Having accorded protection to the entire stretch of western Ghats forest coming under its territory, Goa is the only successful state of India. It is 748 sq km. The life-giving mountain chain parallel to the Arabian Sea makes this region an excellent habitat for the butterflies. The life of butterflies thrives in the evergreen forest, where there exist perennial waterbodies.
This biodiversity hotspot hosts endemic and threatened species of butterflies. Many butterflies take up the prefix Sahyadri, the other name for Western Ghats. Sahyadri oak leaf, Sahyadri bird wing, Sahyadri Common Imperial, and Sahyadri Rustic are the examples. This indicates that their life is only restricted to the Western Ghats.
Wildlife Week, celebrated from 2nd to 8th October, is the perfect time to witness butterflies. Every butterfly requires a selected host plant for laying eggs because the caterpillar of such a butterfly feeds only on certain plants. If such plants are not available or run out of leaves, the caterpillar dies. Basking in the morning sunlight to Mud Puddling on wet soil, nectaring on flowers, and mating are the important functions of butterflies. Locally known as ‘Samayichi fula’, the Pagoda flower, Clerodendrum Paniculatum, is the naturally grown flower and attracts the largest butterflies like Sahyadri Birdwing and Blue Mormon. They are the state butterflies of Karnataka and Maharashtra, respectively.
A sacred shrub, Lea indica, locally known as ‘Dino’, is a food source for diverse butterflies. Smaller butterflies like Common pierrot, Common fourring, Common cerulean, Chocolate pansy, and Common grass yellow are seen throughout the day. The state butterfly of Tamil Nadu, Tamil lacewing, is attracted towards this plant. It is a very brightly coloured butterfly, endemic to the Western Ghats of India. One can witness this enthralling wonder in Colval village because there are a large number of Leea macrophylla species bearing wide and longer leaves.
The laterite, known as water house, hosts an excellent diversity of butterflies. A visit to the Taleigao plateau can reveal colourful butterflies like the Common Wanderer, Common Leopard, Blue Bottle, Common Emigrant, Common Mine, and other butterflies. The Nagalli Hills colony has one tree belonging to the Bauhinia family at the residence of Tallulah D’silva, on which we spotted 15 pupa of the Common Jezebel butterfly. It’s known for its colorful attire, like ‘Haldi kunku’. The castor plants on the plateau host common castor butterflies.
If one has a lemon plant in their vicinity, the butterflies like Blue mormon, Common mormon, and Lime butterfly come to lay eggs on the underside of the leaves. Their caterpillars are fascinating. The adult caterpillar of Blue mormon looks like a tiny snake. It has false eyes and a tongue like a snake.
Besides a cultivated coconut tree, there is a similar-looking wild tree called “Bhillo Mad” Caryota urens, that offers a nutritious food source to the Sahyadri Oak leaf butterfly. Upon closing the wings, it resembles a dried leaf. It is mostly sighted sipping the fluid from fallen fruits of Bhillo mad. Being on the ground, it can immediately hide itself, settling among the dried leaves. However, the female of this butterfly has to find Karvi shrubs for laying eggs. Strobilanthes callosa is its host plant, which blossoms once every seven years. This year’s wildlife week is special for the mass blossom of Karvi shrubs at Chorla Ghat. Here, the rare butterfly Paris peacock can be seen fluttering endlessly back and forth. Soaring high in the sky, the Sahyadri birdwing takes an effortless glide like a wire tailed swallow.
The butterflies gather to seek essential nutrition from the silt collected along the river basin. The swarms of Blue tiger butterflies, Striped tiger butterflies, and Common crow butterflies are present along the Mhadei river basin. The Mapwing butterflies take asylum in the pristine environment at Barajanacho Vozor, at Surla, Sattari Goa.
The Malabar tree nymph is the state butterfly of Goa. The researchers found it appears like a nymph. It soars high above the treetops and comes down with a graceful glide. Gaondongari village of Canacona is a pristine habitat for this butterfly. The presence of evergreen species of trees and perennial springs is responsible for preserving the population of various endemic butterflies.
The butterflies were born much before the advent of human beings. They have survived for millions of years of evolution and their adaptability. To safeguard the food produce, we should pledge to preserve and protect the indigenous trees like Madat, Kindal, and Ghoting, as well as the water-retaining screw pine vegetation.
The writer is a volunteer working in the fields of environmental education and conservation
