Three additions to the
known butterfly (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera and Grypocera) fauna of Goa, India
Parag Rangnekar 1 & Omkar Dharwadkar 2
1 Bldg 4, S-3, Technopark, Chogm Road, Alto-Porvorim, Goa
403001, India
2 Flat
No. F-2, First Floor, Kurtarkar Commercial
Arcade, Kaziwada, Ponda,
Goa 403401, India
Email: 1 paragrangnekar@yahoo.com
Date of online
publication 26 May 2009
ISSN
0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: Peter Smetacek
Manuscript details:
Ms # o2140
Received 10 February 2009
Final received 27 April 2009
Finally accepted 05 May 2009
Citation: Rangnekar, P. & O. Dharwadkar (2009). Three additions to the known butterfly
(Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera and Grypocera)
fauna of Goa, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa1(5): 298-299.
Copyright:© Parag Rangnekar & Omkar Dharwadkar 2009. 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.
Studies on the fauna of Goa are
few. Compared to other fauna the
butterflies of the State are fairly well documented. The most dependable study
on the butterflies of the Western Ghats has been by Gaonkar(1996) which documents 330 species of which 251 species have been reported from
Goa. In recent works, 97 species have
been documented from the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary (Borkar & Komarpant 2004), and
90 common and a few rare species have been depicted by Rangnekar(2007). The State Fauna Series by
Zoological Survey of India, Western Regional Station, Pune,
follows the compilation by Gaonkar (1996) and
enumerates 251 species of butterflies from Goa (Sharma & Borkar 2008).
We have encountered three species not
recorded previously from Goa, which takes the total number of butterflies recorded
from the state to 254 species. The three
species are reported below.
1. Black-vein Sergeant (Athyma ranga Moore)(Image
1)
Family:Nymphalidae
Sub-family:Limenitidinae
On 15 May 2007, a male Black-vein
Sergeant was photographed mud-puddling en route to
the Savri Falls in the Netravali Wildlife
Sanctuary. The specimen was worn
out. Omkar Dharwadkar photographed another specimen on 09 January 2009
at Collem in the MollemNational Park. The records from two
separate locations and different seasons suggest that the specimens recorded
were not merely stragglers from further south.
2. White-banded Awl (Hasora taminatus (Hübner)) (Image 2)
Family:Hesperiidae
Sub-family:Coeliadinae
On 28 December 2008 one individual of
this species was observed mud-puddling around 1130hr
along with Common Pierrot (Castalius rosimon Fabricius),
Dark Grass Blue (Zizeeria karsandra Moore), Common Emigrants (Catopsilia pomona Fabricius) and Large Oakblue (Arhopala amantes Hewitson) in the premises of “Aaranyak”,
the tented accommodation facility of the Department of Forest, Govt. of Goa, in
the Mollem National Park. Attempts to photograph the butterfly were in
vain as it flew from one spot to another and finally vertically into the
canopy. Further visits to the location
did not result in sighting of the White-banded Awl, although the other
butterflies mentioned above were present at the site. The species was later photographed while mud-puddling along the riverside at Netravali on 25 January
2009 by both the authors.
3. Coon (Psolos fuligo (Mabille)) (Image 3)
Family:Hesperiidae
Sub-family:Hesperiinae
This butterfly has been observed at
three forested locations. The first occasion was in CotigaoWildlife Sanctuary, Cancona in southern Goa on 09
August 2008 while walking along the motorable road
leading to the tree-top watch tower along with RajuDavid (Naturalist, Taj & CC Africa). A single butterfly wasobserved flying about in the undergrowth and laying eggs on a Curcumaplant. The next individual of this
species was observed in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, Sattari, in northern Goa on 24 August 2008 on the route to
village Derode via Nanoda. The third individual was sighted in Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife
Sanctuary along a riparian patch in Tambdi Surla on 23 November 2008. The individual was observed perched on a leaf in the open.
These records suggest that this
butterfly, too, is established in this area. The point to be noted is that its
larval hostplant, Curcuma, has been present in
the state, but the butterfly has not been reported. It will probably be impossible to determine
whether the above records of this butterfly represent a population that is in
the process of colonizing parts of Goa or whether these individuals belong to
long established populations that were overlooked in the past.
Discussion
The above three species were hitherto
known from Karnataka southwards and are known to prefer moist evergreen
forests. The present records extend
their distribution northwards to Goa. Since Goa lies at the confluence of the Northern and Southern Western
Ghats, these records are of interest as they suggest that further species may
extend their range in the years to come. It is noteworthy that none of these
species are known migrants.
References
Borkar, M.R. & N. Komarpant(2004). Diversity, abundance and habitat
associations of butterfly species in Bondla Wildlife
Sanctuary of Goa, India. Zoos’ Print Journal 19(10): 1648-1653.
Gaonkar, H. (1996). Butterflies
of the Western Ghats, India including Sri Lanka - A Biodiversity
Assessment of a Threatened Mountain System. A report submitted to the
Centre for Ecological Sciences, Bangalore, India, 86pp.
Rangnekar, P. (2007). A Photographic Guide to Butterflies of Goa.(also includes butterflies of other ranges of the Western
Ghats & Southern India). Mineral Foundation of Goa,
66pp.
Sharma,
R.M. & M.R. Borkar (2008). Insecta: Lepidoptera: Rhopaloceraand Grypocera. Fauna of Goa, State Fauna Series,
Zoological Survey of India 16: 199-210.