flew swiftly and settled underneath a leaf, where it was photographed. The third record was that of a pale
individual fluttering around, and which subsequently perched on a small Dalbergia pinnatanear Chingudia, Upper Barakamurarange. Interestingly, the
food-plant of G.bhagava,
its congener, is Dalbergia lanceolaria (Kehimkar 2008). However, despite a prolonged wait, no egg-laying was seen. It is probably a very rare resident in Similipal,
with a brief post-monsoon flight period.
Common Gem Poritia hewitsoni Moore
(Lycaenidae:Poritiinae)(Images 3 & 4)
This uncommon lycaenidis distributed from the Himalaya and northeastern India to Myanmar and
Indo-China (Pinratana 1981). A handful of records from early October
to November, were obtained during this study. On 02 October 2007, four individuals were seen during
a two-hour walk along dense moist-deciduous and semi-evergreen forests in the Jenabil range of southern Similipal,
suggesting synchronous emergence. All were fresh males - one basking on a leaf at c. 1m height and which
flew straight up to the canopy on being disturbed; one sitting with closed
wings on a slushy road; and two lying dead, c. 2km away on the same forest
road. Quite possibly, as Haribal (1992) has observed in Sikkim, ‘they are not seen
easily as they presumably fly high among the trees and go
unnoticed’. Possibly it is a rare resident with a brief flight period in Similipal.
Great Nawab Polyura eudamippus (Doubleday) (Nymphalidae:Charaxinae) (Images
5 & 6)
Within Indian limits, this spectacular nymphalid is known from Kumaon to
Assam (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kehimkar2008). This study recorded 19
sightings from Jenabil, Upper Barakamura(UBK), Chahala and National Park ranges, mostly in
and around hill-streams, all in semi-evergreen patches and once in an evergreenriverine patch inside moist deciduous forest. They flew very fast along roads and
hill-streams, occasionally chasing one another. Mud-puddling individuals at UBK in
March were seen mostly alone or in small groups. The largest group size recorded was a scattered cluster of
nine individuals at Dhuduram, UBK in July 2009. Also seen once on dead crab remains and
fresh elephant dung. They were
wary but allowed close approach if one was persistent and returned to the same
patch on being disturbed. Twice
seen dead, run over by passing vehicles while mud-puddling on jeep-tracks. Possibly uses evergreen riparian corridors to spill out into
the lower deciduous forests during rains, retreating again during summer to
their evergreen habitats in the higher reaches. Thus, this species is most likely to be a localised resident in Similipal,
not uncommon wherever they occur and has probably two broods—the first in
which they emerge in early March, remaining on the wing till mid-May and the
second lasting from July till mid-October.
Significance of these records
Apart from the fact that these records
constitute the first instances of these species occurring outside the Himalayan
foothills and northeastern India (thus forming important range extensions),
there also exists a bio-geographical significance. Similipal Hills have long been
known to be phytogeographically interesting with the
presence of both Himalayan and southern Indian floral elements (Saxena & Brahmam 1989). Recent studies have highlighted this
trend in other taxa like birds (Nair 2007, 2010) and herpetofauna (Dutta et al. 2009)
as well, where northeastern Indian species have been recorded from this hill
range. This study extends the same
pattern to butterflies and clearly emphasizes the importance of Similipal Hills as a repository of exceptional
biodiversity, with a mixture of northeastern, discontinuously distributed, as
well as autochthonous Indian elements. It also offers support to its putative role as a link habitat between
northeastern India and the Western Ghats.
References
Dutta, S.K., M.V. Nair, P.P. Mohapatra & A.K. Mahapatra(2009). Amphibians
and Reptiles of Similipal Biosphere Reserve. Regional Plant Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, 174pp.
Evans,
W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian
Butterflies (Revised II Edition). Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, 454pp.
Evans,
W.H. (1949). A Catalogue of the Hesperiidae from Europe, Asia and Australia in the British
Museum (Natural History). British Museum (Natural History), London, 502pp.
Haribal, M. (1992). The
Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History, Sikkim. Nature Conservation Foundation, Gangtok,
Sikkim, 217pp.
Kehimkar, I. (2008). The Book of
Indian Butterflies. Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford University Press, 497pp.
Kunte, K. (2000). Butterflies of
Peninsular India. Indian Academy of Sciences (Bangalore) and Universities Press
(Hyderabad), 254pp.
Nair,
M.V. (2007). On the occurrence ofJerdon’s Baza Aviceda jerdoni in Simlipal Tiger Reserve, with some observations on behaviour and vocalization. Indian Birds 3(2):
61–62.
Nair,
M.V. (2010). Thick-billed Green-Pigeon Treron curvirostra in Similipal Hills, Orissa: an
addition to the avifauna of peninsular India. Indian Birds 6(1):
19–20.
Pinratana, A. (1981). Butterflies in Thailand. Vol. 4: Lycaenidae.Brothers of St. Gabriel in Thailand, Bangkok.
Saxena, H.O. & M. Brahmam (1989). The Flora of Similipal Hills,Orissa. Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar, 231pp.
Smith,
C. (1994). Butterflies of Nepal.Revised Edition, Tecpress Service L.P., Bangkok,
Thailand, 368pp.
Ray,
G.C. (2005). Geography of Orissa. Kitab Mahal, Cuttack, 324pp.
Rodgers,
W.A. & H.S. Panwar (1988). Planning a Wildlife Protected
Area Network in India—2 Vols. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
Sinha, B.N. (1971). Geography of
Orissa. India—Land and
the People Series. National Book Trust, India, New
Delhi, 351pp.
Wynter-Blyth, M.A.
(1957). Butterflies
of the Indian Region. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay, 523pp.