A note on the migration of Dark Cerulean Jamides bochus(Stoll) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in Eravikulam National Park, IdukkiDistrict, Kerala, India
Muhamed Jafer Palot
Western Ghat Regional Centre,
Zoological Survey of India, Kozhikode, Kerala 673006, India
Email: palot.zsi@gmail.com
Date of publication (online): 26 November 2012
Date of publication (print): 26 November 2012
ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: George Mathew
Manuscript details:
Ms #
o3244
Received 30 June 2012
Finally accepted 28 September 2012
Citation: Palot, M.J.
(2012). A note on the migration of Dark Cerulean Jamides bochus (Stoll) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
in Eravikulam National Park, IdukkiDistrict, Kerala, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa4(14): 3373–3374.
Copyright: © Muhamed Jafer Palot 2012. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 UnportedLicense. 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:The author is grateful Dr. K. Venkatraman, Director,
Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Kolkata and to Shri.
C. Radhakrishnan, Additional Director, ZSI, Kozhikode
for facilities and encouragement.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:04766E59-ADD2-4FBC-9553-02F90560D6D0
During
a recent faunal survey from 7–13 April 2012 at the EravikulamNational Park, Idukki District, Kerala, the migratory
movement of Dark Cerulean Jamides bochus (Stoll), was observed near Bhimanada(10.18554N & 77.09081E; 2085m) on 12 April 2012. They were flying from the high ranges to
lower elevations in a north-east to south-west
direction. The swarm was noticed at
around 11:00hr flying through the trek path along the edges of a shola
patch. Initially the count was
about 36 in 5 minutes from 11:00 to 11:05 hr which increased to 65 from 11:15 to 11:20 hr. The wind direction was supportive for
the migration. All were flying at a
height of 2–3 m from the ground. At times, the butterflies were found resting on the flowers of Crofton
Weed Ageratina adenophora for nectar (Image 1). The
unmistakable glistening blue on the forewing indicated that the majority of
them were male, and the swarm looked like a series of glistening blue flashes
during the flight. The weather was
sunny, and the wind was from east to west. However, it had been rainy and cloudy during the previous few days in
and around Eravikulam. The summer rains on the hills probably
triggered the mass movement of the butterflies.
The
other butterflies observed along with the migration of Dark Ceruleanswere the Common Blue Bottle Graphium sarpedon, Common Crow Euploea core, Indian Cabbage White Pieris canidia and
the White-Disc Hedge Blue Celatoxia albidisca. As many as six Common Blue Bottles, five Common Crows, five Indian
Cabbage Whites and four White Disc Hedge Blues were observed during the count,
flying along with the swarms of Dark Cerulean. The other butterfly species flew along
with the migration for a short while and returning.
While
climbing from the foothills of Vaguvarai in the
morning, an unusually large assemblage of Dark Cerulean butterflies flying
around the bushes and tea plantations was noticed. But the species was totally absent
beyond Bhimanada. On our return trip on 13 April 2012,
again the migration of these butterflies flying in same direction, but in
smaller numbers, was observed. About eight butterflies could be counted at around 12:45 to 12:50 hr at the same spot.
Dark
Cerulean is a widespread species known to occur in India, Pakistan, Nepal,
Bhutan and Bangladesh (Kehimkar 2008). This beautiful little butterfly is found
almost all over India, on the plains and in the hills, except in the arid
northwest. Even though the species
is common and frequently reported from other protected areas of Kerala, it has
not previously been reported at the Eravikulam NP (Radhakrishnan & Sharma 2002). It is a known migrant species in
the Nilgiris; Larsen (1987) reported migration of
this species in the late 1950s towards the east at Kotagiri. Williams (1938) on his report on
‘Migration of Butterflies in India’ did not mention the migration of Dark
Cerulean in India or elsewhere. A
study on the migratory butterflies of the Western Ghats of Kerala by Palot (2010) also did not list this species from the
region.
Except
for the Crotalaria spp., none of the larval food plants known for the
species—Butea monosperma,
Crotalaria spp., Millettia peguensis,Tephrosia candida, Vigna cylindrica, Pongamia pinnata, Xylia xylocarpa (Kunte2000)—are reported from the Eravikulam NP (Unniyal et al. 1998). A small portion on the eastern periphery of the Park lying close to Talliar Estate has deciduous forests with trees like Dalbergia latifolia,Pterocarpus marsupium,Xylia xylocarpa and Pongamia pinnata including
many larval food plants of the Dark Cerulean. This forest patch in the eastern side of
the Park may be the staging point for the large scalemigration of Dark Cerulean in the region.
The
other butterfly species observed during the trek from Vaguvaraito Hut on 12 April 2012 were the Palni Fourring Ypthima ypthimoides (100+), Indian Cabbage White Pieris canidia(10), Small Orange Tip Colotis estrida (30), Red-disc Bushbrown Mycalesis oculus (25), Common Blue
Bottle Graphium sarpedon(5), Indian Fritillary Argynnis hyperbius (5), Indian Red Admiral Vanessa indica (6), Red Helen Papilio helenus (2), White-Disc Hedge Blue Celatoxia albidisca(4), and Tamil Grass Dart Taractrocera ceramas (6).
References
Kehimkar, I. (2008). The Book
of Indian Butterflies. Bombay Natural History
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Kunte, K. (2000). Butterflies
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