PANAJI
The Malabar Tree Nymph, a species of white butterfly with black markings which is endemic to the Western Ghat region, has been declared as the state butterfly of Goa. The announcement was made by the Forest Department in the presence of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at the inaugural function of the fifth edition of Bird Festival of Goa on Thursday at International Centre Goa, Dona Paula.
The species with a wingspan of 120 to 154 mm has been evaluated as “Near Threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Nicknamed as the “paperkite” due to its graceful and unique flight, this butterfly belongs to the family Nymphalidae, the largest family of butterflies in the world. Their life begins as a clump of three to four eggs laid under the leaf of its host plant, the forest aganosama. The eggs hatch into caterpillars that feed on the leaves of the host plant before entering into the pupa stage and finally transforming into a butterfly.
As a result, the designation of this species as Goa’s state butterfly is expected to bolster the efforts for the conservation of its habitat.
Goa already has a designated state tree (matti), animal (gaur) and bird (ruby-throated bulbul).
The Forest Department made the announcement on the conclusion of an exercise whereby the opinion of subject experts, scientists and the public were sought through extensive consultations. A department-appointed committee unanimously recommended the Malabar Tree Nymph to be selected as the state butterfly of Goa. Members of the committee included Conservator of Forests Saurabh Kumar, Deputy Conservator of Forests Jebstein A, assistant conservator of forests Paresh Porob, member secretary of Goa State Biodiversity Board Pradip Sarmokadam and ecologist Parag Ragnekar.
The committee conducted a public opinion poll after consulting hundreds of subject experts to recommend the state butterfly. The public opinion poll was strongly in favour of the Malabar Tree Nymph with 64 per cent of the respondents choosing this species from among five species that emerged as the final contenders for the honour. The other species which were shortlisted out of 254 species of butterflies found in Goa were Commander, Blue Oakleaf, Common Jezebel and Clipper.
Goa now joins the rank of seven other states which have previously announced their respective state butterflies namely Maharashtra (Blue Mormon), Kerala (Malabar Banded Peacock), Karnataka (Southern Birdwings), Uttarakhand (Common Peacock), Tamil Nadu (Tamil Yeoman) and Arunachal Pradesh (Kaiser-i-Hind).
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Chief Secretary Parimal Rai, Forest Secretary Puneet Kumar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Santosh Kumar were among the dignitaries who attended the event. The fifth Bird Festival of Goa will be hosted at Chorao on December 16 and 17 with the participants including 60 delegates from across the country and four delegates from the UK.
